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School has started in many areas of the country. Each school year drivers are told to be watchful of children unloading and loading at bus stops. We are not told that school buses back up while stopped at a traffic signal because the driver discovered they were in the wrong lane. I was stopped behind a school bus which was waiting on a red light. I'm behind the bus for about a minute or so, then all of sudden the bus starts backing up. Before I could react, BAM! My RDX is extensively damaged. If there is any good news, the driver of the bus was ticketed and removed from the unit. BTW, the bus did not have a scratch. Not sure what's going to happen from here.
As a back up, I did report it to my insurance company. The School District's insurance company has already be in touch with me and has furnished a rental vehicle. An adjuster has not seen the car as of yet.
The airbags did not deploy. My guess, since the bus sits very high, the sensors did not pick up the "hit". Perhaps also, was at a full stop at the time. Really there was not much of a jolt. Very shocked over the extent of the damage considering the bus was barely backing up.
Your car now has a record. Recover the diminished value, or sell it before it hits equifax.
You want it totaled.
And something for that neck pain.
I've already told the School District's insurance company that "diminished value" is a must. I have also requested that the note be paid as long as the car is out of service.
The front of a car is designed to absorb energy, especially the radiator support is really soft, so any impact on that area is going to cause damage that looks more severe than what you feel. Glad you are fine, and seems to be in good hands in terms of insurance coverage.
Do you have a picture of the car without the hood? I wonder if the two frame rails are intact. If the damage is only on the radiator and radiator support, the car might be worth repairing. If there is sight of anything touching the engine, then I suggest trying to get the car totaled. Does not mean the car is not repairable, just that there are structural glues here and there, that I have little confidence random body shop can repair it back to factory spec.
Curious why the airbags did not activate? The way your hood is popped appears to be significant force to the front.
probably because the lack of speed/energy in the impact. more of a soft crumple.
I t-boned a Civic 16 months ago in my Audi 5 year old Q5 (all their fault). No air bags deployed in my car.I was probably going 35mph Bags did deploy in the Honda.
Air bags are programed for a very narrow set of circumstances. They measure angle and rate of deceleration. The bus pushed back "soft" metal and did not subject the vehicle to the high G forces that would have initiated front airbag inflation. Crashes are complex events and air bag systems are designed to cope with such.
I tracked one on the highway yesterday and got a good look at it. The front and rear look great. The profile is sporty. I’m not sure I can get over the swoops c-pillar thing that reminds me of a 928 but not in a good way. And I’m not sure I could live with the less spacious interior. But I’m sure it’s great for some.
No way insurance will reimburse for diminished value. I know peopled that tried it without any luck
Wrong! I was rear-ended in my 6-month old Ram 1500. I hired a company to appraise my vehicle and create a diminished value claim. The other insurance company paid close to what we asked for ($7,000) within a month.
One thing I've always been mindful of is all school busses have an emergency exit in back. When I'm behind a school bus, I always stay back a good distance. At least 2-3 car lengths. 40-50 feet. Not that I'd ever expect a bus to back into me but it's always seemed like a good idea for no particular reason.
I know it's no help now but hopefully, it will pay off for someone else.
Wrong! I was rear-ended in my 6-month old Ram 1500. I hired a company to appraise my vehicle and create a diminished value claim. The other insurance company paid close to what we asked for ($7,000) within a month.
I wasn't so lucky when my RDX was rear-ended...four days after my mom died. The other party was from Mexico, with Mexican plates, Mexican DL, Mexican Insurance. Their ins. company refused to talk to either me or my Ins. company. SO fortunately, my Ins. company paid for the damage repair, but refused to be any part of diminished value.
I suppose, based on what you said, I could have hired a company to try to get my them to pay for the diminished value, but I traded it in and only lost about $2,000 from what I expected, and still got several thousand dollars off the new vehicle I purchased. At the time, it wasn't worth the effort and cost to potentially not get any diminished value. I DID try to get a statement from the dealer where I traded in the RDX regarding the difference in trade-in values, but they said it is their policy to never get involved in that on legal reasons.... Guess I don't blame them.
SO the difference for me was that my own insurance company ended up paying for the repair, not the other party's.
EDIT: The other party was cited for DUI, and the local jurisdiction has charged her with several counts. She was 19 years old, so "underage with alcohol in the body" is one of the additional counts. The Prosecuting Attorney is trying to work a plea deal with her to avoid significant jail time. One of the things she would have to do is pay me (the victim) $500 to reimburse me for my deductible...This has been going on for months, and will not likely be resolved any time soon, as her attorney keeps filing for extensions to try to find an error in the police procedures during the arrest and blood level alcohol testing process. I guess she is entitled to the best representation she can get.
If you are having the repairs done, make sure the replacement parts are available. I was sideswiped by another driver who was avoiding a wrong-way driver on the freeway. The left side of my 2020 RDX was damaged. It took the repair shop 2 months to finally get a left front fender! Honda/Acura said: "This is currently on national back order with American Honda. Honda have no release date on this." Delays are also affecting other brands besides Honda/Acura.