My new baby isn't so new anymore

[jkaplan]

Got rear ended today just short of the main toll plaza on the Dulles Toll Road going West today. Traffic stopped (including me) but the person behind me didn't. I now am the happy owner of a bumper with someone else's license plate indented into it. Looks to be all bumper surface damage. Everyone was ok, no air bag explosions. Everyone drove their cars home. Now to see how long it takes to get a new rear bumper.

Can anyone recommend a Toyota body shop?

[jchu]

FYI,
rear impacts will _not_ deploy airbags, only front (and side if so equipped) impacts will deploy airbags.

[jkaplan]

FYI,
rear impacts will _not_ deploy airbags, only front (and side if so equipped) impacts will deploy airbags.

Sorry, should have mentioned that the person that hit me did not have their airbags deploy and mine didn't deploy when I was pushed into the car in front of me.

[Frank Hudon]

The skins and the foam under pad are normal stock in the warehouse for your region. I'd check with the Toyota dealer and see if they can recommend a good shop, might even have a body shop of their own, or one that several dealer use.

[DaveG]

Interestingly enough, most of the Prius accidents that I've heard about have been people getting rear-ended in the car.

Maybe they're just getting so distracted trying to read the Hybrid Synergy Drive emblem that they're forgetting to hit the brakes...

Dave.

[V8Cobrakid]

That makes me worry. I don't want my baby getting hit. A lot of the peope around here get rear ended all the time. No i have higher chance of it

[mcmurphy]

I heartily recommend Precision Collision.

I had a close encounter with a concrete pole in my parking garage that left deep gouges in the rear bumper of my three-week old Salsa Red. They patched (and painted) it very nicely.

Precision Collision
7901 Kincannon Place
Hilltop Industrial Park
Lorton, VA
(703) 550-9777 1 (866) PCI-REPR Fax (703) 550-1770
E-mail: info@pcirepair.com

[Sun__Tzu]

So you exchanged insurance info and everything, right?

I've always wondered what you're suppose to do after you get rear-ended. I've heard that its actually better to release your brakes, so that they don't absorb all of the energy of the collision. Release your brakes for a split second, and then stop hard the moment right after impact. Anyone know if that's just hot air?

[autoxic]

So you exchanged insurance info and everything, right?

I've always wondered what you're suppose to do after you get rear-ended. I've heard that its actually better to release your brakes, so that they don't absorb all of the energy of the collision. Release your brakes for a split second, and then stop hard the moment right after impact. Anyone know if that's just hot air?

You won't have much time to think about it during a collision unless you practice. Also, it would seem safer to hold the brakes to prevent your car from rolling into other cars or oncoming traffic.

Rear-ending collisions would be much less common if people would actually look a few feet ahead of their dashboard. Watch two or three cars ahead of you and you will be a much safer driver. End of mini-rant.

Of course, if bumpers were actually bumpers like they were in the 1970s, these minor collisions would not cause any damage!

BTW, sorry about your car jkaplan.

[jkaplan]

You won't have much time to think about it during a collision unless you practice. Also, it would seem safer to hold the brakes to prevent your car from rolling into other cars or oncoming traffic.

Rear-ending collisions would be much less common if people would actually look a few feet ahead of their dashboard. Watch two or three cars ahead of you and you will be a much safer driver. End of mini-rant.

Of course, if bumpers were actually bumpers like they were in the 1970s, these minor collisions would not cause any damage!

BTW, sorry about your car jkaplan.

Thanks. As I said, I did end up slightly tapping the car in front of me due to being push forward a bit by the collision. I don't recall if I released my brakes or not. I have to agree, there isn't too much time to think about it. Traffic stopped abruptly. I was worried about stopping my own car, let alone worry about getting hit. I think the person behind me wasn't looking too far ahead, instead she was focused on the (formerly) lovely rear end of my prius.

For those that want details, we immediately pulled our vehicles to the side of the road, as that stretch of the toll road is pretty heavily traveled. After making sure everyone was ok, we all exchanged driver licenses and insurance cards. I copied down names, address, phone numbers, driver license numbers, car makes and models, license plate info, insurance companies and policy numbers. What I didn't get was year of the vehicles involved and whether they were two or four doors. For some reason, all the insurance companies cared about that. I wasn't about to go walking in traffic to see whether the car that hit me had four doors or two. Anyway, the person I was pushed into was smart enough to get VINs for all the cars involved, which helped a great deal once I called her to get that info. Next time, I will copy EVERYTHING from the license and insurance card, then walk over to the other vehicle and copy the VIN from the car itself.

As of now, I have an appointment on Friday at a Toyota Certified Body shop to get the damage inspected. This body shop also happens to be on the list that the insurance (state farm) company likes, so the repair should be straight forward. They messed up my fine " Rear bumper applique", so I'll be getting a new one of those as well. Didn't seem to protect the bumper at all.