Accident w/Front and Rear Damage... Comments Please.

We were stopped at a light and Amapola got rammed from behind and
propelled into the car in front. This right and truly sucks, big time.

No apparent physical injuries to the five persons in the three cars.

Here is the essence of what I am reporting to my insurance company,
USAA. (Their accident hot-line says since it is not an emergency my
report can be done over the 'net.) I got all the pertinent info for the
other two cars/drivers concerning driver and vehicle licenses,
insurance data -- apparently we're all covered. I've taken it out to
protect the guilty.

Date/Time: May 2, 2010, 11:30 am
Place: 6010/6011 York Road, Baltimore, MD

I was proceeding northward on York Road. My vehicle was stopped in
the single northbound traffic lane at a red light at the intersection of
York Road and East Lake Ave. I had my foot on the brake. My vehicle
was struck hard on the center/ right rear bumper by a late model
Chevrolet Malibu also proceeding northward. There was no screeching
of tires before the impact. There were no skid marks on the roadway
left by the Chevrolet. My vehicle was propelled forward some 6-8 feet
forward and struck a late model Toyota Corolla in my lane, also stopped
at the red light. The driver and passenger restraint air-bags did not
deploy. Posted speed limit 35 MPH. My vehicle sustained considerable
damage to both rear and front body work and structure.

Driver of late model Chevrolet said that she had taken her eyes of the
road "for only an instant." There was a large curbside garage sale on
the right hand side of York Road, about 50 feet before the scene of the
accident.

My vehicle:
Two occupants, seat belts in use, no immediately apparent injuries.
Visible Vehicle Damage includes: (Photos in this album.)
* Rear bumper: bumper cover heavily scratched, gouged, bent, and
distorted.
* Rear hatch: bent and distorted, hatch will not close and car cannot
be locked.
* Large gap between rear hatch and body on upper right side.
* Dislodged right rear turn signal
* Rear frame: bent(?) at rear hatch latch/locking mechanism
* Front bumper: bumper cover heavily scratched, gouged, and
distorted. Upper edge distorted and pushed up under front edge of
hood.
* Front license plate holder: torn off. (License plate was recovered.)

Late model Chevrolet Malibu
Driver: 79 year old female
Two occupants, seat belts in use, no complaints of injury voiced at scene.
Visible Vehicle Damage includes:
* Front bumper, cover heavily scratched, gouged and distorted.
* Hood, many small dents and an approximately 1 in. by 2 in. tear near
centerline, just behind leading edge.

Late model Toyota Corolla
Single occupant, seat belt in use. Driver complained of a headache and
said she was going to a clinic for a check-up.
Visible Vehicle Damage includes:
Rear bumper; bumper cover scratched and gouged.

All three vehicles departed the scene under their own power.

Police involvement: Scene was visited by Baltimore Police Officer. He
would not make a report as the accident did not result in personnel
injury requiring immediate medical assistance and an ambulance or
any of the vehicles being rendered unable to leave the scene under
their own power as per Departmental policy/instructions.

I am deeply concerned that the frame of my vehicle is bent due to the
distorted metal just visible below the rear hatch latching mechanism
and way the rear hatch is off center by the hatch glass.

The distorted bodywork and frame around the rear hatch and tail light
assemblies requires careful restoration as if not done well leads to
moisture getting past the gaskets/seals and subsequent standing
water, dampness, and fungus growth in the car. This would be
absolutely unacceptable.

I will accept only Toyota OEM parts as replacement parts and insist on
my right to verify that the vehicle has been restored to before the
accident condition before I accept the required repairs.

I insist that a four-wheel alignment be done and any adjustments
made to bring all readings within Toyota specifications as part of the
repair.

I require a no-cost-to-me rental vehicle be authorized immediately for
my use while I locate a competent repair shop and during all repairs
and related matters.

The last five items come from my reading of all too many postings of
accidents here.

Are there any other information/concerns/requirements that I should
be including?

Folks in the greater Baltimore Metro Area, do know of a trustworthy,
very competent, no BS collision damage repair shop that you can
recommend? (Is that an oxymoron?)

Thanks in advance.

 

FWIW, despite the damage, the car was driveable with no
apparent mechanical or electrical issues.

One not surprising result of the collision was that the plastic
cover that wraps around the rear bumper and lower body was
shoved forward. The result is that the forward facing ends
popped free of their restraints and stick out some 4 inches.
They form anti-aero scoops at the worst possible place, at the
rear where best aero practice is to smoothly lead air separated
by the passage of the car to rejoin with as little turbulence as
possible.

What surprised me was how great the effect was. Given that
air temps were ~70 degF, I was familiar with the roads, traffic
was light, the car was fully warmed up, I would expect about
55+ MPG on the 8 mile trip home with PSL of 35MPH. My
ScanGuage registered only 44 MPG.

That's a 20% hit from an apparently small disturbance.

There is the possibility that the alignment has been screwed up
which would contribute to the MPG reduction. If so, it wasn't
noticeable... but yes, it could still be there.

The message here is Toyota did a great job with the aero tweeks,
and even small changes at critical locations are going to seriously
hurt FE/MPGs.

 

I too would like to hear more on what the problem could be.
I haven't had an accident/incident in 30+ years that required a claim.
So, I can claim not to understand the interaction between what I've
posted and my claim.

What I posted was essentially sanitized;
* no identifying info on the other vehicles or drivers,
* open-ended observations on possible injuries and vehicle damages.

I welcome comments from folks with actual experience on this or
direct insurance company involvement.