5:00 pm in Newport Beach. Sitting at a red light, and a drunk in an Expedition plows into the Tahoe Behind me, who plows into me, and absolutely accordions my trunk, and pushes me into the truck ahead of me. I'll post my camera phone pics once I figure out how to activate my Sprint Vision account features.

Let me start by saying I am fine, and that the Infiniti is outrageously well built. The rear crumple zone completely did it's job, absorbed all of the impact from a huge truck, and spared me from any whiplash, neck soreness, etc. The rest of the car survived, and although I'm freaking out about having a new bumper/trunk put on, my automotive fiance was the first to point out what a great job the car did of absorbing the energy. The trunk looks exactly like a truck drove right into it and accordianed it, but the damage stopped there. (fingers crossed!) Also, no airbags deployed, which saves exponential hassle as well - so that's a good thing.

This car is only like 2 months old ... cannot frickin believe it. Doesn't even have plates yet. The guy was so drunk, he actually stumbled away from the scene like he'd be able to just quietly walk away from this before the cops showed up and hauled him off. Turns out he has a pending Hit and Run he's going to court for ... I cannot believe this guy was behind the wheel of a car. Drunkest I've ever seen somebody - period. The lady in the Tahoe apparently has a lawyer husband, and when they go through his credit card receipts, if they find out a local bar or restaraunt was serving this guy and let him drive away, they are going to have a problem on their hands.

You know how you'd probably want to kill somebody for even scratching your car? Well this guy was so drunk, and so pathetic, that it wasn't even worth yelling at him - much less wasting a throttling ...

So now we'll see how good Mercury Insurance is, and I've got to find myself a rental car this afternoon. After 5 years of driving a nice used Maxima that never had an issue, I absolutely KNEW my luck dictated an accident as soon as I purchased a new car. I just didn't think it would be this bad?

Oh man, I'm going to be driving some rental Malibu for probably the next 2-4 weeks? Great. So besides needing to vent, I wanted to point out that even though the damage looks terrible, that's what it's supposed to do and this cars safety rating just went WAY up to me.

 

So sorry to hear about the car and the bad luck, but at least you're alive to post this. No one else in the car I take it?

Keep us in the loop and let us know how it goes - always something learned in situations like these.

 

Glad you are OK! On the bright side you could probably get her lawyer husband to represent you for free if you seek further compensation for damages.

 

I was involved in a similar accident in Canoga Park about 7 years ago, I was the middle car. The lady driving the car who hit me pulled around as though she was goind to stop (newish BMW) and kept going. I bounced into the guy in front of me and we both ended up having to eat our deductibles. Our agents both said the same thing. Even if the driver who hit me had stopped we were still stuck for the deductible because of multiple vehicles being involved. I'd stay in close touch with the driver of the Tahoe.

 

Oh man... that blows big time.
They should throw away the keys with guys like that!

 

Thanks for the words. No passengers, thank goodness. My fiance got blasted by a in a Saturn 2 years ago, and her neck still has issues.

As much as I'm furious about this, I am really lucky to be okay, because if the Tahoe wasn't there to absorb the initial impact, I would have been in HUGE trouble. The scary thing is this guy didn't even take his foot off the gas when he hit her, he kept his foot down while we were all getting squished. He was just completely out of it.

So now I've got rental car costs, deductible costs, and I have no idea who's insurance is going to cover what? Plus, with the new body kits on the 05s, this could take a while for the parts to be available? 94GXE has a good point, because since it's a multi-car, my insurance is really only going to care about the Tahoe, because that's the vehicle that hit me. I definitely have to keep in touch with her.

I'm also super-curious to see what happens to this drunk clown - because this is well above what a standad DUI type punishment would be.

 

I don't know about where you live, but I was involved in a similar accident some time back, I had an F-150 XLT, got rear-ended by a damned Toyota 4X4 PU, that had this huge ass push bar on the front, knocked me into the car in front of me, him into the car in front of him, damaged 3 or 4 vehicles, well, his insurance was responsible for all the damages, me, guy in front of me, etc. Problem was, he had the minimum coverage required by law, so he didn't have enough coverage to pay for all the damaged cars completely, his company paid my deductible, and I claimed it on my insurance, they went after him, but he was held responsible for all the damages on all the cars! My rates never took a hit on this because it wasn't an at fault claim, and them paying the deductible for me, was an admission of fault I guess!

 

I'm glad you are OK. The car seems to have done its job. It sounds like it is pretty badly wrecked-be sure there is no frame damage and engine damage. It might turn out to be totalled by the insurance company, which might be good if there are major repairs needed. There was another accident reported in the last week and you might look at that for more information.

Take care (and should we be afraid to ask where that nickname came from?).

 

wow thats some bad news. but nothing beats u getting out wakling to the guy and just clear out his chestal cavity with a swift kick(hey the impact did it!) lol, but nah man i hope everything works well with you, hopefully you get that lawyer to help u get a little bit more and go on a nice vacation........to a bodyshop for a custom body kit. lol

 

god 2 weeks?? that is so horrible...

we all know the car is never the same ever again once it's been in a sever accident

 

Glad to hear everyone is OK. Kudos on your self control and restraint.

 

I'm glad to hear you and everyone else is ok, and sorry about your G.

Unfortunately, California's "Dram Shop" law is quite weak. I believe it is limited to sale to minors.

 

Good to hear you are fine.

I'm not one to advocate frivolous law suits. But I absolutely abhor Driving while impaired. I think you should do everything in your power (or push your insurance company to do that) and slap as much damage on this guy as possible through litigation.

The system has shown that individuals who choose to drink and drive habitually break the law. Maybe if the guy is forced to pay out the nose, then he won't have any money left to splurge at happy hour.

 

that sucks . i just got my 05 blk sedan rear ended saturday. i allso dont have plates on my car , its not eaven a month old . **** like these sucks

 

Update: The DA's office called me to ask if I was injured and said they are prosecuting this fully. I have a friend in the office who can keep me posted on what eventually happens, so I feel good about that.

My insurance told me that all damages will go back to this guy, so we'll see what happens. She told me that if he has enough insurance, his insure should pay for the rental car, otherwise I'd have to take him to small claims court. Luckily, my parents keep an old Isuzu laying around just in case, so I'll have something to drive - I don't even want to mess around with getting a rental for 2 months then "hoping" to recover those costs from him.

Although I am pessimistic, the body shop said this is really not a tough repair. No frame rail damage, so they remove the trunk/bumper section at the factory welds, then re-attach a brand new piece straight from the factory. Only bad news is that it could be a month or two (or three) before Infiniti has the parts available.

Lone bright spot: The car will have very low miles for it's first six months of ownership?