There is no such thing as a "minor fender bender" when a Mercedes is involved. And letting her off because you "felt bad" leaves me dumbfounded.

 

Maybe she was cute?

 

She was not haha.

Like I said..there isn't really any visible damage. I saw the grille pop out but other than that I didn't see much. Had I noticed any actual damage to the car I would've called the cops. I didn't noticed the slightly off bumper until I got home, that's how minor it is.

Regardless, I'm taking it to the body shop tomorrow just to get it looked at. If it's worth fixing, and it's going to be expensive, I'll give her a call and ask for money. I do still have her plates.

 

I don't see how a <5mph hit to a plastic bumper would be any different in a Mercedes versus any other car on the road.

Does Mercedes use a superior and significantly more expensive bumper design? I doubt it, since a minor bump broke mine. I mean, we were at a red light, I was maybe 2 feet from her..it wasn't like she had a lot of momentum going.

 

There is quite a bit of "front ending" going on now by uninsured motorists in CA (and I'm sure elsewhere in the U.S.). These people either work alone (individuals who are unemployed and desperate for $$$ to provide for their family or drug habit), or they are part of an organized ring (yes, there are organized "front-ender" rings... just like how there are organized "begging" rings on the streets of LA). Basically, what happens is they drive a car that's worth practically nothing right in front of a nice car (which they assume belongs to a rich person, or a kid from a rich family), then intentionally get rear-ended by you (by either stopping suddenly so you run into them, or them intentionally backing into you... most often at a red light or stop sign intersection). Then they fake injuries and try to collect as much from you (or your insurance agency) as they can. They get money, you (or your insurance agency) pays for their car repairs and injuries, and you get increased premiums and/or are out-of-pocket some major $$$.

Once my gf was driving her C230 Kompressor at around 80 mph on the 5 South (flow of traffic) when the beat-up 1981 pickup truck in front of her stopped in the middle of the freeway (seriously, 0 mph). She slammed on her brakes and stopped just inches away from the pickup. For the next 20 seconds she heard the screeching of brakes and smell of burned rubber behind her (probably a good chance someone got hit back there). After that, the pickup accelerated as if nothing had happened.

Let this be a warning for all you with nice cars... keep alert and keep your your distance!

 

Well I gave this chick no info at all, not even my name. So hopefully she won't be faking injuries.

That's really pathetic though. I have nothing against low income people, but I despise the ones that act like they're entitled to everything at the expense of others.

 

Are there that many uninsured motorists in USA? I really don't get how you guys can have so many. Is it legal in the States or something?

Over here in BC, police cruisers automatically scan plates of cars they drive by, to check for plate validity and insurance. The moment it finds one without proper registration/insurance.. bam. $600ish fine for the driver and impound of the car. EVERYONE here is insured.

 

Nope, it's not legal... but when people stop paying (or don't even pay) their premiums (willingly or unwillingly), what are you going to do?

Over here the cops seem to always be undermanned and overworked. I'm sure they do scan plates to verify the car is registered with the DMV and not reported stolen... but I don't think they have time to run EVERY plate they come across (they need to punch in the plate manually into the computer), and since auto insurance premiums are paid every 6 months as opposed to the annual DMV renewal, I'm guessing there are ways to register your vehicle then becoming uninsured (besides faking proof of insurance or driving across the border without insurance in the first place... which probably many do anyway).



EDIT: Don't forget that UNINSURED is only one big problem... UNDERINSURED motorists are another big problem. What happens if you get hit by an underinsured motorist that carries insurance that can't cover the extent of your property damage and your injuries? Suing them is definitely an option, but what if they don't have anything worthwhile to take? Then you're basically going to have to rely on your own insurance to cover the rest (as long as you have UN/UNDERINSURED coverage). If you don't, then well... too bad?

 

Perhaps this varies a little by state, but in Maryland when your auto insurance is canceled for ANY reason (including nonpayment), the insurance company is required to notify the DMV (or as we call it, the MVA) that your insurance was canceled. If the DMV gets that notification and you have not returned the plates for cancelation, they send you a nastygram stating that they will cancel your registration if you do not send them proof of new insurance in a very short period of time.

I received one such nastygram years ago when I had traded in one car for another. I did return the tags from the old car the very next day but the MVA received the notice from my insurance company before the MVA actually processed the tag return. They were on my *** about insurance in the blink of an eye. I had to fax them the bill of sale for the new car that showed I had traded in the old car and no longer owned it.

No, they don't have to do it manually. Or I should say that the technology exists so they don't have to do it manually. Whether individual police departments have bought the technology or not, I don't know.

I do know that parking enforcement in some cities use these systems that include cameras and an in-car computer. They just drive around the city and when the system identifies a car that has unpaid parking tickets and is due to be booted or impounded, it gives a notification that it identified a car.

Yes, underinsured motorists is actually a bigger problem than uninsured motorists. State minimums are ridiculously low and the people who tend to carry only the minimum are those who don't have any money. If your relatively new Mercedes (or really any car nicer than, say, a Camry) gets hit by one of these people, there's a very good possibility that their insurance won't cover the full value of your car and the driver doesn't have any money to go after, so you end up making a claim against your own insurance when you weren't even at fault. And THAT, unlike an uninsured motorist, is completely, 100% legal.

 

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/U..._bunch_of_crap

 

I think most Americans are insured. It's pretty hard not to be.

Don't forget we have a lot more illegal residents in Texas and Southern California than you guys have up in Canada..and obviously they're uninsured.

This girl never actually said she didn't have insurance, but when I asked her repeatedly for insurance info she stared at me blankly.

 

I'm convinced that the worst drivers are the hasidic jews in boro park in their minivans and suburbans. :p

 

+111111111 If you are nice enough to let her go, then you shouldn't rant about how she damaged your ride.

 

Same thing happened to me in my Corvette, some jackass backed up into me. People these days are unbelievable... why would you back up at a traffic light without looking behind you? At least this guy had insurance.

 

Yes, most Americans are insured (probably), but the ratio of insured vs. uninsured depends on your local population. Here in SoCal, I'm willing to bet there are more uninsured drivers than a lot of other states. And in addition to what was discussed in the posts above, don't forget that there are also drivers on the road that are UNLICENSED as well, and cars with EXPIRED or INVALID/STOLEN tags. People driving these vehicles probably wouldn't bother becoming insured either... and with the economy in the state it's in, more people are choosing to underinsure or cancel their insurance. (Family friend who works as an insurance broker told me the number of people who decided to cancel their auto insurance has skyrocketed that past couple years... even though they are well aware that it is illegal... but to them it's either they feed their family or buy insurance, not both!)

 

That is correct, the technology is there, but not all PD's have (or plan to) implement the newer technology. Many are small enough they don't feel the need to, and others are so severely underfunded they don't even have enough money to hire all the officers or buy the necessary equipment (ie: safety equipment, radios, vehicles, fire power, etc) they need.