RedneckJeep

Yup, that's exactly right. I left that part out. I was takin for granted that dude's wife was payin attention. Lets hope she was.

Mark Doiron

Yeah, that's the worst part. I'm glad the wife is okay, and hope that the liability processing works out towards her favor.

philj_22

Sgt P,
I am glad to hear your wife feels ok. Having been there I would suggest that she make an appointment and go get checked out by a doctor. You can have issues and feel any pain. Mine cost $13,000 when all was said and done. I thank someone for seatbelts every time I ride in a car!

Hellbound13

Sgt P

The wife will get back from visiting her folks this afternoon.
I'm anxious to see the damage...

I'll post some pictures tonight.

berg

There is no such law in NJ. When the BMW hit the Jeep if effectively took over control of the Jeep and drove it forward into the Ford.

This applies whether or not the Jeep was moving or stopped.

The statement that you must be one car lenght back from the car in front of you when stopped is impractal and illogical.

It is impractical because of the great distances that would be covered by multiple vehicles stopped waiting for a light or stop sign or such.

At most, there is a requirment of prudance. Meaning that the Jeep should be back a prudent distance. But that term is general in nature and will be determined by what's done by the majority of drivers in a certain area and argument of the facts of this particular incident.

It is illogical beacuse if the BMW was going at a sufficient speed the impact could have driven the Jeep more than one car lenght into the Ford.

Cops can write facts discovered on the scene but it is not up to them to render judgements as to fault. The lawers and Judge and if needed a Jury will make that determination.

Thank goodness no one was hurt. The lack of obvious substaintial damage to the Jeep can be attributed to the rugged body on frame construction.

But it would be wise to have the frame checked befor any release of liability is signed.

CIJeep

In Calif the last car is normally responsible to all in front.

Sgt P

Here's some shots of the rear. (the front only has a slight scratch on the right fender, and the corner edge of the bumper, so it probably wouldn't even show up in pictures...)

Sgt P

The cross member is bent back into the muffler.

Although I haven't driven the Jeep much, there is no shimmy, or mis-alignment...

There is a good bit of noise (muffler), and vibration, and it feels awkward during initial movement...

Obviously, I'll have it looked at by pro's, but with the cross member bending, won't that pull the entire frame?!?!
Is that fixable, etc, etc...

atomicmecha

Having been in an accident where I was spun into another car, I know what happens as far as who pays who, at least in Maryland. The driver that hit me, since she decided running a red light was a good idea at the time, got to pay for everything since I would have never hit that other car if she didn't hit me. It’s like dominoes. You don't blame the last one for all of them falling; it was the first one that caused it. Thank god I was in my 92 blazer. They still built SUV’s back then out of metal instead of plastic, so it was like a brick wall compared to her plastic mini van.


Yikes... that’s some bad frame damage. It doesn't look like much, but because that’s a cross member that is now tucked under your jeep and kissing the muffler, that means that the two ends are bent inwards. If you were to try and mount a new bumper, the screws will probably be a hair or two off. Hopefully, only the ends bent and the frame didn't warp someplace in the middle.


I can only imagine what that bmw looked like... hitting a tank with a trailer hitch sticking out like that. Must have been like in the movie Hancock where the train hit him.