I picked up my sister from the Buffalo airport today and was driving her back home to Toronto. My mom decided to come along for the ride since she had nothing to do. The drive there was uneventful, drive home on the other hand was a nightmare.

My mom decides to let my sister ride in the front of the Rubi on the way home, since she hadn't been in it yet. My mom graciously gets in the back seat and we're on our way home. I was driving on the interstate in the slow lane when I come to a stop because of traffic....I hear the screetching behind me and see a lady coming at me in my rearview mirror. I squeeze closer to the car infront of me inorder to give her more room to stop. She was able to stop a few inches short of my bumper, but the two cars behind her had to swerve into the shoulder to avoid a collision. So after that you would think she'd be more careful right?....wrong.

About half a mile down the road we are still talking about how close of a call that was when again traffic stops. This time there was no screetching....just a bang. I saw her coming in the rearview and had nowhere to go. The police estimate she hit us doing about 55-60 mph. She never even touched her brakes and pushed me into the vehicle infront of me.

To make a long story short, her car was completely totaled....both of her airbags deployed, her windshield was smashed, and her front end was very bad, leaking fluids all over the road. She had 3 kids in the back, all had minor injuries. My mom was rushed to the hospital with neck and back injuries, but was later released after lots of x-rays. The car I was pushed into had minimal damage and occupants were shaken up but fine.

After I was finally able to inspect for damage I found the following:
-rear bumper is crushed
-front bumper was pushed into front passenger tire
-rear tire carrier cracked in half
-trunk floor warped
-tailgate warped
-muffler pushed nearly sideways
-rear passenger shock is bent

All this on my 5 week old rubi with less than 2000 miles on her...needless to say I'm pissed, but happy that nobody is seriously injured.....it's bitter sweet. I wish the insurance would write it off and give me a new one because it will never be the same again.

I'm by no means a mechanic but thats what I can see....I have to say, the Jeep held up so well that even the medics and police were saying that they were impressed. I was actually able to drive it home very slowly (although I probably shouldn't have, but didn't have much choice).

The lady was charged with following too closely and her car was towed away (totaled). I'm finally home, and getting stiff and sore. I will be going to the doctors tomorrow to get checked out. I am supposed to leave in 2 days for my vacation to Florida as well...I'll see how I feel, but everything is already booked.

I still have to take my poor Rubi to the dealer...but now I am considering changing the bumpers and exhaust to some aftermarket stuff since it will have to be replaced anyways.....how would I go about asking the dealership to do that, or who would I ask? Anyone have ideas on this? I'm rushed because like I said, I leave for Florida in 2 days, and need to make a decision.

Any help or suggestions are apprecieated...I will try to post up some pictures maybe tomorrow if I'm feeling up to it. Be careful out there.....some terrible drivers roaming the streets!




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Man, sorry to here that....glad everyone was OK. I'm always worried myself about people stopping in time behind me as well. Do you have any pics of the accident? Hope you get a new one.

 

I am so sorry to here about your accident. I am happy to hear that the jeep performed well in it. I do hope your mom is ok and that everyone else is ok.

We had a similar type of accident in my wifes 4runner. It was a pain in the a$$ to get everything taken care of through insurance and health wise. I hope it all works out well and goes smoothly.

Best

Matt

 

i hate careless drivers.

glad everyone is alright.

 

Sorry to hear about that but after reading how well your JK did I am glad I got one. That is the thing that scares me the most is other drivers. She was probably on her cell phone. I am a firefigher and we make wrecks all the time. OVer half the time someone is either talking on it or trying to text message. Hope you get everything fixed. Good luck
Andrew

 

That sucks, glad no one is seriously injured.

I was in a simular accident this past winter.

Driving my Liberty to work, my house is a on a fairly steep hill, and this past winter in Calgary was pretty bad for snow and ice. Some girl in her parents mini van was following way to close and way to fast. She almost rear ended me at the bottom of the first hill at a stop sign. Then about a block later I was entering a ramp that exits my community, the ramp is curved and on another steep hill, even if it has only snowed a bit it is still a shit show, also add in the fact that there is a weave zone at the bottom and this is one nasty place for crashes. It is common place that you sit and wait at the top of the ramp until the car ahead of you is into traffic, and then you go. I waited, car ahead got into traffic so I started to pull ahead. As soon as I got on the ice I noticed a couple cars that were signaled to move into my lane at the bottom of the ramp/hill so I slowed down no problem. I have seen some bad crashes from cars locking there tires and sliding right into weaving traffic.

Anyways the dumb girl in the mini van followed me into the ramp and when I slowed down she slammed on her brakes and slide right into me. probably going about 40 or 50 Km. This almost knocked me into the weaving traffic, anything other than a jeep and I most likely would have been t-boned by traffic going about 70km.

Her mini van was a right off and had to be towed, the Liberty only had minor damage, the tire mount took alot of the force. Randomly, the manager at the body shop was a freinds dad, so i got the enitre back end replaced. Including the bumper, spare tire, rear gate, inside floor. He also got me a Wrangler Saharra Unlimited as a rental which I got to drive around for 3 weeks. Becuase of this im getting my own wrangler now in a couple days (so excited).

By the way. The day of my accident there was something like 800 crashed is Calgary. So I had to wait for two something hours for the police and the tow truck to come for the girl that hit me. The temp that morning was a warm -45 with the windchill.

 

Sorry to hear.......and glad no one was hurt really bad ...........hopeflly they will total your vehicle and you'll get a new one asap...............

 

Once the insurance company decides what to pay for returning the vehicle to it's orogonal condition then you can talk to whomever is doing the work and see how much extra it will cost you to get aftermarket parts put on. The only problem is the insurance company will specify what they can put on and if you change that and have a problem with the work the insurance company will not stand behind it. My insurance company guarentees all repair work done at a certified shop from thier list. It will be right to your satisfaction or they will make it right. The problem is this only covers replacing what was on it with a new replacement that is the same.

 

Sorry to hear this, hope you are ok & so is the family.

Where were you when you got hit? back on the QEW or on the 190?

I have come so close to getting rearended on that damn 190 i cant recall how many times, especially near the grand island tolls.

 

You would think that people living in such climates would eventually figure out that one, it is slippery and two, the driver needs to pay attention. I see the same crap here in Maine. Especially the 4x4 trucks and SUV's. Oh, it's four wheel drive so I can do whatever. Even the Govenor was in a bad winter crash because his idiot driver was speeding and passing and totaled the tax payer supplied SUV. I had the tail destroyed on a new Explorer Limited by one of those ahole drivers.

Glad all of you got out OK.