pcaulfie

Ok, I hesitated to post because I have NO PICS! But, I know you guys will understand that I need to just vent.

Sitting at a red light on my way home from work, the light had just turned green, I let off the brake and then some dumb kid decided he would just run right into me.

To make a long story short, $6,300 dollars and 4 weeks from now I should get my poor car back. Since the kid was in a Durango, my right rear side was crumpled.

They need to replace:
- Outer and inner bumper
- Trunk lid
- Trunk floor
- Right rear quarter panel
- Right rear frame arm (crap!)
- And all the lights, trim, etc.

I wish people would get their head out of their ass and just drive and not ruin other peoples things. The only thing that made me feel better was the kid was scared shitless...I guess that's better than nothing. At least the insurance company is doing their job.

JeffTSX

Damn..sorry this had to happen to you. Maybe it's time to trade in for a 05???

DaveWhyman

I've gotten hit by 2 SUV's and 1 small car, both times the SUV's amost totalled the car. The small car only scratched up the bumper cover. All happened at roughly the same speed. People should need a special licence to drive an SUV.

daniel1113

pcaulfie

Darn you, got me thinking....but probably not worth it since I couldn't trade it in for enough $$$

DietCoke

Sry to hear, that's pretty unfortunate. That kid is just perpetuating the stereotype that all kids are bad drivers.

pcaulfie

I had some near misses when I was younger, learning how to drive. I think that stereotype exists because most kids are inexperienced drivers. That's why I couldn't get too mad at him. It's just unfortunate that he had to hit me to learn a lesson. I guess it could have been worse, someone could have been hurt.

If it had been some middle-aged person trying to rush to a meeting or wherever and knows better, I might have had some back pain. :silvermad

TinkyWinky

I partially agree with Dave. My theory is that most people that cause accidents have some form of ADD. They just can't pay attention long enough and their mind wanders ... of course until they hit something or someone else.

Then there are those morons who just have bad driving habits and worse eye-hand-foot coordination.

Sorry to hear the bad news pcaulfie, but the important thing is no one was hurt.

daniel1113

Which has nothing to do with operating an SUV. Bad drivers are bad drivers no matter the vehicle they are operating. That is why I think there should be some tougher regulations when it comes to diver's licenses in general.

matelot

sorry to hear that, damn !
this happened today and you already know the cost ?

TinkyWinky

I believe (at least hope) the requirements for obtaining a license to drive a 18-wheeler is more stringent. If so, I think separate categorization of SUVs/pickups/SAVs (of similar curb weights much larger than regular autos) into a more restricted license group is warranted.

Need to weed out the morons driving these huge-ass automobiles.

matelot

link: SUVs are not cars

http://www.suv.org/safety.html

* Light trucks crashing into cars accounts for the majority of fatalities in vehicle-to-vehicle collisions
* 2,000 people would still be alive if their vehicles had been hit by a heavy car instead of an SUV
* 80 percent of car and SUV owners strongly that automakers should make safety changes to SUVs that would make the roads safer for car occupants

ARE SUV'S SAFE?

Overall safety on America's roads has increased over the last decade. However, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) threaten to reverse the trend. There is increasing evidence that SUVs are not as safe as they appear. Recent studies show that SUVs pose a significant threat to drivers and passengers of other cars on the road. In addition, there are indications that safety problems threaten passengers and drivers of SUVs themselves.

--------------------------------------------------

bottom line (IMO): SUVs give people a false sense of safety and "invincibility" and with that mindset --> more accidents prone

daniel1113

That is a different argument all together. Of course a larger vehicle crashing into a smaller vehicle will cause more damage. That doesn't mean that SUV drivers need a special license.

The links you quoted mention nothing about that.

matelot

that's cause it's just my opinion as I indicated (IMO)

mg7726

i feel your pain. dumbass in a ford explorer flew into the on ramp and rear ended me last year...$7400 in damage

scl23

In some ways, the gas price going up isn't such a bad thing. Probably promote more efficient cars, better urban planning, people living closer to work, etc. Hopefully, anyhow.

05_TSX_GP

Sorry to hear the crash man!!! If I were you, I'd probably scream at the kid like nothing

05_TSX_GP

to BOTH.

daniel1113 is spot-on that these are two different arguments, as in they are independent (nonetheless related) issues:
- SUVs are more "deadly" (using the term loosely) than even heavy cars
- bad drivers are "dangerous" regardless of what they drive

jpooncanada

ya... imagine I was driving 140 km/hr and it's still not enough and got tailgate by an SUV... with cars in front of me and cars on the middle lane (I was on the most left lane on a 3 lanes hwy)... where did u think I could go, punk?! So I slowed down enough to make sure he couldn't cut me off at the front or switch to the middle lane... just to let him know that he had been following too close... so he had been following me all the way for 30 minutes... ya... I'm bad... but they need a lesson = to drive safely.

Alin10123

What i usually do in that case is just barely tap on my brakes so that the brake lights come on but my car doesn't slow down. Usually when i do that, you see them jump back about 10 feet since they slammed on their brakes. lol
Or i you really wanted to be an ass and didn't mind the inconvenience, or if you needed a new rear bumper, just slam on the brakes when the next person does that.

r33p04s

Its called break checking...tap it so the car dives but doesnt slow down significantly (<10mph) and watch them give you your space...I should know its been done to me in boths cars and SUVs...they love to brake check down here in Miami

NightShredder

A SUV totaled my old Acura Ledgend....I loved that car so much.

I agree with Daniel about the fact that bad drivers are bad drivers no matter what vehicle they are driving. It is hard to ignore the potential damage that a SUV can do in a "minor" accident compared to a GTI or other small vehicle. So I say that special licenses are waranted (whether good or bad driver) simply for the safty of everyone on the roads.

BTW for the majority of instances the most agressive drivers on the road in Colorado drive SUVs or big trucks. Very scary. To bad they just don't get penile implants instead........j/k

daniel1113

No... the driver of the SUV totaled your Legend.

pcaulfie

Nope, it happened Tuesday, I just thought I could be a real man to not come here crying about my car. Needless to say, I couldn't hold out. I think everyone understands...thanks for all the sympathy.

And...I have had the SUV "discussion" many times at work, but the last post really sums it up. Doesn't matter what you're driving, if you can't operate a go kart, an SUV, an 18 wheeler, a 747, the space shuttle, etc etc, safely, then you shouldn't be operating it!

Too many people are anti-SUV. Yet, no one likes to get stuck behind a big SUV (or whatever). I also own a Tahoe and usually drive at pace with the rest of traffic. I find it interesting that most people, no matter how fast you're going, want to get around that damn large vehicle (truck, bus, SUV, whatever). Everyone's in more and more of a rush nowadays.

05_TSX_GP

Yeah, I do that too when the car/SVU/whatever behind seems to be tail-gating me due to sheer ignorance on their part. I brake-check every 30s or so until they get the messge. A way to alert them that they are following too close for the going speed.

However, if it looks like the tailgater is simply "in a freaking rush", being an ass and tail-gating on purpose (that happens more than I'd like to see, sad). I brake-check once to give him/her sort of a "warning". Then depends on our speed and traffic around, I would brake hard enough to make him/her brake hard as well; I would combine that with a quick heel-toe downshift to quickly accelerate again to avoid an actual rear-ender

Another a bit weird way to deal with tailgater is to spray the windshield washer... I do that when my car is kinda dirty anyway, so the wahser won't matter

TinkyWinky

Jesus Christ. If you're driving in the far left (passing) lane and someone wants to go faster (tailgating) then why not let them pass? You don't own the lane and you are not qualified to enforce the speed limit.

Break checking is by far one of the most moronic, let alone dangerous, things one can do while travelling > 60 mph.

05_TSX_GP

Since you didn't quote, I have no idea if you are actually directing your post to me in response to my revealing my own "brake checking" practice.

I do agree with your point 100%. So I should add that I only "deal" with tailgater that way when I already in the "SLOW" lane and we are pretty much going at the traffice flowing speed which is usually speed limit + 15km/h (~10mph). I NEVER think I am to enforce speed limit. In fact, I think static speed limits in most main roads (apart from school/park zones, etc.) are

By the way, in cases when I am indeed in the passing lane doing speed limit + whatever, and someone still zooms up and gains on me good, I always always move over to the right lane BEFORE it becomes a tail-gating situation. That's just part of my road sense + experience.

NightShredder

No...the SUV did. Can you not realize that if the lady was driving a smaller vehicle my car would not have been as damaged and would not have been totaled by the insurance company. Since the SUV is so much higher than a midsize sedan they usually go over and inflict damage from on top of the hood. Basically where the is no bumper to protect/absorb some (even if very little) of the impact hence inflicting much more damage in an accident <20mph by impacting the car where it is vulnerable. Not every situation is the same, but in my case any vehicle other than a SUV or truck and I would still have my Ledgend today, so the SUV did total my car.

Bad drivers cause accidents, but the damage that is incurred because of the accident is dictated by physics of mass and speed. Bigger vehicle = greater potential damage. It is alright to like SUVs and that is fine with me, but it might be hard to defend the danger they pose to other vehicles. It is a fact that has been studied enough years to have sufficient data supporting their danger. Checking the National Highway Traffic Saftey Administration (NHTSA) website there is alot of information on this.

daniel1113

Where did I argue otherwise? That's right, I agreed with you.

If you want to think about it like that, your Legend was a threat to all those small cars out there... think of the Geo drivers! Then again, something tells me that the driver of the SUV (you know, the real person at fault here) was pretty damn safe.

05_TSX_GP

hmm... was the gun or the bullet responsible for murder? Or the person pulling the trigger? DON'T answer the question...

The point is that it's a combination of the person and the machine/device being operated dangerously (or purposely to kill in the case of a gun, duh...)

I've earlier given my about SUV and other things discussed in this thread, not gonna repeat

pcaulfie

Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie ODonnell fat

jprovostla

Most ppl who drive SUVs don't know the characteristics of their vehicle...
They have no clue that when they hit a car, the SUV is likely to fly over the car & rollover because cars are much lower... Also most have no clue that they are prone to rollover because of the high center of gravity... and do you think they know the distance required to stop their vehicle??? can they outbrake a TSX??? what would happen if they brake hard in a curve and go into a spin??? [rollover???]

theElio

To add to the fire, I was rear-ended by a ginormous Ford F-150 in May in my old car (Mitsu Eclipse) at <10mph. I was at a stop sign and he decided that stop means go.

Damage on the F-150 = 1 tiny scratch... 1.
Damage on my Eclipse = $1250, needed new back end to the car.

Damage is dictated by momentum. SUVs and trucks have more momentum and therefore do more damage. Driver skill or lack thereof isn't in the equation at all.

05_TSX_GP

but with driving skill, those even driving SUV wouldn't run into people or other cars in the first place.