I guess the jerk of the day is the jerk who caused my accident

We have all seen it many times. 4 lane road, driving along in the right lane, traffic fairly heavy, and some jerk just has to pass as many cars as possible so he can jump into the right lane at the last second, cutting someone off. Of course, the person he cut off hits their brakes, and so the chain continues until a car somewhere behind come to a complete stop.
Driving to work yesterday morning, route 28 south (ALS knows the road well i am sure), in the right lane going about 50 in a 55PSL. SUV in front of me, so of course i cannot see around it. SUV STOPS dead in the road. I slam on the brake, ALMOST stop, but just give it a little "tap". Whew, that was close ,then BAM!! I get HAMMERED from behind. Then another BAM!
All 4 of us pulled onto the shoulder. 5 women and me. I tapped an Equinox, that had almost no damage. I got hit by an older Elantra, and it hit me HARD. My front and back are damaged. The Elantra is a mess, and is puking coolant. A malibu hit the Elantra, but with minor damage.
Luckily, no real injuries, although i am pretty sore today. 3 of the 4 of us drove away from the scene, the Elantra needed towed and most likely is a total. My Kizashi will be repaired. This is the first accident i have been in since 1985, and that one was caused by the idiot who ran a stop sign and drove right in front of me.
THis is my poor Kizzys second trip to the body shop in 2 years(first was when a truck hit it while it was parked at work. I am not sure if it will stay around after this, but right now i just want it fixed.
Not a good Friday for me.

 

Sorry for your loss, BlackBelt. Hope your soreness subsides quickly and completely.

 

Whhhoooo- you got tagged- maybe $2000-$2500 ??
Not a good day- but no significant injuries
Any chance the person who caused the chain reaction got a ticket??
Don't suppose they stopped??

 

I'm sorry to hear of this but glad you're ok overall. Being on the road today is an enormous risk and even the best defensive driving doesn't eliminate the chance that you'll get mixed up in one of these chain-reaction crashes.

Kizzy's damage appears to be mostly cosmetic without much structural damage. No ripples over the wheel arches or on the c-pillars, so any bending in the rear can be repaired without affecting alignment.

Wishing you a quick recovery from the soreness and no lasting effects.

 

Since i could not see around the SUV in front(another reason i despise SUV's), i am assuming that someone cut over and caused this mess. Chances are i am right, and they motored on down the road oblivious of the mayhem they caused in their wake, as most of the ignorant aggressive jerks we see every day do.

When we opened the trunk at the body shop, the trunk floor was raised slightly, because the spare lived underneath and the Elantra hit that part. The spare absorbed some of the impact. Maxx, you are correct, there was no kinking in the roof or C pillars, so it looks like mostly sheet metal. My guess is around $5K. Once things are sorted out we will see. I got a call tonight(surprising on a Saturday evening) from the insurance company of the girl who hit me. They all like to record my account, which i have no problem with. The truth is the truth, and it is what i relayed to both my insurance company and the one i talked with tonight. They can sort this out. He did tell me that her Elantra was a 2007, so there is a pretty good chance her car was a total.
I have self medicated with ibuprofen and spiced rum, and the pain has subsided..LOL. Time to get some rest and hopefully tomorrow will bring a pain free day for me. Otherwise, i am heading to the ER. Considering how hard i was hit, and the damage to the Elantra, i am VERY impressed with the Kizashi. It protected me and did it's job.

 

Sorry to read this.

Id go for whiskey - fixes everything.

 

Even with a buffer, you're still vulnerable. Having to come to a stop on a road with a 55 limit means having to rely on the people behind you recognizing the hazard and stopping in time. Changing lanes or diving off the road isn't always an option, and in those circumstances, you're glad you're in a safe car.

 

Sorry to see this. Hope you are feeling ok. The car can be fixed. Take care of yourself first.

 

I know I hate these people sometimes. I keep BIG gaps all the time. The other day going 50mph on the right lane some jerk was trying to intimidate me but going inches to my bumper. They were so close that the head lights were being blocked by my rear. Just to mess with me since im driving slower but forget that this is a 5 line Fwy and no traffic at all. I just tapped my brake and then he just backed off a few inches. If I needed to hit it full on for any reason its over. Anyhow I just went into a glide so by the time we hit 42mph that's all he could stand lol.

 

That's what Jesus said.

Sometimes these things happen. I almost rear-ended a woman once , and I admit to following too closely. But speeds were low since we were both on the sidewalk.

Going back to 1986 , my only accidents were in 97 and 01 , both times hit from behind when stopped ( or nearly so). Both times I was hit by women (girls).

I hope you're okay , Blackbelt, and I hope they can fix the Suzuki properly.

 

Well, i am feeling a little less pain today, so i am not of a mind to go running to the ER. I think it was mostly my left arm, which was still holding on to the steering wheel when i got hit from behind.
I got a call from a PA state trooper today asking for details of the accident. I was a little confused by the call, since when the accident occurred, one of the woman had called the police and when they found out no one was hurt, they said they would not dispatch an officer.
Well, as it turns out, if any car is rendered inoperative, then no one is supposed to leave the scene and the police are supposed to come and take statements. I explained what happened and he seemed fine with my explanation, and told me that if i was ever involved in an accident again, to keep that law in mind, which i assured him i would.
My rental is a Chrysler 200 with the 2.4 and 4 speed automatic. I will report back as to how much i can squeeze out of it over the next few weeks.
BTW, the car that hit me was a 2007 Elantra. I know it was red, since it left it's DNA all over the rear of my Kizzy.

 

Well, i got the word today, the Kizashi is totaled.
When the woman hit me she rode underneath the bumper beam and mangled the whole rear floor. The entire rear half of the floor pan would have had to have been cut out and replaced. No way would the car ever be right. So i cleaned all my stuff out, took them the title and they gave me a check.
Of course it is going to snow tomorrow. I guess i am going to find out how well my smart performs in the snow.
Time to start car shopping. I really do not know what to get at this point. Pretty bummed, i really liked the Kizashi, it was a fine car. I may end just getting another one, who knows?

 

Better than having doubts about proper repairs.. you want AWD?

 

Most likely i will go with another AWD.

 

AWD is somewhat rare in the sedan segment. I remembered the Fusion is/was available with AWD so I checked Edmunds and indeed AWD is available. ...On the Titanium with 2.0L EcoBoost for $32k+ - as is common in Ford's lineup (adding useful features along with $10k worth of profit packing).

Beyond that or another Suzuki - Subaru, Nissan Juke, Tucson/Sportage, Mazda CX5, Honda CRV, Toyota RAV4. They're all "crossovers", for the most part. Suzuki really did an excellent job of defining and populating the niche of competent, sporty and low cost AWD sedans with respectable EPA numbers and the ability to beat those numbers pretty easily.

 

Thinking about an Impreza. Hadn't thought about the CX5, i wonder what kinds of deals are out there for one of those. I could almost pay cash for a brand new Suzuki SX4, or get another Kizashi with a little cash outlay.

 

If you have a set of winter tires for the Kisashi, they will also fit the SX4. They will also fit many midsize Chrysler/Mitsubishi, Kia/Hyundai, and Mazda/Ford because they're 5x114.3 with a 67.1mm center. Subaru uses a 5x100 wheel with a small center bore.

For fuel economy, comparing AWD automatics, the Kizashi offered 22/25/29, the SX4 is 23/25/29, the CX5 is 25/28/31, and the Impreza (sedan) is 27/30/36. The Impreza also offers a 5 speed stick rated at 25/28/34.