Hello all,

My wife rear-ended someone in our ML at a "Red light right turn" situation. Here's the details.

At the light before the scene of accident the light was green but the other car didn't move. My wife noticed he was looking down at his cell phone and gave him the friendly honk. The guy put his hand up to signal his apology and drive off.

At the next light (scene of accident), the light was red and it was supposed to be treaded as a stop sign. The guy stopped but didn't proceed even when the cross traffic was clear. About 5 seconds later he decided to make the turn but slammed on the brakes all of a sudden. My wife didn't expect him slamming on his brakes and bumped into him. His excuse was there was a car approaching. But he did admit he wasn't paying attention at the cross traffic. My wife suspect he was looking at his cell phone again causing the lack of attention to the intersection, and he didn't deny it.

We offered paying 80% of his quote to get this done and over with but he wanted the full quote and seem like he was trying to avoid insurance.

My question is: Are we at fault in this situation? Or it's 50/50 due to the possibility of him on his cell phone at the time?

Thanks in advance guys...

 

Are you asking for a legal opinion? If so, consult a barrister. Doubt you can prove anything beyond 50%. You have to be prepared for stupid, innatentive people, unfortunately.

 

Despite the other drive not paying attention you're still at fault at least 50%. It doesn't matter what someone is doing in front of you, you have to be paying attention to what's ahead. If there's a parked car in the middle of the road ahead and you run into it because "parked cars aren't supposed to be in the middle of the road" it won't get you out of being at fault because you ran into it. Maybe others will see it differently but this is just my opinion.

 

^ This.

The OPA should proceed with caution because in Ontario, unless you have solid evidence, witnesses, police report filed in your favor, etc., the person driving into the back of another car is by default seen as at-fault. This is what I understand from an acquaintance that had a similar situation.

If you are able to settle this without involving insurance, even if its 80% of the cost, you might be better off.

I'd get professional/legal advice if I were in your situation, which could have happened to anyone.

Curious, how extensive was the damage? How did the ML hold up?

 

I'd bet my last dollar that his insurance co will go after your's for the repair and your's won't even fight it.

Dumb driver or no, your wife was either too close to safely stop, wasn't paying attention either or a little of both.

 

This.
As a career law enforcement officer and traffic homicide investigator, in almost every state there is law that you must maintain enough distance to avoid impact if the vehicle ahead suddenly stops.
So (legally) either she was following to close to avoid a crash, or was inattentive and did not see the sudden stop until late. Either way, it's careless driving.

The reason for him stopping is irrelevant, legally. He could have seen a dog in the road, spilled coffee on himself, had a stroke, or whatever. Even if he admitted to stopping for no reason, then both drivers would get tickets (him for obstructing the road, her for careless driving).

I know that's not what you want to hear, just trying to save you time and money on a fruitless endeavor.

 

Your wife is 100% at fault.
It doesn't matter what the other guy is front is doing.
If your wife rear ends him, then she's at fault.

 

Just curious, did your ML have Distronic?

 

in quebec its your fault if you rear end someone.You were eitheir following too closely or not paying attention.The only way you could get out of it is if you can prove he stopped for nothing.

 

Here you are 100% at fault unless you can prove he selected reverse gear!

 

Thanks for all you input guys.

No I don't have DISTRONIC and wonder if that would work as the other car was off to the side ready to make that turn.

 

That's how it works in VA as well. Stay classy and pick up the tab.

 

Well if you rear ended the car in front of you, then Distronic most certainly would've picked it up because it was directly in front of you right before impact. Since W166 has Distronic Plus, it probably would've intervened and stopped the car completely. Just food for thought when picking up your next car.

 

So, Distronic Plus is always active? I had always thought that it would only react if you were using cruise control

 

I have Distronic on my R which will only intervene when cruise is on. I have mine set up so it will give an audible warning if I'm closing in too fast on the vehicle in front of me and I will have to manually intervene.

With Distronic Plus, the system will intervene even when cruise is off by adjusting the brake force on tap because it includes Brake Assist Plus. So I don't think it'll stop for you because that system is called Collision Prevention Assist which won't be standard until 2013, but when the driver steps on the brakes the full brake force will be in effect. So the Brake Assist along with the audible beep may have prevented this particular incident.

http://www.daimler.com/dccom/0-5-121...0-0-0-0-0.html

 

When cruise is active, the car will stop by itself - I get that. When cruise is not active, the car will go ahead and allow you to hit a stopped car in front. That leads me to this question: Say you are approaching a stopped car and Distronic Plus 'knows' about it. You barely touch the brake pedal. Will the car go ahead and apply sufficient braking to stop your car (if possible) or will it only intervene if you hit the brake pedal in a 'panic mode' style?

 

This.

 

I have 2013 SL550 with active Distronic and I came inches from rear ending a car last night that came to a full stop, began a right turn on yield, gassed and moved 10 feet or so and it suddenly stopped again. Distronic did not notify me (with beeps) nor automatic braking.

My Distronic/lane control operates correctly when I have cruise control set and it generally notifies me with beeps if I'm rapidly approaching someone just before I switch lanes.

Our 2012 ML has blindspot but not active (blindspot).

 

While I've never used it in practice, Collision Prevention which is new for the 2013 ML in theory intervenes and presses the brakes to a complete stop after the beep warning and no subsequent reaction from the driver occurs to prevent a rear end collision. Currently only a few models in the MB lineup have it to my knowledge but they'll be rolling out on more models and probably throughout the whole lineup as standard equipment in the future. (Collision Prevention uses the same radar as Distronic but you won't have Distronic cruise abilities unless the option is selected).

 

I understand the Distronic Plus will stop the car when it is within 0.6 seconds of a collision. thats pretty damn close!

Can't wait for the new vejhicle with this

 

Also works this way in NY. If you rear end someone, even if they slam on the brakes for no reason you are at fault.

They will say that she was too close to him. If she wasn't, she would have had time to stop.

Good Luck.

 

Actually Distronic Plus will apply maximum breaking 0.6 seconds of a collision. There is no guarantee you car will not impact whatever is in front of you.

 

Rear end crashes are never cut and dry if the rear vehicle's driver makes statements that insinuate the collision was staged by the front vehicle or caused by stupid driving by the front vehicle driver.

If you change lanes and quickly come to a stop, such as at red lights, and you subsequently get rear ended, you may be at fault. This is true in any state.

Always try to get witnesses, take pictures and call the police and fire dept. ALWAYS! Try to get the other driver to admit inatentiveness, get an apology, etc. DO NOT rely on the police to do this as they don't know anything about how insurance companies work.

I went through major pain figuratively and literally when the person who rear ended me lied about all of the details. It took 4 months of investigation and multiple recorded interviews to have the other driver's ins accept liability. I was stopped at a light for 15 seconds when the driver slammed into me and totaled my car. The photos I took and the police report were in my favor but I still was not assured a slam dunk resolution even with my well versed attorney making sure I don't get screwed over.

My suggestion is to call the police, and also request paramedics before you exit your vehicle. Then get out with your phone and film the first few minutes of your interaction with the other driver and bystanders. Don't point the camera directly at them but act like you car recording the vehicles --- you will still pick up audio in the background.

Take photos of everything police, fire, street, cars, interior of other car, damage, etc.

And don't talk to insurance agents, DMV, etc without first talking to an attorney. It stinks that it has to be this way but the ins cos know what they are doing and you don't. They will trap you with what may seem an innocuous statement. They do this every day and are pros at it.

 

The "prevention" part is the beeping from the IC. The automated braking is only once its too late (the braking provides a "virtual crumple zone"). The system will also activate the seatbelt pre-tensioners.

 

So the car will only stop if distronic plus is activated? Any way to have It on all the time at every start.