So, I had a car accident yesterday.

I was cruising on 3rd gear in the city, in a narrow road, at about 12m behind the Nissan Qasqai ahead. We approached the traffic light and 10m before the Nissan reached it, it turned yellow.

Now, most (if not all) Athens drivers will speed up in that case, and I casually assumed he would to.
Instead he hit the breaks - hard.
The ABS can only do so much.

For the next hour we were giving statements to our insurance companies.

 

So what did you do now?

 

So what did you do now?

A good time to practice mastering bicycle front wheel braking....

 

For the next hour we were giving statements to our insurance companies.

That means you are both alive and uninjured. That's good. I never worry about property damage. That's what the insurance is for. I'm glad you are ok, and I'm glad you don't have to lose any sleep over the other person being hurt.

 

No, the collision happened at 10kmph. His rear bumper hanged a bit and on my end, the hood, the headlights and the front bumper were hurt.

The only thing I worry about, is that I feel I had it coming a long time now. City driving tends to pull you into a manic way of thinking.

 

I tend to take it easy. Unless doing so would hold someone up, I normally drive 5 - 10 mph under the speed limit.

It's a limit, not a speed target. Besides, it's nice to drive.

It's good to hear you are okay Georacer, that's all that matters.

 

It takes two. You should have anticipated that the driver in front might hit the brakes.
The driver in front should have anticipated that you run red lights!

 

I tend to take it easy. Unless doing so would hold someone up, I normally drive 5 - 10 mph under the speed limit.

It's a limit, not a speed target. Besides, it's nice to drive.

It's good to hear you are okay Georacer, that's all that matters.

Same here. I generally drive quite slow, and I'm what you might call a "paranoid driver". When I was first learning to drive, my instructor always told me about "the point of no return" when it comes to traffic lights. Something like if you're 30 feet from the light when it turns yellow, you should have enough time to slow down and stop. If you're any closer, you should go through. However, it is also very important to look around you before making a decision. It'll take a split second to look in your rearview mirror to see if there's someone following you closely. If he's close, then that should affect your decision.

When you say that he slammed on his brakes though, I get the feeling he was closer than 10 meters by that time, and he should have gone through. You, on the other hand, may have had to stop--it depends on how close you were.

Really, I've found it's one of those things you really can't make rules about. Different situations in different environments will require different decisions.

I am glad you are okay Geo. Hopefully this can be a learning experience that people rarely do what you expect

Good luck with the insurance companies. I know they can be a real pain in the....

 

No, the collision happened at 10kmph. His rear bumper hanged a bit and on my end, the hood, the headlights and the front bumper were hurt

Are we really allowed to discuss Georacer automotive modifications in this forum But of course glad to hear it was not that expensive meeting

 

Thanks, guys. It also hurts my ego, as I consider myself an above average driver, but I guess we all have moments of weakness.

 

What are traffic laws in greece?
In america, if you rear-end someone, it's always your fault

 

Yep, same here.

However, a friend of mine told me a funny story:

He was in his car, and stopped behind another car in the red light. They were idle, brakes on. At some point, the car on the front goes onto reverse and slowly backs up, in order to park in a space right next to my friend's car.
He goes ever so slowly and my friend has the time to flash him the lights. The driver undeterred backed and turned onto the right, until he hit my friend's car, without causing any damage.
If that wasn't enough, he demanded compensation, as he was "rear-ended". He wouldn't hear a word, but after his insurance seller came and explained how things were, he was more lenient.

 

How about your legal system,did you call police,or get a

traffic ticket.

 

I had an accident once. It was looooooooong ago.

A cop rear ended me and I went flying into a wall.
Funny thing is I had to repair my own vehicle.

He was a some high ranking officers play boy, so he does not have to do anything. Even though it was his fault.

Should I say more about what goes on..?

 

Tell your bother in-law,you said he was police or army.

 

Naaaah!...I don't hold grudges.

What u did is onto u. There will be a day when everything is judged u know.

 

I consider myself an above average driver,

Majority of drivers around the globe do.

 

One of the nice things about getting older is I don't freak if it happens. I don't like it, but I will not scream and shout, and act like a gorilla in a suit.

I have about 1 every three years, give or take.

One that torqued me off is it was a dark stretch of road with no lights (in my neighborhood, but still the city). I saw a bicycle in time to stop (No stinking lights!), I couldn't go around because if I took the time to look I would have hit him. The van tailgating behind me almost made it around, but clipped my corner.

Amongst the questions from the insurance company that irked me was whether I kept control of my vehicle. Heck yeah! That fool without lights is still trying to kill himself with someone else car!

I try very hard to keep safe driving distances, but in rush hour it just isn't possible sometimes. I kept trying to tell my Dad about what Dallas is like, he kept dismissing me until he had a chance to see for himself.

Glad to hear you made it through OK. Stuff happens.

 

The one that annoyed me the most, it wasn't actually the driver but a bystander. I'd gone into the side of a car that had pulled out of a side road on my bike. The car drove off and as I was lying in the road, bleeding and trying to work out if I'd broken anything, this old guy came over, looked at my bike and said "there's no tread on those tyres".
Didn't ask if I was OK, didn't realise it was 100% the cars fault, didn't get the plate, didn't realise that slick tyres are perfectly fine for bikes.
I gave him some choice words but managed to refrain myself from anything more.

 

I lost to my computer glitch a good post,I am going to try to recall as much as i can.

When I can,I was asking about your accident and cameras in the area.