My TwinAir 500C got rear-ended by someone. With Australia's terribad drivers, it was inevitable.
It was a 3 car collision where a Toyota (Camry?) sedan creeped forward when the lights were still red at the intersection, and hit the Toyota Echo behind me, who then shunted into me at low speed -- presumably the Echo driver hadn't been applying the brakes very hard.
Video here:
(Audio is relatively loud/clear because I had the fabric roof open)
Not shown: me cursing after the hit :bang:
It was a low speed collision but I felt a hefty jolt. We got out and exchanged license and rego details, and from external inspection none of our bumpers were damaged or even scratched (as far as we could see).
The next day, I looked over my rear bumper and still couldn't see any problems. I looked underneath the car, everything seemed fine and in place, nothing broken or dented. As far as I could tell, the Toyota Echo had contacted my bumper where the wide horizontal silver chrome strip is.
Tail pipe wasn't loose or anything. I tested all of my lights, indicators, rear boot hatch opening/closing, rego plate light, boot interior light, reversing sensors, roof mechanism etc, and all is working normally. The car still drives and feels the same.
I have a couple of questions for those who are more familiar with the 500's bumper and internal workings:
1. I'm wondering if it's still worth lodging a claim with the insurance company to get the rear bumper checked for structural damage? Do you think this kind of low-speed bump would warrant that? I hear that cars now have crumple zones and things like that which may take damage in a collision even though outwardly everything looks fine.
I don't know a lot about cars, but I'm wondering if potential problems could develop in future. At the same time, I'm loath to start anything with the insurance if it's not going to end up amounting to anything. I almost wish the collision had been more forceful and left visible damage so I didn't have to dither about this :/
I asked my insurance company and they said they don't keep a record of accidents if you don't lodge a claim with them. They said there is no time limit for when you need to lodge a claim after an accident. I asked if they could simply make a note on my account that I got rear-ended with all the details and they said nope, you have to lodge a claim in order for all of that to happen.
2. Is there anything else specific that I can check myself? I've done all the usual visual checks I can think of.
Your thoughts/advice are much appreciated.
It was a 3 car collision where a Toyota (Camry?) sedan creeped forward when the lights were still red at the intersection, and hit the Toyota Echo behind me, who then shunted into me at low speed -- presumably the Echo driver hadn't been applying the brakes very hard.
Video here:
(Audio is relatively loud/clear because I had the fabric roof open)
Not shown: me cursing after the hit :bang:
It was a low speed collision but I felt a hefty jolt. We got out and exchanged license and rego details, and from external inspection none of our bumpers were damaged or even scratched (as far as we could see).
The next day, I looked over my rear bumper and still couldn't see any problems. I looked underneath the car, everything seemed fine and in place, nothing broken or dented. As far as I could tell, the Toyota Echo had contacted my bumper where the wide horizontal silver chrome strip is.
Tail pipe wasn't loose or anything. I tested all of my lights, indicators, rear boot hatch opening/closing, rego plate light, boot interior light, reversing sensors, roof mechanism etc, and all is working normally. The car still drives and feels the same.
I have a couple of questions for those who are more familiar with the 500's bumper and internal workings:
1. I'm wondering if it's still worth lodging a claim with the insurance company to get the rear bumper checked for structural damage? Do you think this kind of low-speed bump would warrant that? I hear that cars now have crumple zones and things like that which may take damage in a collision even though outwardly everything looks fine.
I don't know a lot about cars, but I'm wondering if potential problems could develop in future. At the same time, I'm loath to start anything with the insurance if it's not going to end up amounting to anything. I almost wish the collision had been more forceful and left visible damage so I didn't have to dither about this :/
I asked my insurance company and they said they don't keep a record of accidents if you don't lodge a claim with them. They said there is no time limit for when you need to lodge a claim after an accident. I asked if they could simply make a note on my account that I got rear-ended with all the details and they said nope, you have to lodge a claim in order for all of that to happen.
2. Is there anything else specific that I can check myself? I've done all the usual visual checks I can think of.
Your thoughts/advice are much appreciated.
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