Our van got rear ended by texting teen (luxury, buy, estimate)
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How hard is hard? Being rear-ended at fairly low speeds can actually seem pretty hard. You are not expecting it, so there's the shock factor. And since cars ride on big springs, there will be quite a bit of movement. Also, what are the sizes of the cars? If her car is big and yours is small, "hard" won't need a lot of speed.
Only you know what happened, but could it have been merely an error in judgement of the kind that new drivers make? If you think that's possible, why not contact her parents and get them to agree to pay to have the car inspected? If that shows damage or if they don't play nice, you can still report it to your insurance company. (But I don't know how quickly claims are required to be filed, and you'll obviously need to follow those rules.)
How hard is hard? Being rear-ended at fairly low speeds can actually seem pretty hard. You are not expecting it, so there's the shock factor. And since cars ride on big springs, there will be quite a bit of movement. Also, what are the sizes of the cars? If her car is big and yours is small, "hard" won't need a lot of speed.
Only you know what happened, but could it have been merely an error in judgement of the kind that new drivers make? If you think that's possible, why not contact her parents and get them to agree to pay to have the car inspected? If that shows damage or if they don't play nice, you can still report it to your insurance company. (But I don't know how quickly claims are required to be filed, and you'll obviously need to follow those rules.)
Exactly! I didn't see her coming, but it felt like it was a real hard hit. Now, upon checking underneath, she probably noticed us stopped at the light, slammed on her brakes just a little too late. By the time she hit us, her speed must have been way down. I have checked underneath and the only damage is the slight dent in the door. This van is old and paid for. I'm not going to worry about it. As for her, she was pretty shook up, and apologetic. We didn't tell her anything. We just traded info. I was 5 minutes away from an important interview. I didn't have time to wait for the cops. Last time we had someone hit us, the cop refused to write a report. He was too busy, or so he said. I don't know how her parents will handle her hitting us with their car. That's their problem.
How hard is hard? Being rear-ended at fairly low speeds can actually seem pretty hard. You are not expecting it, so there's the shock factor. And since cars ride on big springs, there will be quite a bit of movement. Also, what are the sizes of the cars? If her car is big and yours is small, "hard" won't need a lot of speed.
Only you know what happened, but could it have been merely an error in judgement of the kind that new drivers make? If you think that's possible, why not contact her parents and get them to agree to pay to have the car inspected? If that shows damage or if they don't play nice, you can still report it to your insurance company. (But I don't know how quickly claims are required to be filed, and you'll obviously need to follow those rules.)
I wouldn't cut the texter a break at all. Texting while driving is dangerous. Why give her the opportunity to slide by without severe repercussions. Next time she's texting and driving she could cause serious injury or death.
Add in another that would have immediately called the police/sheriff (I'm rural, no police in most places). I actually HAVE had this happen on my way to an important job interview, called them and let them know what happened with a request to reschedule. Zero issues and I still got the job (it demonstrates a few valuable things to employers).
Kind of a no-brainer, you basically enabled that girl to justify her actions. That's not a good thing as she's going to continue down the same path until someone Does make her accountable, one can only hope it's not through death (either her own or someone else).
Location: NYC based - Used to Live in Philly - Transplant from Miami
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If I were you, I would have called the police.
I thought it was necessary to have police report to make auto insurance claim?
Even if there is no damage below my car, I would still call the insurance company, to give the teenager's "a lesson".
God knows what will happen next? The teenager could ram and kill somebody like what happened 2 years ago (I fail to remember where it happened).
Texting for some reason seems to be more of an obsession than just using the cell phone which we all know is very habit forming. It is the perfect money maker for the cell phone makers and networks because it is so addictive. There needs to be direct intervention for people who use them and have accidents .They need help.I think some criminal liability should be placed on cell phone suppliers because their addictive products cause so much harm.So if you encounter a cell phone /texter who has harmed you in any way by all means do anything you can to make them be held 100% accountable...We need to look at them as we look at drug users and acoholics
I would have called the cops. You never know. Always protect yourself. It's quite possible this isn't the first time this has occurred with her. Get a couple of estimates-take pics-and contact her parents ASAP
Did she learn that she can't text and drive at the same time? What was her reaction to this happening?
Maybe she said something like... That was a dumb thing to do, I'll never do that again???
No doubt she won't learn until after she runs down someone in the crosswalk at a red light. Maybe with some luck she will instead hop the curb and breaks both thumbs as she smacks into a tree.
Yesterday on the way to work....the texter at the front of the line at the turn signal sat there for 5 secs after the light turned green...I gave one short horn beep and it took them another 4 seconds to get moving after that....as the light turned red they alone made it through the intersection.
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Maybe with some luck she will instead hop the curb and breaks both thumbs as she smacks into a tree. 
