Steve_R

Lol

George's_Vette

I give up after 20+ years in LE I can't reason with you. Just because your wife got a raw deal in one situation doesn't mean the entire world works that way. Never said the OP's accident was at night. I was making a point regarding lights to the rear. They have to work. They don't work the cops have to investigate the accident to determine who's at fault. No lights, they loose. Since there was no accident involving the truck it's mute. Just a guy and his wife in a Vette who should be happy no one was hurt. I am.

You are entitled to your opinion on this issue as am I however I'd fight tooth and nail and hire a lawyer if I rear ended someone with no brake lights and was found at fault. The lights are there for a reason. Not just decorative.

George

George's_Vette

Steve:

I stand corrected and I'm wrong. Just checked with a friend who (also in LE) OP would have been at fault and the truck cited for no brake or turn signal lights. Can't say I agree but I'm wrong.

Have to work on getting that law changed. :-)

George

su8pack1

Glad you're OK

BlueAngelSAE

Your now correct..truck had contributating factors to the crash but the op failed to reduce speed to avoid a collision. Glad the OP is ok, the car can be fixed but if following the op must have been distracted or not paying attention ahead to avoid the hazard as he knew the truck was ahead and traveling slow behind it. Many people get serious injuries or die from serving out of the travel lanes to avoid collisions.



George...Not sure why you think the law should be changed.....

George's_Vette

I have a pet peeve for equipment violations. Your job to keep your veh mechanically sound. Lights working etc. How else is the guy behind you going to know you are stopping or turning? If the laws ignore this why bother to put brake and turn signal lights on vehicles?

I was a police/fire/911/medical dispatcher for 21 years. Yes I have an opinion. I contacted a friend I worked with who retired after 25 years as a Sgt. IMHO he would cite to avoid conflict. This "you rear end someone and it's your fault" is BS with no extenuating circumstances. So the person at the rear can go to court and contest the citation. Cops frequently cite and let the courts iron out the details. And like me, every cop has an opinion. Just like everyone on this forum.

I probably follow and get out with 2-3 people a week locally and let them know they have rear lights out. I live in a very small town. If they go where I go I let them know. I guess for my protection since they are one brake light away from me possibly rear ending them with no brake lights it's for my own protection.

I guess it all comes down to my expectation that others equipment is functional. I don't think any of you who is moving down the road behind traffic and all of a sudden the car in front of you is racing towards you with no sign of them stopping would disagree, they need brake lights if theirs are out for some reason. I sort of look for brake lights when I'm driving.

George

Steve_R

In my wife's accident she was stopped on a highway turning left. While waiting for oncoming traffic she was rear ended by a teenager who never hit the brakes and hit her at 55 mph or so. Messed her up pretty bad and destroyed the car. The kid got a ticket for causing the accident. His daddy hired a lawyer to contest the ticket and contest that his kid was at fault. Their argument was that my wife's brake lights and turn signals weren't on. Since the car was destroyed there was no way to test them after the accident. The judge gave both the kid and the lawyer a good tongue lashing while explaining that if you can't tell a car is stopped in your lane of traffic you shouldn't be driving. He found the kid at fault for the accident.

There may be extenuating circumstances, but in most cases if you run into the back of someone it's your fault.

OP, sorry for the hijack of your thread.

George's_Vette

Amen Steve

Shame they didn't have an accident investigator on scene to check your wife's tail lights. Easy to determine if they worked or didn't by how the elements look. But it would likely take a fatality accident to bring in that level of investigation on a car crash. Glad that was not the case.

Hope your wife has recovered from this crash.

PS: I have friends who live on Wranglers Terrace in the Black Forest of Colorado Springs. Any idea how that area faired in the fires you guys have been having?

George

BlueAngelSAE

My pet peeve is drivers that don't pay attention when driving.....one of the very basic fundamentals of driving is to pay attention to what's around you and any experienced driver can easily recognize a hazard ahead. Drivers have a duty to follow at a safe distance, reduce speed to avoid a collision. There may be contributing factors to a collision, but if I am stopped ahead of you on a road, you have a duty to observe that you are closing in on me and I'm not moving....( if I am visible ahead..no rain,fog, darkness w/o lights,etc) it doesn't matter at what speed your traveling, your experience and responsibility as a safe and lawful driver should tell you your closing rate is going to cause a problem. You don't need my lights to tell you that although its a very helpful tool that provides better safety for all.

I wasn't a dispatcher but an LEO,... Keep in mind the insurance side of accidents is a civil matter between parties and insurance companies. LEO job is to look for violations of law and contributing factors.

I hate to point it out but in this OP's case I just can't justify any driver not following at a safe enough distance not to recognize the vehicle ahead was slowing down or stopped ahead to avoid a rear end collision....surely an old beat up pickup truck can't stop quicker than Corvette. Even though the lights are contributing factors the OP could have done better as a driver in observing ahead or providing a safe distance.

How many manual transmission drivers to you thing slow down with out using their brakes( hence on brake lights) and if on flat level surfaces how many keep the foot on the brake pedal when stopped....with an auto you have to so not to move forward but not with a stick shift.

bigblock427

Sorry to hear about that. But I am glad to hear you and your wife are alright.

jimmie jam

Vehicles can be fixed. Bodies, not so much. It's great that you all were not injured.

EDinPA

The truck's lights were not malfunctioning. The truck's driver just have a vastly more sophisticated sense of style then the OP. He had just tinted out his brakes because it looked 'sick' on his ride. I hope OP has learned his fashion lesson.

EDinPA

It should have been beknownst to you by that fact that this one vehicle was not moving and as you proceeded down the road the vehicle became closer and closer.


All kidding aside, would you have felt justified ramming into the rear of the truck if it had broken down in the road? Would you have felt justified if it was not a truck, but rather a child on a bike stopped in the road? Would you have blamed him for not having brake/turn signals?

'right' or 'wrong', inattentive driving is expensive.

debo

That's terrible, glad you are ok.

Mhelvic

I have been kicking myself in the butt since this happened because I'm usually very attentive when driving. I agree it was my fault for being inattentive and I'm not blaming the driver of the truck with the in-op lights. Thankfully, we were not injured, but venting on the forum is a little therapy for me since I won't know how bad the damage really is until tomorrow.

Steve_R

You have a better attitude about it than most would. Cars are fixable.

JJC5

Sorry this happend. I have to say, you have a great attitude! I hope everything works out okay.

BlueAngelSAE

Don't beat yourself up about it, things happen and as long S you can walk away and potentially change from it all is good....really your c6 just participated in a road course and you took it off course....the car will be just fine in the end.

ruxvette

Cop told me once that unless the vehicle in front is backing up it is pretty much always the car in back at fault.
This was right after he backed into me trying to respond to a call.

need-for-speed

I work for a company that has thousands of company vehicles on the road including the one I drive. This is a huge liability to the company and because of that, they pound driving safety into our brains .... over and over. Smith Driving, etc. As a result, I have not had an accident that was my fault in over 25 years and I drive quite a few miles annually in the Houston area.

With all of that, I can tell you that I came close to rear ending an old truck about 6 mos ago because his brake lights weren't working. I can tell you that we rely on other vehicles brake lights more than you realize ....until one stops in front of you. Trust me - it will surprise you when they stop and no brake lights come on.

If it were up to me, I would split the liability 50/50 for this accident. But it's not up to me and the driver of veh 1 did not stick around.

To the OP - sorry that happened. Glad you and your wife were not hurt.

And one more thing - many people would be too embarassed to post what you did. Thanks for sharing it with us. By raising awareness, you may have unknowingly prevented someone else from having a similar accident.