Big buffer, I mean bummer! If it's not totaled, the wait for parts--especially the A/C parts--could be excruciating. I hope the car protected you.
My initial assumption was it's totalled. But NADA still has ~25.5k (clean retail... of course I'd expect the initial condition to be 2 grades down and have to provide evidence that it's basically brand new, no scratches or wear anywhere.), the state is 100% loss for total loss but I think the ins. co is ~50%. 25.5k would be ~$28k with TTL I will have to get more pictures tomorrow in daylight. I am not sure how my insurance will handle the claim (UI or at-fault). The accident was hit and run (other vehicle left immediatel6y). I don't know if the other vehicle changed lanes into me, or if it stopped rapidly or what. I don't remember that part at all and don't even know what type of vehicle it was. PO said the police report is a hit and run. (but I think it's a week or two for actually getting that) Airbags went off, cabin got a fair amount of black smoke. Car refused to go into park or engage emergency brake. Car was on a steep incline on the highway, so getting out would have it roll back into numerous vehicles... 10 minutes with my foot jammed into the brake pedal (luckily the several times I rolled back a little no other accident, and no other cars ran into the back or to the open driver's door (because of the smoke). The car protected me from the impact, I didn't feel much. I don't know if I need to file a NHTSA safety complaint though. The car refused to engage park or the emergency break for over ten minutes, I only got it to engage after the fire truck had already arrived and blocked off 3 lanes of highway. I finally got the emergency break to engage after multi-tapping the on/off button first. This was in a middle lane of 65mph highway traffic...
I am glad you are able to share with us and don't appear to of been seriously harmed in the accident. Your description of the impact sounds like the Clarity did its part impact wise. Looking at the front end and bumper doesn't appear to have caved in much but the aluminum hood sure turned into an accordion.
Oh no! So sorry to hear about (and see) this. I am glad that you do not appear to have been seriously hurt. (From my experience though, it really is best to have yourself checked out if there is any possibility at all of injury. I’m 99% the neck issues I’m dealing with now are the result of being rear ended years ago and then bypassing a visit to the doctor because I was “too busy” and I convinced myself it was no big deal, it would get better, I was fine, etc. Big mistake — from both a health and a financial/legal/insurance standpoint.) The post-accident braking situation is concerning. Did you also happen to try engaging the brake hold? Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs
From the photo, it appears that the car impacted a higher profile vehicle. The DRL’s are intact, there is some scuffing on the upper portion of the bumper cover, some separation between the bumper cover and front fender. The most obvious damage it to the hood and headlights, and it looks like the radiator may have been impacted. Glad your ok, but if you don’t remember what happened, you should definitely seek medical attention.
I didn't black out or anything. I just mean I assume my brain prioritized... the situation after the collision was much more important, and much more dangerous, and I have a clear memory of. Black smoke and airbags, glasses flew off, and dealing with the car not going into park, in the middle of 65mph traffic all around me. Initially, the black smoke in the cabin gave me that irrational fear that the battery would light up while I was stuck inside jamming down the brake pedal. Adrenaline was up. I think relative to "normal" people, I kept my cool though after... It's just a car. I'm fine, as far as I know, and no one else was injured. I have insurance (and even without that, $30k loss wouldn't alter my life in any way). No other vehicles hit me while I was stopped in the middle of the highway. So far I've never become "upset" after an auto accident. What sucks the most is dealing with finding a new vehicle, or hunting down a collision place I can pretend to trust for repairs, etc. What I just don't remember is how the other vehicle got there -- whether it switched lanes in front of me while much slower (it was the 2nd from outside lane and the collision is on the right front of the vehicle, so that seems possible) or jammed on the breaks for some reason or what. None of the other traffic was slowing for any reason. Guess I should have gone with that for ins. (haven't called them yet.) But honestly I don't know, so that's what I told the PO and will tell the insurance. I think it's been ~8yrs since an at-fault accident, so it's not the end of the world if that's the way it counts although I don't know how much a larger claim jacks up premiums. A little sore today. The place I picked somewhat randomly to have the car towed to isn't open until Monday. Are you indicating the damage looks like it might be fixable or just about the collision severity in general? The PO/emergency people at the scene thought the front wheels wouldn't turn. They would, but I couldn't get the brake to disengage again after it finally engaged.
Just an observation about the damage visible in the photo. I’m not qualified to determine if the vehicle is repairable or a total loss, even if I saw the car in person. Air bag deployment can be an expensive repair and often sends a car into total loss status even when mechanical and body parts repairs are not that significant. It’s been about 14 years since I was clipped by an uninsured motorist. She departed her lane and hit the rear passenger side of my car. It was a flawless PIT maneuver. The car was put in a drivers side forward slide at 65-70mph. As the car scrubbed off speed, I was facing a semi tractor that was now traveling faster than me. The car traveled nose first into the tractor, striking the steps below the driver door. Had I been 10’ to the rear I would have gone under the trailer and possibly been accosted by the rear tires. This spun me 180 and into a passenger side forward slide, from which the car came to a stop. I took a breath and then the woman who started the whole thing, and watched it unfold before her eyes, T-boned me and blew out the rear window. No air bags deployed. I picked up my travel coffee thermos from near my feet and pushed the car to the shoulder. There were bent frame rails, timing chain cover knocked off and nearly every body panel had damage. Total loss. The driver of the semi saw it unfold and asked where she came from. I had no idea. Everything was black and white and silent until the moment of the T-bone impact. I can still recall nearly every detail as though it happened yesterday. Actually, I don’t recall what happened yesterday.
I have never had a Dash-cam, but it would be interesting to speculate whether a Dash-cam would have provided enough information to identify the offender in your case. I don't know if they have sufficient resolution to read a license plate, plus the way your hood was pushed up, that could have obscured the view anyway.
Yes I'd been meaning to get one. In this case not sure if it would have helped or hurt (depending exactly what happened). My best guess is seeing a vehicle lane change in front but I don't have a clear memory. Not sure how ins. will allocate. I relayed my memory of what happened, with the limited confidence. The cam wouldn't have picked up after impact, but probably would have before impact.
Very sorry about the crash but so glad you can move on from it. My 2018 Touring was rear ended in my garage (don't ask) with 800 miles on it. Insurance cost was $15,000 and took either 3 or 5 weeks, can't remember which as I have tried to let my 74-year-old brain diminish the memory. At 30,000 miles later there have been no problems with repairs and I expect none as the Clarity showed itself to be quite well constructed.
I'm so sorry this has happened to you, but I'm thankful that you escaped without injury. I swear by dashcams, they can prove to be a great way to prove your case and save you $$. Here is the dashcam I've been using. It has both a front and rear facing lens. It stores a separate MP4 file for each camera on the micro USB card, and can be set to either record in 1, 2, or 3 minute clips. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085Y61W5V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
At 2K resolution, the front camera can resolve license plate numbers if they are within 2-3 car lengths of your vehicle. The rear camera is only good to show the occupants inside the vehicle and a limited view of what's behind the vehicle.
@Bender , glad you are ok. That's all that matters. Not being able to park the transmission and no parking brake is scary. Maybe the drivetrain computer burned out or something. @Landshark, anything can happen in the garage. Don't expect the garage or driveway to be a safe place. My wife backed out our Subaru from the garage before the door was completely open. Garage door got all bend out of shape and the top of the car was damaged.
Ok. I just made up 2 new rules. 1) If you rear end a car parked in a garage, you’re not allowed to operate a vehicle on public roads. 2) Same rule applies if you back into an unopened garage door. So, maybe it is just one rule that applies to two different situations.
How did my brand new Clarity get rear ended in the garage? My wife of 47 years bounced our Honda How did our brand new Clarity get rear-ended in the garage? My wife of 47 years miscalculated the room available to pull in our Honda Ridgeline then hit the accelerator instead of the brake. The Ridgeline bounced off doing $35,000 damage to Clarity, Ridgeline and garage. While I am physically disabled most of the time, upon hearing the crash I actually ran to the garage. The only human misery was psychological, but to my enduring shame I didn't handle this well.
