Me too-Rear ended

He probably couldn't hear that you were in front of him. Those damned hybrids don't make any noise.

Tom

 

Sorry.

It's got to be bad that you had to witness it all happening. I recently had my brand new Honda Fit...less than two months old, hit from the rear and similarly I was at a complete stop at a light.

Maybe it's just coincidence but I'm begining to wonder if it has something to do with size of the vehicle and/or being a hatchback?

Probably not. But I've driven for decades and never been rear ended until I owned a small hatchback.

I love the convience, I love the vehicle. But I'd have to say, if I get hit again, psychologically I think I'd start to think about making a change...even if my reasons were unsupportable.

By the way, it's really nerve wracking dealing with body shops and insurance companies. In my case the damage seems to be very, very minimal but what they have all told me is that they can't really tell me what the total damage might be...IE: frame or otherwise, until they start to disassemble and inspect.

Visually the damage to my new car seems to be almost nothing, but since the wreck wasn't my fault and and the bumper was pristine and new...I'm proceeding. But in the insurance, bodyshop game it's hard to figure out who might or might not be on your side. Everyone seems focused primarily on just keeping cost down. Your damage and accident sounds more extreme. Good Luck with the battle...I kind of know what a pain in the butt it can be....

 

Hi Ed,

I'm very sorry to hear about your accident, and recommend that you immediately seek medical attention regarding your whiplash injuries. This will help to document your condition for purposes of a future lawsuit.

As it appears that only your rear bumper was damaged in the photos, my guess is that the driver behind you hit at an impact of 5 mph or so. If the driver had hit you at 45 mph impact speed while you were stopped, I don't think you would be healthy enough to be posting on PC right now.

You didn't post photos of your front-end damage, but if the front bumper cover is the only damaged item up front, then my guess is that your total repair bill should be around $2.5K - $3K.

 

Sorry to hear the bad news and wish you all the best.

I also think it has more to do with the age of the offending driver. There have been quite a number of reports here on priuschat where elderly drivers rear ended our forum members. It is a sad fact that in this society the elderly have no choice but continue driving by themselves with deteriorated driving capabilities and endangering other motorists as well as pedestrians.

I was thinking about the same. When my previous car got rear ended on the highway the trunk was compressed down to nothing. The only good outcome from that? I found priuschat!

 

I suggest if you have time before an impact like this that you power down the car, or at least put it in park. If the impact knocks you out you don't want to be accelerating anywhere. If you also move your head back to contact the headrest, you may reduce the whiplash injury. No one thinks of this at the time if they haven't thought it out before. Good thinking about flashing the brakes... if he was slightly more aware that would have worked.

I wish a speedy recovery.

 

Sorry to hear about your damage. Even though it is being paid by insurance it sucks to have that type of damage linked to your car's history. Based on your photos I can't imagine that the car hit you at 45MPH as the damage would be more extensive. If it was indeed 45, then the Prius is a very well made vehicle!!

 

I've recently talked to numerous bodyshops and estimators. Mine is a Honda Fit, but both being hatchbacks I'd assume the comments apply to both.

I have no exact idea how fast the young lady that hit me was going. I only know the speed limit is 40 on the street and that the impact felt and sounded substantial to me. I also know that when I initially exited the vehicle I expected to see a whole lot of damage to the rear of the vehicle. The front of her car was very visibly bent and damaged...however my Fit hardly looks scratched.

What every separate body shop told me was that A: They can't totally tell me what damage might be done, until they dissassemble. And more importantly B: That modern cars are designed to take impact from the back. What I was told was that the front of cars are designed to absorb impact and crumple the engine...to avoid smashing occupants in the case of a head on collision, but the back is designed with the opposite idea, to repel impact. Which would explain why the front of her car looked so much worse than the back of mine.

In the case of myself and the OP of this thread I can only hope they are correct. So far it looks like I escaped with very minor cosmetic damage....only time will tell.

 

Ed,

You have my deepest sympathy.

Don't I know the feeling, same thing happened to us two weeks ago.

Sucks ain't the half of it! :target:

PSL was only 35 MPH and we sustained more visible damage, so I
suspect your perp was going less than 35. We too popped forward
into the car ahead wiht light damage forward. Damage estimate
after disassembly ~$3K. I'd post more but am wary of somehow
compromising my claim.

Car should be ready Monday. I'll post comments, etc, on my thread.

 

Not that I care, but given the sexual orientation stereotypes that unfairly get attached to Prius ownership, I would vote for a renaming of the club.

...alright I'm being sophmoric...but sometimes I like to be sophmoric...

 

Hi Ed,

Hope that you are feeling better and recovering from your injuries.

For fun, I attached a photo of my 2001 when it was hit from behind in 2005 by a Dodge Durango, to show that I can also claim membership in the "club". My guess is that the impact speed was around 15-20 mph. The floor between the spare tire opening and the rear bumper had to be straightened and a sheet metal part replaced there. The trunk, tail lights and rear bumper parts were replaced and the rear fender sheet metal had to be repaired.

 

Would it help if we changed from Prius Rear End Club to
"Club Innuendo?"

 

45 mph? No way. Your back end would be sticking out a couple feet at each side and your roof would be buckled. Looking at that damage, unfortunate as it is, I recon he was doing about 10 mph, maybe 15 at a push.

Even at that speed it can give you a nasty bang and give your neck a good jar, but 45 mph it wasn't.

The main thing is that it wasn't bad enough to do you more damage. At least you're fit and well enough (despite the discomfort of the whiplash - and I know from experience that hurts) to post on here rather than be in some hospital bed somewhere.

Good luck with your recovery.

 

It does speak to his not being on the brakes that his bumper lined up. If he was on the brakes, his bumper would have dropped, which would have put more of the damage on his car.

There may be lots of bent stuff under the popped back bumper that we aren't seeing in the pics.

 

Prius safety design flaw? Re: Me too-Rear ended

Well here is a photo of my previous car after it got rear ended on the highway and towed away:

Yes it used to have a trunk before the accident if you are in any doubt. May I join the club even though it was not a Prius but at least it did get hit very badly?

Now more seriously, I was not hurt in that accident. In fact, I didn't feel the impact much at all. On the other hand, here the OP sustained multiple injuries with apparently less damage to the car. This makes me wonder about the safety design of the Prius: is the Prius too rigid on the back such that a rear impact would hurt the passengers much more than if the back had been softer and crumpled to absorb the impact (like the trunk of my previous car)?

 

Re: Prius safety design flaw? Re: Me too-Rear ended

While I'm OK with a nice big crumple zone in the front where the engine is, I'd be less OK with it in the back where the gas and battery are. I'm going to have to rely a bit on the crumple zone of the guy rear ending me to absorb that energy.

 

Glad you didn't get hurt.
That's a good thing that most of the damage was in the rear.
I was told by a service manager that heavy front end damage for Prius spells many mechanical troubles down the road.....
Now you have an excuse to get a new Prius.

 

2009 Prius--I suspect he acquired more injuries because he anticipated being hit and even suggested in a previous post that he was "standing on the brake." Even though he was not likely "standing" what it does suggest was that his body was very tense and muscles locked before impact. You are always going to sustain more injuries that way. Those that do not know they are about to be hit nearly always fair better because their bodies are relaxed (this is one reason why drunk drivers frequently walk away from accidents with little to no bodily injuries).

This is by no means to fault the driver for tensing and "preparing for impact" because that is just human instinct. Unfortunately, this is one situation where our bodies do us more harm than good by reacting to the situation.

EdtheFox, I wish both you and your Prius speedy recoveries!!

 

Hey Ed -

glad to see you are alright (relatively speaking). I've recently been involved in a rear end impact (see 18 Wheeler v. Prius), although mine was at highway speeds. Although my Prius looked a bit worse, it's true what has been said - until they start removing panels, they can't know for sure. The repair bill on my car came out to a little over $8500 - getting close to totalville. The good news is that my car was put back together seamlessly - and drives just as good as pre-impact.

My best personal advice is to REST. Back muscle injuries are tough ones - it's hard not to use/aggravate your core. Rest and rest and more rest are what's called for. Don't life things. Don't move things. Just don't anything. And yes, I'm speaking from my own experience.

Oh, one last thing - Get well soon!