W203E35

+1
I agree 100%.



Take it to a good place so they do a good job.

eddieo45

$400+ each? When I was shopping cars last week, one needed both bumpers repainted, so I asked my body shop for a quote. He said $700 each, and my friend said that was a rippoff, the half the money was still too much.....


In my hopefully soon to be replaced sig pic below you'll see I was recently the REAR car in such a collision....here in MA we have a insurance surcharge system that'll tack on about $400/year for 5 years. You can appeal the surcharge, but it costs $50. I successfully appealed one recently when I hit a piece of metal on a highway that bent a wheel and ricocheted up, tearing the trim below the passenger door (they surcharge any single-vehicle collision). My insurance man says I should try to appeal the rear-end collision one because he knows people have won doing it!

LinDenKid

Ok , I'm not saying I agree with him driving without a license/insurance, you really have to be a dumb *** to be driving like that , or maybe a person with a big need to go somewhere. Just that if he agrees to pay for what he's done , thanks to god it wasn't something worst, I'm not the kind of guy which tries to **** everybody that I can if they make a mistake, I REPEAT the guy is A DUMB *** !!!!!!!!!! , no matter what it his decision you can call the police , INS , anybody your bumper still going to be scratched and you won't feel any better , not thinking that dumbass might have a family or somebody who needs him, if 1 day you make any kind of mistake I don't care how perfect you are everybody makes them !!!! I hope they pay you with the same coin. That's how I feel! Glad you are ok!. Not arguing just giving my own personal opinion.

LILBENZ230

Did anyone say this person was here illegally? Granted I'm tired and I might have missed that detail when I read back through this thread. Unless someone stated he was here illegally, you've made a stupid and racist assumption.

Moviela

I am not sure how making an assumption someone without a license or insurance is racist or stupid. In Los Angeles County you have one chance in four of being hit by an illegal alien. California will not give them a license (right or wrong) and insurance companies will not write a policy for an unlicensed driver.

Just for the record, there is no INS. In March 2003 a new agency called ICE was formed to combine the efforts of INS and Customs.

My experience with uninsured motorists is that they always want to pay cash and forget about it, but then balk when they find out how much cash is needed. This are usually the people driving a $500 car and have nothing but a small job to live on. I think they should be sporting a bus pass until their economic picture brightens.

benzito911

LinDenKid

Ok, read from post #2 on , now; a racist comment? A Racist comment would be all about your race, you can be here illegaly and be from any race. A dicriminating comment is a different story. My point exactly to the guy who posted and asked if the driver was here illegally, he should go and watch George lopez , the show he gave in Texas was hilarious.
I'm a Hispanic person. It would be really stupid to sound racist. Everytime somebody shows a different point of view , everybody attacks him/her without concern that we all different , we all think different , plus it was just a comment , chillax. Lol

LinDenKid

I agree.

MB_Owner

What would you use as a basis for the appeal? It's quite rare for a cop report to absolve the second car from blame in a rear ender. The rear driver is usually assumed to have been driving too close to the front car for the speed and/or road conditions. Of course, it gets a little dicier if you're pushed into the car in front of you by yet a third car.

I was the middle car in a nighttime dry pavement (no visibility problems) chain reaction pileup in Illinois many years ago and the cops couldn't sort out where to assign blame since the lead car was cut off by a semi who just kept hauling *** and no one got his tag number. I think the involved insurance companies finally just split up the total bill equally. I was assigned no points against my license and there was no insurance premium increase since I was just one of five cars involved and no one was judged to be at fault.

eddieo45

I guess I'd say he stopped short while the light was yellow, not giving me enough time to stop myself. Bear in mind there's no police report that I've seen, and the officers at the scene opted not to cite me (and told me so). Also understand I'm not trying to get them to find the front driver at fault either.
That's all I'm hoping for: nobody's at (50%+) fault. It seems to be worth the investment of the $50 appeal fee, no?

W203E35

No matter what who ever rear ended someone is always at fault. Unless there is proof and still then which is very rare they will do 50/50 (you take car of your car and I take car of mine)

We got into an accident we went on yellow and a car made a left turn and we colided. I don't blame the car. There was a car maybe 1/2 car length ahead of us right when it was yellow he slammed his breaks stopped while we couldn't and the driver assumed we were gonna stop to but she turned right into us.

She said we ran a red. When both of our vehicles collided it sent us swerving and we hit a car making a right turn. This driver of the car making a right turn said it was red for her when the accident happened meaning we had the right of the way or else it would have been 50/50.

Anyway bottom line is be very careful making those left turn. Make sure you are clear then make the turn. I have seen idiots gun it when its yellow and almost got hit.

eddieo45 what percent fault did your insurance rate you?
Good luck man, I hope the appeal works.

MB_Owner

If the cops were there, there's a report and you have a right to a copy of it. But if no one was faulted, heck yes I'd give it a shot for 50 bucks.

eddieo45

I totally agree....at the scene, the first thing I did was apologize, and when police arrived, the front car driver asked the officer if it was his fault, and I chimed in again, saying "dude, unless you were in reverse, there's no way you can be blamed"...another officer told me that she would not be giving me a ticket for failure to use caution in stopping; I told her I appreciated that, and she said "hey, stuff happens...that's why we have insurance".
Mass has a fairly complicated point system, but as far as percent fault they keep it simple: more than 50% or not. If I can somehow get them to find me 50% at fault, then neither driver receives any points. It just seems, like I said before, that it's worth the investment of $50 to take a crack at avoiding those points (that I had to pay $50 the last time to avoid points for hitting a piece of metal on a highway is a scam, when you think about it).

The points are pricey, if a little hard to predict exactly. Estimates are that this would add $300-$400 per year for 4-5 years. If they find me responsible, so be it: they gave me $12,400 + tax for my 2002 C230...easily $2000 more than I expected.

The Mass. Point System in detail, in case anyone's interested (or having trouble falling asleep):

If you have at-fault accidents or commit traffic violations, your driving record will accumulate surcharge "points" depending on the nature of the incident. You accumulate surcharge points if you are responsible for an accident or commit a traffic violation.

* Accidents - You receive surcharge points if you are more than 50% at-fault for a motor vehicle accident that results in damage to property or bodily injury of more than $500. If you disagree with the determination that you are at fault for an accident, you may appeal the surcharge to the Board of Appeals. For details, please read the appeals section at the bottom of this page.
* Traffic Violations - You also receive surcharge points if you are convicted of, or pay a fine for a traffic violation; or are assigned to a drug or alcohol education program. If you disagree with a traffic violation, you must appeal it through the court system. Traffic violations cannot be appealed to the Division of Insurance Board of Appeals or the Merit Rating Board.


Drivers with no at-fault accidents or moving violations will have zero (0) surcharge points. Drivers with at least 5 years of clean driving will receive a considerable discount.

The schedule of surcharge points is as follows:
Surchargeable Incident Surcharge Points
Major Traffic Violation (i.e., D.U.I.)....5

Major At-Fault Accident (claim over $2,000)....4

Minor At-Fault Accident (claim over $500 to $2,000).....3

Minor Traffic Violation (i.e., speeding).....2


Each point increases the premium paid for 4 coverages in your policy: Compulsory Bodily Injury (part 1), Personal Injury Protection (part 2), Damage to Someone Else’s Property (part 4), and Collision (part 7). In 2006, the premium for drivers with less than 6 years of driving experience (Inexperienced Operators) was 7.5% above the base rate on parts 1, 2, 4, and 7 for each surcharge point on their driving record. The premium for drivers with 6 or more years of driving experience (Experienced Operators) was 15% above the base rate on parts 1, 2, 4, and 7 for each surcharge point. Contact your agent to learn the updated figures for 2009.

The SDIP system has built-in discounts to reward drivers with consistently clean driving records. Drivers who have at least 5 years of driving experience and no surchargeable incidents
- or exactly one, non-criminal minor traffic violation that is at least 3 years old - will receive the Excellent Driver Discount. This discount will lower their premium on parts 1,2 4 and 7, in addition to any decrease from the removal of surcharges from the previous policy period. Drivers with 6 years of driving experience and no surchargeable incidents in the last 6 years will receive an even greater discount on parts 1, 2, 4 and 7 - the Excellent Driver Discount Plus.

The exact amount of these discounts changes each year. In 2006, drivers receiving the Excellent Driver Discount saw a 7% decrease on the premiums for parts 1, 2, 4 and 7. Recipients of the Excellent Driver Discount Plus qualified for a 17% discount on those parts. Contact your agent to learn the updated figures for 2009.

W203E35

Ya, go for it. Worst case scenario you lose 50 bucks.

Good luck bro

LILBENZ230

My point was that you said he could "call the INS" (whether that exists or not) when no one had mentioned the at fault party's nationality whatsoever. Racist may not have been the right word to use, stereotypical perhaps - I stand beside the fact it was stupid.

Emin - Hope you get this all worked out soon. Doesn't sound like the damage is too bad, but a $400 bumper repair on my Benz turned into $1800 once they started on it so be careful.