Sigh =\ Rear ended another car :(

[htoniv]

So while i was leaving class yesterday evening i happen to rear end the car in front of me. It was at very low speeds prob 5-8mph.. and happened within couple of seconds. Not too sure exactly what happened myself as it was heavy traffic, felt like the person stopped and i didn't have enough time to react.

Anyways here are the damages.



After waiting 1.5hrs for the cops to show up, we finally filed the police report and we were on our way -.-.

Anyways This being my first accident, i need some advise on how to handle the situation.
Firstly, how bad does the damage look? Seems like the bumper is the only issue but the hood doesn't seem to be flush as it was before on one side, probably because the bumper was pushed down a bit. Also the Service stabilitrak message keeps coming along with the traction control off and slippery roads i think? And goes off after driving a bit.

What steps do i take next? Call Insurance right away? How bad of a damage does it look like? What should i do about the Stabilitrak? , Any information would be helpful.

[31B]

Call your insurance immediately. They will ask questions about the accident and damage to the car. Most likely your insurance will also be repairing the other guys car. Have your vehicle towed to the dealer/slash body shop of your choice and have them appraise the damage. You don't know what other damage may have been done besides the cosmetic stuff. Depending on your insurance policy the cost of towing, rental vehicle may be included as part of your policy.

[htoniv]

Originally Posted by 31B

Call your insurance immediately. They will ask questions about the accident and damage to the car. Most likely your insurance will also be repairing the other guys car. Have your vehicle towed to the dealer/slash body shop of your choice and have them appraise the damage. You don't know what other damage may have been done besides the cosmetic stuff. Depending on your insurance policy the cost of towing, rental vehicle may be included as part of your policy.

Thank you for the prompt response,
now i have been driving the car, it seems to drive fine.. other then the service stabiltrak coming on for a 2nd time and staying on for 15 miles, but its off again.Should i stop driving it and ask them to tow or can i bring it to the dealership myself?

Edit:
Also what i noticed today was the car did not go through regular "cold start phase" normally when the car is left lil over 2hrs without being driven it would go through cold start where the engine rpm would be over 1. Today i noticed it did not that after the accident. It went directly to .5
Note: I parked the car at 9:45pm and took it out at 3am. So thats a span of over 5hrs. Anyone else experienced this?

[PalmerGA]

You should ALWAYS contact your insurance company IMMEDIATELY whenever you have damage to your car.

Oh, and don't follow so close. You'll learn - the hard way apparently.

[DRKS1D3]

There are so many threads on here about people getting into accidents and not knowing what to do. How is this even possible? You wreck your car, you call your insurance company. Good luck OP. Don't follow people so close!

[Swacer]

What car did you hit??

[wocampb]

Originally Posted by Swacer

What car did you hit??

Looks like he hit a Grand Cherokee SRT8 judging by the exhaust and the bumper.

[AztecCamaro]

In my experience that looks a lot faster than 5-8 mph. Your not necessarily 100% at fault. If the other guy breached any duties he owed to you then he could share some negligence

[DJR]

Originally Posted by wocampb

Looks like he hit a Grand Cherokee SRT8 judging by the exhaust and the bumper.

That's one, for sure!

[Kleeeb]

Originally Posted by AztecCamaro

In my experience that looks a lot faster than 5-8 mph. Your not necessarily 100% at fault. If the other guy breached any duties he owed to you then he could share some negligence

It looks like the car he hit was much taller than his, and if the others are Correct with the Jeep Grand Cherokke SRT8, then Id be correct. If his bumper got caught and forced under the car somehow, It would easily tear it like that. I rear ended someone going like 5 mph and it bent my bumper away from my truck, and broke some sort of tabs and dented the metal on the front of it... So it's not hard To do a lot of damage with such little speeds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk .

[htoniv]

Originally Posted by Kleeeb

It looks like the car he hit was much taller than his, and if the others are Correct with the Jeep Grand Cherokke SRT8, then Id be correct. If his bumper got caught and forced under the car somehow, It would easily tear it like that. I rear ended someone going like 5 mph and it bent my bumper away from my truck, and broke some sort of tabs and dented the metal on the front of it... So it's not hard To do a lot of damage with such little speeds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk .

It was a Jeep SRT8..

Thanks for your input.

[vroomapunk]

Call your insurance, you will need a new bumper, grille, possibly absorber, etc. Hood may need aligning or replacement.

How high is your deductible?

Also, the stabilitrak light comes on if you look at the car funny, so there must be a sensor, or something along those lines that any shop can fix.

[htoniv]

$500 deduct able i believe..
Hopefully not all that, what from i can see the Top grill looks fine, the lights are working.

Thanks for the input guys i will call my agent on lunch break

[2012-1822]

Originally Posted by DRKS1D3

There are so many threads on here about people getting into accidents and not knowing what to do. How is this even possible? You wreck your car, you call your insurance company. Good luck OP. Don't follow people so close!

Sometimes you call your insurance company. In this case yes. I'm not advocating breaking the law. In Alabama you are required to file an accident report, aka call the poice, if there is at least $250 in damage. Very few "accidents" come cheaper obviously since if you scuff paint on two cars you've busted that minimum.

But, if it's an extremely minor accident, you know you are at fault and are willing to pay for the other persons car, sometimes you can talk them into a quick settlement, then your rates don't need to go up. Not saying I've have much experience with this.

Swear to God, I have a story for every thing. Years and years ago this guy cut me off in traffic, so I just didn't stop. He pulled into the parking lot after I hit him, I said "Do we need to call the police?" In a very heavy accent he said "No Policia!" That was the end of that. I wonder why he didn't want the police there.