HappyG

I was driving on I495 this Saturday afternoon. The car in front of me was slowing down as we were approaching traffic ahead. The cars in front of him stopped, he stopped, and I stopped as well. But the car behind was still approaching me. He slammed his brake hard right before the final moment, but it wasn't good enough. Too late! Boom! Not a strong impact but I felt and heard it. I got off my car to inspect the damage. The rear license plate was damaged. The area next to it was dented and scratched. And the passenger side rear bumper is now misaligned. We were on the express lane. After our quick inspection, we got back to our car and pulled over to the shoulder on the expressway.

I called police. Ambulance came in a matter of minutes. No one was injured, so they went away. We waited for the police to come so that we could get a police report of the accident. We waited, waited, and waited. After 30 minutes, we were still waiting. I called 911 again to see when police will arrive. The operator gave me the generic answer "they are on the way". We waited few more minutes and still no police show up. We then decided to drive to the police station to file a report. I took a photo of his license plate, driver license, registration, and insurance. Then I followed him to the nearest police station.

The police at the station didn't want to do anything. He gave us 2 forms, one for each driver. Basically we are doing our own accident report.

The other driver quickly filled up his form, wrote down that he reared end me, signed it, and gave it to me so that I could contact his insurance company. He also apologized for the accident.

Here are photos of the damage:

sniper27

iTrader: (2)

sorry to hear. but the bright side is, you're ok and it really isn't that bad. should be an easy fix.

G37CPA

The consequences of tailgating, especially on I-495 and other such insane roads.

JohnnysG

iTrader: (14)

Your username seems a little contradictory.

HappyG

Yes, I'm confident that body shop will fix it up and it will be like new. But I wasn't happy with the way the police responded to the situation.

HappyG

I recall the guy wasn't tailgating. He kept enough distance. He just kept going and applied the brake too late.

HappyG

At the moment yes. But I'm sure I'm be happy again once it is fixed.

jon23

iTrader: (1)

Glad you're ok. Also glad the guy who rear ended you didn't just take off and stuck around for all that. Terrible job by the police, where are they when we truly need them?

GhostFaceKilla

SadG. Ouch.

shivers

iTrader: (2)

Looks almost exactly like the hit my car took back in July. The shop that fixed my car did a fantastic job. Best of luck!

cy7878

iTrader: (1)

I was rear ended once. CHP showed up to basically tell us to move out of the way. California Hwy Patrol will not take any info if no one got hurt. CHP expects the drivers to exchange info and move on. This is where having a camera to take photos before the cars are moved will save a lot of aggravation later on if the guilty party decides later to dispute the facts.

tejasg37x

This is typical almost everywhere now...if they don't witness the accident and there is not evidence of a law being broken they only have the driver exchange information and let the insurance companies work it out from the information in the report.
This is the norm...

cereal2k

iTrader: (10)

Good that it was not more serious. Good points to note if in an accident also. You do your own police report, wow.

00Max00

I got rear ended once in my other car, same scenario like yours. The guy was on cell phone using a Bluetooth headset. So a distraction is a distraction, it won't get better hands free, you response to situations with your brain first after all. Those stupid people just don't get it.

tejasg37x

Unless there is a law broken a traffic accident is only a civil issue...that's why the police don't do anything other than provide you the report and they file it for record.
That's actually the way it's always been...in the past Police may have filled it out while you gave them the information, but today they are so busy with too many other issues. For a civil issue they don't have to do anything other than provide you the form.