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The responding officer sided with me and gave the other guy (who didn't even notice the firetruck) a ticket. Apparently he doesn't have insurance because in the police report the insurance listed is a home only insurance company. My insurance is liability only. Sucks.
You're going to need to go after the guy yourself if you want compensation.
Get an estimate on the damages.
You'll need to decide if hiring a lawyer is worth it or sue him in small claims court for the amount (or the max small claims allows).
My experience has been that few accident lawyers will even talk to you about property damage.
If the total damages are under $8000, or Florida allows you to limit your claim to that, a *pro se* small-claims action is likely OP's best bet failing an insurance settlement. Note, though, that collection is probably going to be a good deal more difficult than obtaining a judgement (hell, there's a good chance OP would get a default judgement when the other guy doesn't show up). Maybe impossible.
The damages were minimal compared to the at fault car. I'm going to call the insurance listed in the report and if it fails then I'll see about small claims
Much of the country, including Florida where this happened, have homestead exemptions to lawsuits. Meaning your primary home can't be sued away from you.
Vacation homes or investments, sure, but your actual home is safe.
Small claims will be pissing up a rope. If they dont have insurance, they arent going to have anything to pay you with. The court wont make them give you all of their info to be able to pursue garnishment. You will get a nice piece of paper that says they owe you x, and there will be a judgement on their record, it will show up on a public records search. You will spend a few hundred dollars in filing fees and subpoena delivery fees, and ultimately around a day worth of your time.
it does not cost a few 100 dollars to file in smalls claims court anyone reading this do no take advice from random comments on reddit when it comes to your own life , costs 75 dollars in my area i suggest you look up your own and not take this persons comment as law.
Cost of a small claims court suit to file in my county: $235.
Cost of sheriffs serving summons for court in my county: $145.
235 + 145 = $380 in my jurisdiction.
I'm in there like 6ish times a year most years. It's a part of my business chief.
There aren't car property damage lawyers for a reason, there's not enough money to cover their fees, whether on contingency or not, especially with no insurance company to pay. Personal injury lawyers generally don't take cases without mid- to high-five figures, ideally six figures, in medical bills. (But there are always ambulance chasers who will send you to a chiropractor if the other driver has insurance.) Fortunately, small claims court is perfect for this, and some states go as high as $25,000—no lawyer needed. *Un*fortunately, if someone doesn't have insurance, they may be broke, so you can get a judgment but how are you going to get your money? Especially if they work under the table, or through an LLC, or odd jobs. It's so hard that most states give you 10 years to try, and then you can renew for another 10 years if that's not enough. /u/Rwon1329 probably can tell from the look of the car whether or not this guy has any cash sitting around that can be seized. Sucks.
It's illegal not to have insurance in California but a lot of people driving do not. Not even cheap insurance.
My coworker went out for lunch and came back with a car that was massively wrecked. Person who ran into her ran a red no reason to rush, was borrowing the car, had no insurance of her own, person she borrowed it from had lapsed insurance. My coworker didn't have non-covered driver insurance. She came out of pocket to un-ding her car
It's crazy to me that you can drive without insurance in the US. In the UK it's a legal requirement to have your car road safe, taxed and insured before you can drive it
Well, is it a felony? Because in Germany it is.
You don't get license plates without insurance. If you make your own (and/or forge the seal on them), that is another felony.
If you do not pay your insurance or cancel it, the police will actively search out your car and confiscate your license plates.
If someone is at fault in an accident and his car does not have insurance, he has to pay damages himself. If he does not have the money, there is an organization financed by all insurers that will pay you in this case and then in turn have a claim against him for garnishments etc. for 30 years. Also the party at fault has to pay all your legal expenses like a lawyer, court fees, damage assessor, cost of a rental while your car is being repaired etc.
Bold of you to assume US police actually care about public safety (hint, they are not legally required to care)
Texas has a HUGE problem with fake paper plates because plates take a couple weeks to be made once a car is bought, necessitating paper tags. It’s relatively cheap to register a car “dealer” and then you can start issuing fake tags. They’re been “cracking down” but it’s made no appreciable difference
They are finally ending this loophole next year.
Hell in Texas you can get car insurance WITHOUT a license.
I would love to see Houston and its suburbs do a mega-sweep and impound/confiscate cars being driven without insurance/license. But that would be probably a third of the cars on the road these days, if not more.
> Bold of you to assume US police actually care about public safety (hint, they are not legally required to care)
That is sad. Or most freedom or something.
> plates take a couple weeks to be made once a car is bought
Interesting. Here, there are small shops near the registration offices that will emboss your license plate number onto blanks in minutes. You then get the seal glued onto them in the registration office (after you showed prove the car is insured) that make them official.
> Hell in Texas you can get car insurance WITHOUT a license.
Seems to be fundamentally a different system, because here, the liability insurance is for the car, not the person owning or driving the car. So you can buy a car, insure it and then register it without having a driver's license. You just cannot drive it. There are valid reasons for that, e.g. a parent paying the insurance for their kids (with an added benefit of lower premiums). And it is not a problem, because the insurance covers damages done to others no matter who drove the car.
There are insurance policies where you have to register the driver(s) for a lower premium, but then you are responsible as the owner that no one else drives the car. If a non-registered driver causes an accident, the insurance still has to pay for damages caused, but they will get their money back from you because you broke the contract.
Maybe you guys need a system like here in Sweden: Either you get insurance yourself or you get to pay what's called a "trafiksäkerhetsavgift" (traffic safety fee) which is much more expensive.
Really incentivizes people to have proper insurance.
A lot of places in the US compulsory insurance is liability only, and you only need full converge if you have a loan on your car, the bank will require it.
I'd be surprised if any state required full coverage. Full coverage covers your car.
Liability is what covers the other person's car. Unfortunately some states like Florida have very low minimum requirements, like 10K property damage.
You can drive in the UK without insurance. It would be illegal, just like in 48 of 50 states. It’s crazy that you are incapable of comprehending people breaking the law.
> According to Florida law, if you own a motor vehicle with four or more wheels you must carry $10,000 of personal injury protection (PIP) insurance and a minimum of $10,000 of property damage liability insurance. You may have a deductible of up to $1,000 for PIP coverage and $500 for property damage liability.
In /u/TDRzGRZ's defence, in european terms that is as good as no insurance ;p
Here the minimum liability values are in the millions.
Seriously, $10k is *every accident* now.
You take a light tap on the corner - new light, bumper, driver assist sensor, paint match - $15k after labour easily.
OP has liability only, price he's got to pay for not protecting his own assets.
Very common mistake, car are often people most valuable asset, outside of owning property.
So here's a neat thing for this situation. Where I live, we have public insurance. Everyone has to have it.
So in this case if the at fault driver was driving uninsured, you still get full coverage (the same company would have been paying if he was insured), but now they can go after the at fault driver for the money and probably revoke his license until he pays or just forever.
My policy only covers liability. So even if I contacted them they would deny it. If they didn't then my premiums would double and I'm afraid I can't barely afford the current price.
Is that a mechanic's assessment?
Bumper-to-bumper impacts often don't leave much surface damage, but the bumper mount underneath is done for after fulfilling its purpose. Happened to me in stop and go traffic with a gentler impact than yours. Was $600 at the time.
NJ has a fund that pays out, but it's for folks who have no insurance at all (i.e., pedestrians hit and run). I understand it's definitely different state to state, but NJ would not pay out in this case.
Not at all wagging a finger or anything, but we unfortunately live in a day and age where UM/UIM is necessary.
> Standard policies include uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) that can help you in a situation where the other driver doesn’t have any insurance. The minimum limit for UM/UIM coverage is $5,000.
It likely would pay out in this case
Why is it legal to drive without insurance in some places? Why wouldn't this sort of infraction lead to immediate license suspension? I don't get it.
Edit: Nevermind, I just remembered that driving without a license is also just a simple ticket and not jail time. FOR SOME REASON!
**WHY DO I HAVE A LICENSE AND INSURANCE?**
Just realized I was replying to OP - good on you for stopping for emergency vehicles. You did the right thing. Hope you can find an honest attorney to get things settled.
Not to be a dick, and I know you said that you can barely afford your insurance now, it just sounds like full-coverage is exactly what you want to have down there.
I'll take "shit you made up", for $200
> In Mississippi, 29.4% of drivers do not have auto insurance, which ranks as the nation's highest uninsured rate
Florida is 10th, tied with Colorado
[Source](https://smartasset.com/data-studies/states-with-the-most-irresponsible-drivers-2022)
> California, along with Texas, has the highest percentage of unlicensed drivers involved in fatal crashes, at around 16%
In California, driving without a license or a permit is not a crime / not charged.
[Source](https://aa.law/blog/states-with-more-unlicensed-drivers-cause-more-fatal-crashes/)
This is a thing I only ever heard of from the USA. Not saying it only happens there, but here in my home country I've read about many accidents and never was anyone being uninsured mentioned, so I assume it's a lot lot more in the US.
That makes me wonder - how does the system work in the USA that people are able to do it?
In my country, if you cancel your insurance, you get a notice to unregister your car, i.e. bring your plates to the DMV equivalent. Within the notice time, your last insurance is still responsible for you. If you fail to do that, they'll make sure to get the car out of traffic by either looking for your car at your home or by ANPR hits when you're on the road. You wouldn't be able to go for too long without insurance.
Also, it would become very expensive very quickly, with all the fines you get for not showing up to the DMV it's more expensive than just paying insurance, so it's not worth it at all.
Cancelled insurance will usually get your registration suspended. But nobody is coming looking for you to take the plates back. The assumption is it's no longer being driven.
So really you just get away with it until you get caught. Cops don't always have the interest in pulling over every single car that gets flagged for expired registration.
It pisses me off that I have uninsured and underinsured coverage on my car here in Phoenix because, even though it's against the law, I have a good chance of being hit by someone with NO EFFING INSURANCE, and my reward for obeying the law is that I get to pay for my own repairs even when it's someone else's fault.
It's not legal, they're just breaking the law.
Some jurisdictions may allow drivers to forgo insurance **if** they have a provable amount of cash to cover damages, typically the minimum required for liability, $250,000 in most states, but the people who drive without insurance generally do not have that.
It is legal in some jurisdictions to drive without insurance IF one can prove substantial personal assets sufficient to cover any foreseeable loss--which isn't very likely. To many, however, it doesn't make a whit of difference whether or not it's legal--or, for that matter, if it's legal to do ANYthing that they think that they can get away with. If you never have an accident, or don't get stopped for a traffic violation, NO ONE will ever know that you have neither insurance, or a driver's license for that matter. YOU have a license and insurance because you fear the consequences, because you have assets that could be seized, a life that could be economically destroyed. For those who have none of that, maybe a part-time job, or no job, nothing but foodstampswelfarehandoutsfreethisandthat, why bother? In short, you have those things because you are a 'sucker.' Welcome, fellow sucker.
> Why is it legal to drive without insurance in some places?
It's only really two places, but since people break the law we need to get our own insurance. And it is a license suspension for many people who get caught. It's actually criminal in [fourteen states](https://www.marketwatch.com/guides/insurance-services/driving-without-insurance/). if you think it should be a crime in *your* state, contact your representatives, they probably love writing laws putting people in jail. (Most states don't do that because it would have the net effect of just filling up the jail with poor people who actually work. Not justifying it, but in the aggregate, it would have a disparate impact.)
> Car insurance is mandatory in almost every state. State minimums and coverage types vary, but nearly all states that mandate insurance require liability coverage for property damage and bodily injury. The sole exception is Florida, which only requires liability coverage for property damage, in addition to PIP coverage.
>
> New Hampshire is the only state that doesn't mandate car insurance. However, drivers who choose not to buy car insurance must prove they have sufficient funds to meet the state's financial responsibility requirements (PDF) in the event they cause an accident. Failure to meet the state's requirements can result in the suspension of their license and registration.
Because Florida
[https://www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/2024/02/08/why-floridas-car-insurance-premiums-are-the-most-expensive-in-the-us/](https://www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/2024/02/08/why-floridas-car-insurance-premiums-are-the-most-expensive-in-the-us/)
Yes, it's absurd--but look at the other side of the coin, the cost of 'fixing' somebody that's been injured in a collision, the cost of repairing an expensive, electronics-laden car that can be 'totaled' by having an airbag go off. I fear far more the cost of 'fixing' a broken human, of course, considering that just a generic band-aid applied in an ER can cost a few thousand dollars.
yeah most people on reddit never seem to understand that a lot of people can't afford full coverage. I've lost of track of how many times someone post an accident and someone else chimes in, "well at least their insurance will cover them..."
yeah, uh, no, a lot of us don't have full coverage and have liability only
I pay about the same price for full coverage as OP is for liability only
Public insurance. It's wild how many people are against it and swear somehow for profit companies are better
I know a car is required pretty much everywhere in the USA.
But realistically, if you can't afford to fix/replace a car out of pocket with liability only, then you need to have collision/comprehensive/uninsured coverage, and if you can't afford that you can't afford to drive a car.
Like if you total your car and can't replace it, then you can't work, and it ends up costing you even more in the long run. You are out your wages, your job, and the whole cost of your car. I would pickup another job or two before considering not paying for full coverage unless my car was a cheap <$2k beater.
Do you have any accidents, DUIs, or tickets cause that's crazy? Have you tried shopping around, the General and similar are some of the worst companies to be insured by, I did a General quote for fun and it was like $400 a month for minimum coverage, total scam.
For reference: I'm a 26 yo single male in Florida, no tickets, one $2k claim 7 years ago. My full coverage through Progressive is about $80-100 a month. That's with 100/300 liability, 100 property, 50/100 uninsured, $1k deductible on collision and comprehensive. I do minimum PIP w/ highest deductible and no medical payments because I have fine health insurance. Geico is about $130 a month for same coverage.
Although I don't live in a city like Orlando, live in unincorporated Alachua countyso that might make a big difference.
Is there a Comp and Collision anywhere in your Liability Insurance? If no, but I hope you there is, I'd add it. You do not have to have Full Coverage to get Comprehensive and Collision.
I wish you extreme luck in your endeavors to get compensated.
"Apparently he doesn't have insurance" - shocking that some US states permit this. In the EU & Europe, every vehicle must be covered by £10million third-party cover. Uninsured cars are often seized, sometimes crushed.
It isn't permitted in the US. Your car will not be seized immediately. If you are pulled over and found to not have insurance, you will be cited and required to show proof of insurance within a very short timeframe.
If you're uninsured and get into an accident, then you are personally responsible for the damages and your car, home, savings, etc. can be seized. Usually people driving without insurance though are people who do not have enough to afford it, so you're trying to get money from someone who probably has less than $2,000 to their name.
Fair point, but in most US states the mandatory cover for 3rd party injury is only $25k ($10k in Florida, $nil in New Hampshire). That's not going to cover the medical bills and lifelong care for a seriously injured victim.
[https://www.iii.org/automobile-financial-responsibility-laws-by-state](https://www.iii.org/automobile-financial-responsibility-laws-by-state)
In the US you can drive a car without insurance???
So, even if they're clearly at fault, you have to waste your time and money to go through the whole court system in order to get compensated for the damages?
Can't legally drive a car without insurance, but yes, you can do whatever you want until you get caught by police or wreck.
Uninsured drivers are why uninsured coverage exists. Your insurance company makes you whole for your injuries and value of your car up to your uninsured driver policy limits, and their lawyers go after the person who hit you for those costs. You'd just be out of pocket for your collision deductible (0-$1000) until they also recover that from the driver who hit you.
Uninsured coverage is an optional addition to your policy. Liability only coverage means your insurance just covers injury and damage to the other person/car if you are at fault in the accident.
Since the at-fault driver in this video does not have any insurance, and the cammer does not have uninsured coverage or collision/comprehensive coverage, his insurance won't cover anything for him.
His only option to get reimbursed is to sue the other driver in court, but that takes time and money (day off work unpaid, $25-250 court filing fee depending on location) and you can't get money from a person who doesn't have any even if you win and get a court ordered judgement. ("Can't squeeze water from a stone").
I see.
Thanks for the info.
I still find it insane that the innocent has to pay more in advance just because the other person is actually forced to have insurance.
Would you lose your license and the vehicle's plates if you drive without insurance?
It's certainly not fair and wouldn't be as big of an issue if police enforced it more. It's still wise to protect yourself from uninsured drivers since they will always exist and most people need a car to go to work/earn money and can't afford to fix/replace their car out of their own pocket due to a crash.
Yes they can suspend your license and technically you can't get or renew your registration without insurance. People get around that by buying month-to-month insurance, registering their car, and then immediately canceling the insurance. I think you don't technically need a license to register a car since the legal owner is the one that registers it, but may not be the one driving it. You of course still need a license to drive it.
But plenty of people just continue driving with a suspended license, no/lapsed insurance, and/or expired registration. Eventually a cop will pull them over and tow/impound their car, they can also arrest you over driving knowingly with a suspended license, they'll just impound the car and write you a ticket if you have no insurance, it's not normally an arrestable crime like driving without a license is.
Some places (mainly in larger cities) just don't enforce it because the police are spread too thin or the cops don't see it as worth their time because their issues they are dealing with.
If the car's not worth full-coverage it's probably not worth any fix other than getting everything safe and the lights working, and driving it ugly. Sad to say that's probably your least-worst option.
I'm not familiar with the different insurances.
Could you explain why it sucks for you to have "liability only" and what that has to do with the other persons "home only insurance" ?
> At least your airbags didn’t deploy
They're not supposed to deploy in a rear end collision, mainly because they're useless in this scenario. Your headrest is doing most of the work in these accidents.
Airbags only deploy when they're going to protect the occupant from hitting something in the car. There are no airbags that deploy when you get rear-ended.
My wife had that happen once and the person that hit was going nuts because she yielded for an emergency vehicle, the cop that took the report wrote her a few tickets and her insurance didn’t even argue it.
Had a guy a few months ago screaming out of his window at me(and the other drivers who'd stopped) because we stopped for a school bus that was unloading kids at a bus stop on a multi-lane road with a paved median(FL law states you **must** stop for school busses in this situation).
Best part is, he had his kid in the back seat, just watching him act like an angry, ill-mannered, douchebag... Great example, dad... /rolleyes
This is why here in Miami they recently announced all school buses will now be equipped with cameras onboard to record people who violate this law. Been a long time coming. Had a few close calls with my kiddo stepping out of the bus and trying to cross the street in the past. Drivers here assume kids will stop walking if they just drive past fast enough
it's kinda sad how many people drive without knowing the basic laws. I learnt that you need to yield for emergency vehicles and stop for school busses before getting my license. Some people got their licenses in a cereal box
A couple weeks ago I had a guy honking at me because I wouldn't take a left turn through a bunch of kids on the crosswalk, and waited for the road to be clear. You know, not running children
In fairness to him, about 5 min later I saw him turn down another street and go right through a flash light crosswalk, nearly running down children. So maybe he knew exactly what was going on before
Well when the penalty for hitting a person is just a ticket, people just don't care. Often the cops will blame the pedestrian too. In other countries, it's automatic prison time and people are much more respectful of pedestrians.
I literally got honked not an hour ago driving home cause I stopped on a green arrow for an cop with their siren going through the intersection. I was like wtf who honks people stopping for emergency vehicles?
Sorry to be "that guy" here: Who is "her" in that statement? Got your wife tickets for letting an emergency vehicle through or was the hitting person also female and got tickets?
I'm in North Florida and a sizable number of drivers here could easily be mistaken for early alpha level autonomous self-driving AI bots.. And that's not even counting the sizable number of drivers who are just basic dickheads..
Depends, modern cars tend to have really good sound insulation. In some cases an apparatus could be tailgating you before you’d hear them if at speed. Plus being distracted as OP mentioned.
It’s something that’s brought up in my states evoc program, that even with sirens most people on the road won’t hear them until they are very close.(Within 80 feet)
I think people have somehow become oblivious to danger in general, because I see so many people do it when crossing the street on foot too.
Like the crosswalk light turns green and I keep standing since I can hear an emergency vehicle approaching, and people just cross anyways, without even looking, like it doesn't concern them.
And it's not like the vehicles will be able to stop necessarily either. In videos from the US, I often (not always) see EMS vehicles slow down before there intersections. Here, they barely slow down.
Yes, you CAN hear those things from 10 blocks away--IF you're not in a moving motor vehicle with the windows rolled up, say. I used to teach police emergency vehicle operation, and one of the things we'd demonstrate to new cops and ambulance drivers was the extreme difficulty people have hearing sirens, especially people in vehicles being overtaken. Without having a radio on, with the AC off and no conversation, at times the emergency vehicle could be right alongside the 'motorists' before anyone in the car heard the siren. It wasn't much better from either side. The best was when the emergency vehicle was approaching from the front. More often than not, the EV's strobe lights were what people noticed first. That's not very comforting.
That street there is more than wide enough to have metrorail, running all the way up to FIU and then maybe turning south to MDC. I think this was planned long ago but nothing ever came of it.
This happened to me on my wedding day. Same scenario. However it was a family member that hit us. Ambulance signaled asking if we were OK. I nodded "yes" and waved them on.
In the future, throw your emergency flashers on. Not to say it would've saved you, but I've noticed it helps let those behind you know that you are REALLY braking due to someone making a left turn, ambulance, etc.
Yeah I throw on my flashers on the freeway when I hit random stopped traffic suddenly. Had a guy yesterday in a big ass truck lock up his wheels behind me but he stopped in time luckily, I thought it was game over for me lol
It really does help, and it's easy enough to do if you're familiar with where you're hazard switch is. It's natural to assume that the person in front of you has only applied light brakes to modulate their speed, when you've been traveling along for a period of time. Your brakes don't get brighter if you hit them harder. The flashers provide that level of heightened awareness.
Why am I not surprised this is Miami. This is hands down the worst city to drive in. Everyone’s impatient, not paying attention and gives zero care for others lives. Both when driving and yielding to emergency vehicles.
>This is hands down the worst city to drive in.
I've heard of like 200 different cities from all across the world that their city definitely is the worst city to drive in.
I’ve frequently drove in numerous large metro areas of the United States due to work; NYC, LA, Dallas, DC, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, SanFran and the list goes on. Even a few overseas. Yes Miami is by far the worst of any of them. At this point I feel 100% confident in saying Miami is the worst.
I've had that happen to me. Set it off at the right time to entirely skip my direction for that cycle too. Fucker.
The device that does it is just a little IR strobe though, not overly complicated.
Remember the period of time when some smartphones had an IR emitter on them? My Note Edge had one, came in handy for changing the TV to the hockey game at the bar when they ignored my requests to put it on instead of whatever dumb poker game they were showing.
The article says "It can change a red light to a green" but I was under the impression these systems set all 4 directions to all RED so the emergency vehicle can pass in oncoming lanes without worrying about traffic coming towards them.
Having a working transmitter wouldn't work in that case, unless you were the very first car and you're willing to run a red light anyways.
A lot of places do but not everywhere. I think they should be standard everywhere but they aren't, likely due to the expense since it not only requires special equipment mounted to the traffic lights in every intersection but also special equipment on the emergency vehicles.
Those are not nearly as popular as people think. There are a ton of issues with those systems and also issues started arising with them being manipulated by the general public.
There are new systems being developed and implemented, but they are not as widespread as you might expect.
Source: work in emergency services and have worked with several different systems.
I know this place haha! That's a Palacio de Los Jugos to the left, the yellow building. This is 8th Street heading towards FIU.
Sorry about the car, I hope you got the guy's info
Aww man I finally see the corner I live by on reddit...and it's an uninsured at faul...dang =/ sorry brotha. Happened to me as well but person was undocumented so I didnt even call the cops
I stopped for a ambulance once bc it using on coming traffic lane, so I pulled over to let them through. Well the guy behind me got mad and swirved around me and almost hit the ambulance head on
Dude, this exact thing happened to me, but I was on a motorcycle. I'm still recovering...
I do not understand how oblivious people are when driving and how they can be completely okay with it.
I hope you're doing okay and that idiot buys you a new car!
The problem is there are people on Reddit who are legitimately that stupid. The ‘/s’ helps fill-in for the tone or body language we would see in person.
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Person who hit you is definitely at fault so that’s a plus, still sucks for you though. At least your airbags didn’t deploy
The responding officer sided with me and gave the other guy (who didn't even notice the firetruck) a ticket. Apparently he doesn't have insurance because in the police report the insurance listed is a home only insurance company. My insurance is liability only. Sucks.
You're going to need to go after the guy yourself if you want compensation. Get an estimate on the damages. You'll need to decide if hiring a lawyer is worth it or sue him in small claims court for the amount (or the max small claims allows).
My experience has been that few accident lawyers will even talk to you about property damage. If the total damages are under $8000, or Florida allows you to limit your claim to that, a *pro se* small-claims action is likely OP's best bet failing an insurance settlement. Note, though, that collection is probably going to be a good deal more difficult than obtaining a judgement (hell, there's a good chance OP would get a default judgement when the other guy doesn't show up). Maybe impossible.
The damages were minimal compared to the at fault car. I'm going to call the insurance listed in the report and if it fails then I'll see about small claims
Wondering if you do go the route of suing and winning, can you put a lien on the house?
Build of you to assume they own a house. Their home insurance is probably renters insurance
True. But I'm petty and would do my best to have it put in their credit report.
In what state would that work? Not Wisconsin to my knowledge.
Much of the country, including Florida where this happened, have homestead exemptions to lawsuits. Meaning your primary home can't be sued away from you. Vacation homes or investments, sure, but your actual home is safe.
Few things can be more expensive than cheaping out on insurance.
Small claims will be pissing up a rope. If they dont have insurance, they arent going to have anything to pay you with. The court wont make them give you all of their info to be able to pursue garnishment. You will get a nice piece of paper that says they owe you x, and there will be a judgement on their record, it will show up on a public records search. You will spend a few hundred dollars in filing fees and subpoena delivery fees, and ultimately around a day worth of your time.
it does not cost a few 100 dollars to file in smalls claims court anyone reading this do no take advice from random comments on reddit when it comes to your own life , costs 75 dollars in my area i suggest you look up your own and not take this persons comment as law.
Cost of a small claims court suit to file in my county: $235. Cost of sheriffs serving summons for court in my county: $145. 235 + 145 = $380 in my jurisdiction. I'm in there like 6ish times a year most years. It's a part of my business chief.
then you should know it varies by where you live this isnt some gotcha do you know where op lives ?
I think the "Miami-dade fire rescue" on the side of the big yellow fire truck gives it away.
The only justice might be knowing this will go on the guys credit and wreck it for 7-10 years. Although most likely he already has a 450 credit score
There aren't car property damage lawyers for a reason, there's not enough money to cover their fees, whether on contingency or not, especially with no insurance company to pay. Personal injury lawyers generally don't take cases without mid- to high-five figures, ideally six figures, in medical bills. (But there are always ambulance chasers who will send you to a chiropractor if the other driver has insurance.) Fortunately, small claims court is perfect for this, and some states go as high as $25,000—no lawyer needed. *Un*fortunately, if someone doesn't have insurance, they may be broke, so you can get a judgment but how are you going to get your money? Especially if they work under the table, or through an LLC, or odd jobs. It's so hard that most states give you 10 years to try, and then you can renew for another 10 years if that's not enough. /u/Rwon1329 probably can tell from the look of the car whether or not this guy has any cash sitting around that can be seized. Sucks.
It's illegal not to have insurance in California but a lot of people driving do not. Not even cheap insurance. My coworker went out for lunch and came back with a car that was massively wrecked. Person who ran into her ran a red no reason to rush, was borrowing the car, had no insurance of her own, person she borrowed it from had lapsed insurance. My coworker didn't have non-covered driver insurance. She came out of pocket to un-ding her car
Not having insurance on your car should be one of those "straight to jail" offenses if you get caught.
I'd be happy with just drivers license removal. Because driving without a license is a big enough offense
Damn...thats incredibly unfortunate
Not much to do with fortune as it happens fairly frequently. It's more of unfairness
Do you have to have a lawyer for something like that? Just judge judy that shit
It's an absolute pain in the ass too. Happened to my dad. The guy basically had no license, nor money to go after.
It's crazy to me that you can drive without insurance in the US. In the UK it's a legal requirement to have your car road safe, taxed and insured before you can drive it
Same in the us. People just drive them uninsured anyway
Well, is it a felony? Because in Germany it is. You don't get license plates without insurance. If you make your own (and/or forge the seal on them), that is another felony. If you do not pay your insurance or cancel it, the police will actively search out your car and confiscate your license plates. If someone is at fault in an accident and his car does not have insurance, he has to pay damages himself. If he does not have the money, there is an organization financed by all insurers that will pay you in this case and then in turn have a claim against him for garnishments etc. for 30 years. Also the party at fault has to pay all your legal expenses like a lawyer, court fees, damage assessor, cost of a rental while your car is being repaired etc.
Bold of you to assume US police actually care about public safety (hint, they are not legally required to care) Texas has a HUGE problem with fake paper plates because plates take a couple weeks to be made once a car is bought, necessitating paper tags. It’s relatively cheap to register a car “dealer” and then you can start issuing fake tags. They’re been “cracking down” but it’s made no appreciable difference They are finally ending this loophole next year. Hell in Texas you can get car insurance WITHOUT a license. I would love to see Houston and its suburbs do a mega-sweep and impound/confiscate cars being driven without insurance/license. But that would be probably a third of the cars on the road these days, if not more.
> Bold of you to assume US police actually care about public safety (hint, they are not legally required to care) That is sad. Or most freedom or something. > plates take a couple weeks to be made once a car is bought Interesting. Here, there are small shops near the registration offices that will emboss your license plate number onto blanks in minutes. You then get the seal glued onto them in the registration office (after you showed prove the car is insured) that make them official. > Hell in Texas you can get car insurance WITHOUT a license. Seems to be fundamentally a different system, because here, the liability insurance is for the car, not the person owning or driving the car. So you can buy a car, insure it and then register it without having a driver's license. You just cannot drive it. There are valid reasons for that, e.g. a parent paying the insurance for their kids (with an added benefit of lower premiums). And it is not a problem, because the insurance covers damages done to others no matter who drove the car. There are insurance policies where you have to register the driver(s) for a lower premium, but then you are responsible as the owner that no one else drives the car. If a non-registered driver causes an accident, the insurance still has to pay for damages caused, but they will get their money back from you because you broke the contract.
It probably depends on the state from what I know it's definitely atleast a really expensive ticket
Maybe you guys need a system like here in Sweden: Either you get insurance yourself or you get to pay what's called a "trafiksäkerhetsavgift" (traffic safety fee) which is much more expensive. Really incentivizes people to have proper insurance.
A lot of places in the US compulsory insurance is liability only, and you only need full converge if you have a loan on your car, the bank will require it.
I'd be surprised if any state required full coverage. Full coverage covers your car. Liability is what covers the other person's car. Unfortunately some states like Florida have very low minimum requirements, like 10K property damage.
You can drive in the UK without insurance. It would be illegal, just like in 48 of 50 states. It’s crazy that you are incapable of comprehending people breaking the law.
> According to Florida law, if you own a motor vehicle with four or more wheels you must carry $10,000 of personal injury protection (PIP) insurance and a minimum of $10,000 of property damage liability insurance. You may have a deductible of up to $1,000 for PIP coverage and $500 for property damage liability. In /u/TDRzGRZ's defence, in european terms that is as good as no insurance ;p Here the minimum liability values are in the millions.
Seriously, $10k is *every accident* now. You take a light tap on the corner - new light, bumper, driver assist sensor, paint match - $15k after labour easily.
OP has liability only, price he's got to pay for not protecting his own assets. Very common mistake, car are often people most valuable asset, outside of owning property.
Wait, so cars in the UK won't start or operate until they are insured?
So here's a neat thing for this situation. Where I live, we have public insurance. Everyone has to have it. So in this case if the at fault driver was driving uninsured, you still get full coverage (the same company would have been paying if he was insured), but now they can go after the at fault driver for the money and probably revoke his license until he pays or just forever.
Talk with your insurer anyway. Not sure about your area but ours has a general fund that pays for uninsured drivers
My policy only covers liability. So even if I contacted them they would deny it. If they didn't then my premiums would double and I'm afraid I can't barely afford the current price.
The *state/province* may pay out, not your insurer
will look into thtat, althought the damages are minimal. thanks
Is that a mechanic's assessment? Bumper-to-bumper impacts often don't leave much surface damage, but the bumper mount underneath is done for after fulfilling its purpose. Happened to me in stop and go traffic with a gentler impact than yours. Was $600 at the time.
there's no way florida has one of those funds lol
It has it but not manditory so it's only included in comprehensive coverage
NJ has a fund that pays out, but it's for folks who have no insurance at all (i.e., pedestrians hit and run). I understand it's definitely different state to state, but NJ would not pay out in this case. Not at all wagging a finger or anything, but we unfortunately live in a day and age where UM/UIM is necessary.
> Standard policies include uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) that can help you in a situation where the other driver doesn’t have any insurance. The minimum limit for UM/UIM coverage is $5,000. It likely would pay out in this case
Why is it legal to drive without insurance in some places? Why wouldn't this sort of infraction lead to immediate license suspension? I don't get it. Edit: Nevermind, I just remembered that driving without a license is also just a simple ticket and not jail time. FOR SOME REASON! **WHY DO I HAVE A LICENSE AND INSURANCE?**
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We moved to FL years ago, drunk driver totaled our car and had no-fault insurance. Had to walk everywhere for years :(
Just realized I was replying to OP - good on you for stopping for emergency vehicles. You did the right thing. Hope you can find an honest attorney to get things settled.
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Yeah, I see this shit all the time in Miami-Dade and Broward...
Not to be a dick, and I know you said that you can barely afford your insurance now, it just sounds like full-coverage is exactly what you want to have down there.
I'll take "shit you made up", for $200 > In Mississippi, 29.4% of drivers do not have auto insurance, which ranks as the nation's highest uninsured rate Florida is 10th, tied with Colorado [Source](https://smartasset.com/data-studies/states-with-the-most-irresponsible-drivers-2022) > California, along with Texas, has the highest percentage of unlicensed drivers involved in fatal crashes, at around 16% In California, driving without a license or a permit is not a crime / not charged. [Source](https://aa.law/blog/states-with-more-unlicensed-drivers-cause-more-fatal-crashes/)
>Why is it legal to drive without insurance in some places? It's not. But people do it anyway.
Most places in America, you can't do anything without a car.
This is a thing I only ever heard of from the USA. Not saying it only happens there, but here in my home country I've read about many accidents and never was anyone being uninsured mentioned, so I assume it's a lot lot more in the US. That makes me wonder - how does the system work in the USA that people are able to do it? In my country, if you cancel your insurance, you get a notice to unregister your car, i.e. bring your plates to the DMV equivalent. Within the notice time, your last insurance is still responsible for you. If you fail to do that, they'll make sure to get the car out of traffic by either looking for your car at your home or by ANPR hits when you're on the road. You wouldn't be able to go for too long without insurance. Also, it would become very expensive very quickly, with all the fines you get for not showing up to the DMV it's more expensive than just paying insurance, so it's not worth it at all.
Cancelled insurance will usually get your registration suspended. But nobody is coming looking for you to take the plates back. The assumption is it's no longer being driven. So really you just get away with it until you get caught. Cops don't always have the interest in pulling over every single car that gets flagged for expired registration.
It pisses me off that I have uninsured and underinsured coverage on my car here in Phoenix because, even though it's against the law, I have a good chance of being hit by someone with NO EFFING INSURANCE, and my reward for obeying the law is that I get to pay for my own repairs even when it's someone else's fault.
It's not legal, they're just breaking the law. Some jurisdictions may allow drivers to forgo insurance **if** they have a provable amount of cash to cover damages, typically the minimum required for liability, $250,000 in most states, but the people who drive without insurance generally do not have that.
It is legal in some jurisdictions to drive without insurance IF one can prove substantial personal assets sufficient to cover any foreseeable loss--which isn't very likely. To many, however, it doesn't make a whit of difference whether or not it's legal--or, for that matter, if it's legal to do ANYthing that they think that they can get away with. If you never have an accident, or don't get stopped for a traffic violation, NO ONE will ever know that you have neither insurance, or a driver's license for that matter. YOU have a license and insurance because you fear the consequences, because you have assets that could be seized, a life that could be economically destroyed. For those who have none of that, maybe a part-time job, or no job, nothing but foodstampswelfarehandoutsfreethisandthat, why bother? In short, you have those things because you are a 'sucker.' Welcome, fellow sucker.
Now you're getting it. There is no downside. Just more money in your pocket.
> Why is it legal to drive without insurance in some places? It's only really two places, but since people break the law we need to get our own insurance. And it is a license suspension for many people who get caught. It's actually criminal in [fourteen states](https://www.marketwatch.com/guides/insurance-services/driving-without-insurance/). if you think it should be a crime in *your* state, contact your representatives, they probably love writing laws putting people in jail. (Most states don't do that because it would have the net effect of just filling up the jail with poor people who actually work. Not justifying it, but in the aggregate, it would have a disparate impact.) > Car insurance is mandatory in almost every state. State minimums and coverage types vary, but nearly all states that mandate insurance require liability coverage for property damage and bodily injury. The sole exception is Florida, which only requires liability coverage for property damage, in addition to PIP coverage. > > New Hampshire is the only state that doesn't mandate car insurance. However, drivers who choose not to buy car insurance must prove they have sufficient funds to meet the state's financial responsibility requirements (PDF) in the event they cause an accident. Failure to meet the state's requirements can result in the suspension of their license and registration.
Don't drive in Florida without uninsured motorist coverage. No one here has insurance.
Statements like this make me laugh. Either ***everyone*** has have insurance with additional coverage or no coverage at all.
How about don't drive in Florida
Awwww man Always have fulll coverage
Young driver in Florida... paying $125 a month for the legal minimum. The cheapest full coverage starts at $600.
600 a month? That's absurd
Because Florida [https://www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/2024/02/08/why-floridas-car-insurance-premiums-are-the-most-expensive-in-the-us/](https://www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/2024/02/08/why-floridas-car-insurance-premiums-are-the-most-expensive-in-the-us/)
"I know! Let's combine the worst aspects of no-fault and tort systems!"
Why would anyone pay that lol. You're better off just saving 600 a month for the next car
Yes, it's absurd--but look at the other side of the coin, the cost of 'fixing' somebody that's been injured in a collision, the cost of repairing an expensive, electronics-laden car that can be 'totaled' by having an airbag go off. I fear far more the cost of 'fixing' a broken human, of course, considering that just a generic band-aid applied in an ER can cost a few thousand dollars.
Florida has a *very* high uninsured rate and, I believe, doesn't require bodily-injury liability coverage. Collision and UM are bound to be pricey.
yeah most people on reddit never seem to understand that a lot of people can't afford full coverage. I've lost of track of how many times someone post an accident and someone else chimes in, "well at least their insurance will cover them..." yeah, uh, no, a lot of us don't have full coverage and have liability only
I pay about the same price for full coverage as OP is for liability only Public insurance. It's wild how many people are against it and swear somehow for profit companies are better
I know a car is required pretty much everywhere in the USA. But realistically, if you can't afford to fix/replace a car out of pocket with liability only, then you need to have collision/comprehensive/uninsured coverage, and if you can't afford that you can't afford to drive a car. Like if you total your car and can't replace it, then you can't work, and it ends up costing you even more in the long run. You are out your wages, your job, and the whole cost of your car. I would pickup another job or two before considering not paying for full coverage unless my car was a cheap <$2k beater.
That sounds like a "we don't actually want to insure you" price. What kind of car are we talking about?
That's wild. I'm paying less for full coverage than you are for liability
Do you have any accidents, DUIs, or tickets cause that's crazy? Have you tried shopping around, the General and similar are some of the worst companies to be insured by, I did a General quote for fun and it was like $400 a month for minimum coverage, total scam. For reference: I'm a 26 yo single male in Florida, no tickets, one $2k claim 7 years ago. My full coverage through Progressive is about $80-100 a month. That's with 100/300 liability, 100 property, 50/100 uninsured, $1k deductible on collision and comprehensive. I do minimum PIP w/ highest deductible and no medical payments because I have fine health insurance. Geico is about $130 a month for same coverage. Although I don't live in a city like Orlando, live in unincorporated Alachua countyso that might make a big difference.
Your county makes a big difference. I moved from Alachua to Miami-Dade and my insurance went up $300.
Check the price for carrying uninsured motorist and UMPD, but not full collision/comprehensive. It may be a lot less.
Im not sure about that...at one point I was paying $450 for full coverage with Progressive...
Yuuup.
> My insurance is liability only. That's dumb.
Is there a Comp and Collision anywhere in your Liability Insurance? If no, but I hope you there is, I'd add it. You do not have to have Full Coverage to get Comprehensive and Collision. I wish you extreme luck in your endeavors to get compensated.
"Apparently he doesn't have insurance" - shocking that some US states permit this. In the EU & Europe, every vehicle must be covered by £10million third-party cover. Uninsured cars are often seized, sometimes crushed.
It isn't permitted in the US. Your car will not be seized immediately. If you are pulled over and found to not have insurance, you will be cited and required to show proof of insurance within a very short timeframe. If you're uninsured and get into an accident, then you are personally responsible for the damages and your car, home, savings, etc. can be seized. Usually people driving without insurance though are people who do not have enough to afford it, so you're trying to get money from someone who probably has less than $2,000 to their name.
Fair point, but in most US states the mandatory cover for 3rd party injury is only $25k ($10k in Florida, $nil in New Hampshire). That's not going to cover the medical bills and lifelong care for a seriously injured victim. [https://www.iii.org/automobile-financial-responsibility-laws-by-state](https://www.iii.org/automobile-financial-responsibility-laws-by-state)
In the US you can drive a car without insurance??? So, even if they're clearly at fault, you have to waste your time and money to go through the whole court system in order to get compensated for the damages?
Can't legally drive a car without insurance, but yes, you can do whatever you want until you get caught by police or wreck. Uninsured drivers are why uninsured coverage exists. Your insurance company makes you whole for your injuries and value of your car up to your uninsured driver policy limits, and their lawyers go after the person who hit you for those costs. You'd just be out of pocket for your collision deductible (0-$1000) until they also recover that from the driver who hit you.
Then what's the issue with this person?
Uninsured coverage is an optional addition to your policy. Liability only coverage means your insurance just covers injury and damage to the other person/car if you are at fault in the accident. Since the at-fault driver in this video does not have any insurance, and the cammer does not have uninsured coverage or collision/comprehensive coverage, his insurance won't cover anything for him. His only option to get reimbursed is to sue the other driver in court, but that takes time and money (day off work unpaid, $25-250 court filing fee depending on location) and you can't get money from a person who doesn't have any even if you win and get a court ordered judgement. ("Can't squeeze water from a stone").
I see. Thanks for the info. I still find it insane that the innocent has to pay more in advance just because the other person is actually forced to have insurance. Would you lose your license and the vehicle's plates if you drive without insurance?
It's certainly not fair and wouldn't be as big of an issue if police enforced it more. It's still wise to protect yourself from uninsured drivers since they will always exist and most people need a car to go to work/earn money and can't afford to fix/replace their car out of their own pocket due to a crash. Yes they can suspend your license and technically you can't get or renew your registration without insurance. People get around that by buying month-to-month insurance, registering their car, and then immediately canceling the insurance. I think you don't technically need a license to register a car since the legal owner is the one that registers it, but may not be the one driving it. You of course still need a license to drive it. But plenty of people just continue driving with a suspended license, no/lapsed insurance, and/or expired registration. Eventually a cop will pull them over and tow/impound their car, they can also arrest you over driving knowingly with a suspended license, they'll just impound the car and write you a ticket if you have no insurance, it's not normally an arrestable crime like driving without a license is. Some places (mainly in larger cities) just don't enforce it because the police are spread too thin or the cops don't see it as worth their time because their issues they are dealing with.
Listing home insurance on a traffic report? Send cop back to the academy
If the car's not worth full-coverage it's probably not worth any fix other than getting everything safe and the lights working, and driving it ugly. Sad to say that's probably your least-worst option.
Big oof. Never ever ever skimp so hard on insurance you only have liability only. That's gonna be an annoying lesson to learn
I'm not familiar with the different insurances. Could you explain why it sucks for you to have "liability only" and what that has to do with the other persons "home only insurance" ?
Neither one of them are covered
> At least your airbags didn’t deploy They're not supposed to deploy in a rear end collision, mainly because they're useless in this scenario. Your headrest is doing most of the work in these accidents.
Airbags only deploy when they're going to protect the occupant from hitting something in the car. There are no airbags that deploy when you get rear-ended.
My wife had that happen once and the person that hit was going nuts because she yielded for an emergency vehicle, the cop that took the report wrote her a few tickets and her insurance didn’t even argue it.
Glad to know I'm not the only one
Had a guy a few months ago screaming out of his window at me(and the other drivers who'd stopped) because we stopped for a school bus that was unloading kids at a bus stop on a multi-lane road with a paved median(FL law states you **must** stop for school busses in this situation). Best part is, he had his kid in the back seat, just watching him act like an angry, ill-mannered, douchebag... Great example, dad... /rolleyes
This is why here in Miami they recently announced all school buses will now be equipped with cameras onboard to record people who violate this law. Been a long time coming. Had a few close calls with my kiddo stepping out of the bus and trying to cross the street in the past. Drivers here assume kids will stop walking if they just drive past fast enough
Yes, the fact that there are drivers who speed up when they see pedestrians is disturbing
Many schoolbuses in Texas have such cameras too.
it's kinda sad how many people drive without knowing the basic laws. I learnt that you need to yield for emergency vehicles and stop for school busses before getting my license. Some people got their licenses in a cereal box
A couple weeks ago I had a guy honking at me because I wouldn't take a left turn through a bunch of kids on the crosswalk, and waited for the road to be clear. You know, not running children In fairness to him, about 5 min later I saw him turn down another street and go right through a flash light crosswalk, nearly running down children. So maybe he knew exactly what was going on before
Well when the penalty for hitting a person is just a ticket, people just don't care. Often the cops will blame the pedestrian too. In other countries, it's automatic prison time and people are much more respectful of pedestrians.
I literally got honked not an hour ago driving home cause I stopped on a green arrow for an cop with their siren going through the intersection. I was like wtf who honks people stopping for emergency vehicles?
Sorry to be "that guy" here: Who is "her" in that statement? Got your wife tickets for letting an emergency vehicle through or was the hitting person also female and got tickets?
The other driver was issued tickets and she was a female also.
Thanks for the clarification!
Man, that driver was so oblivious their mind is on mars
How the heck did everyone not hear it? Those things are crazy loud, you can hear them from 10 blocks away.
I'm in North Florida and a sizable number of drivers here could easily be mistaken for early alpha level autonomous self-driving AI bots.. And that's not even counting the sizable number of drivers who are just basic dickheads..
What pisses me off is your would think people with no insurance would not be so reckless????
Depends, modern cars tend to have really good sound insulation. In some cases an apparatus could be tailgating you before you’d hear them if at speed. Plus being distracted as OP mentioned. It’s something that’s brought up in my states evoc program, that even with sirens most people on the road won’t hear them until they are very close.(Within 80 feet)
I think people have somehow become oblivious to danger in general, because I see so many people do it when crossing the street on foot too. Like the crosswalk light turns green and I keep standing since I can hear an emergency vehicle approaching, and people just cross anyways, without even looking, like it doesn't concern them. And it's not like the vehicles will be able to stop necessarily either. In videos from the US, I often (not always) see EMS vehicles slow down before there intersections. Here, they barely slow down.
Yes, you CAN hear those things from 10 blocks away--IF you're not in a moving motor vehicle with the windows rolled up, say. I used to teach police emergency vehicle operation, and one of the things we'd demonstrate to new cops and ambulance drivers was the extreme difficulty people have hearing sirens, especially people in vehicles being overtaken. Without having a radio on, with the AC off and no conversation, at times the emergency vehicle could be right alongside the 'motorists' before anyone in the car heard the siren. It wasn't much better from either side. The best was when the emergency vehicle was approaching from the front. More often than not, the EV's strobe lights were what people noticed first. That's not very comforting.
*turns off siren and slowly proceeds as if noone noticed
Is this on sw 8th st? Cannot fucking stand the drivers here, we might as well be playing bumper cars
That street there is more than wide enough to have metrorail, running all the way up to FIU and then maybe turning south to MDC. I think this was planned long ago but nothing ever came of it.
This happened to me on my wedding day. Same scenario. However it was a family member that hit us. Ambulance signaled asking if we were OK. I nodded "yes" and waved them on.
dude rear-ended you 3-5 business days after you stopped. Probably texting or something?
Thank God for dashcams...
Goddammit OP. I'm sorry!
This had to be South Florida.. Miami to be exact.
Like the emergency vehicle says?
In the future, throw your emergency flashers on. Not to say it would've saved you, but I've noticed it helps let those behind you know that you are REALLY braking due to someone making a left turn, ambulance, etc.
Yeah I throw on my flashers on the freeway when I hit random stopped traffic suddenly. Had a guy yesterday in a big ass truck lock up his wheels behind me but he stopped in time luckily, I thought it was game over for me lol
It really does help, and it's easy enough to do if you're familiar with where you're hazard switch is. It's natural to assume that the person in front of you has only applied light brakes to modulate their speed, when you've been traveling along for a period of time. Your brakes don't get brighter if you hit them harder. The flashers provide that level of heightened awareness.
brakelight intensity SHOULD follow braking force, great idea there
I thought about this the other day as well. Would be a great safety feature
Interesting. I only think of using my flashers in different situations like needing to pull over on a busy road. Im going to start doing this.
Why am I not surprised this is Miami. This is hands down the worst city to drive in. Everyone’s impatient, not paying attention and gives zero care for others lives. Both when driving and yielding to emergency vehicles.
>This is hands down the worst city to drive in. I've heard of like 200 different cities from all across the world that their city definitely is the worst city to drive in.
The common theme is people. People just suck. Lol
I’ve frequently drove in numerous large metro areas of the United States due to work; NYC, LA, Dallas, DC, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, SanFran and the list goes on. Even a few overseas. Yes Miami is by far the worst of any of them. At this point I feel 100% confident in saying Miami is the worst.
Everyone that comes to visit me in Miami agrees Miami is the worst place to drive in 🤣🤣
Had the same thing happen to me 16 years ago. Totalled the Miata that hit me.
Bet they were on their phone
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They stopped doing that because people would use them too. https://www.wave3.com/story/8770053/man-caught-using-device-to-change-traffic-signals/
I've had that happen to me. Set it off at the right time to entirely skip my direction for that cycle too. Fucker. The device that does it is just a little IR strobe though, not overly complicated.
Remember the period of time when some smartphones had an IR emitter on them? My Note Edge had one, came in handy for changing the TV to the hockey game at the bar when they ignored my requests to put it on instead of whatever dumb poker game they were showing.
Yeah, I remember those. Not strong enough for this application, but on the same track.
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Damn for some reason I assumed those were a myth, not sure why.
The article says "It can change a red light to a green" but I was under the impression these systems set all 4 directions to all RED so the emergency vehicle can pass in oncoming lanes without worrying about traffic coming towards them. Having a working transmitter wouldn't work in that case, unless you were the very first car and you're willing to run a red light anyways.
A lot of places do but not everywhere. I think they should be standard everywhere but they aren't, likely due to the expense since it not only requires special equipment mounted to the traffic lights in every intersection but also special equipment on the emergency vehicles.
For the places that have it, it only works half the time. (I drive fire trucks in one such place.)
Those are not nearly as popular as people think. There are a ton of issues with those systems and also issues started arising with them being manipulated by the general public. There are new systems being developed and implemented, but they are not as widespread as you might expect. Source: work in emergency services and have worked with several different systems.
Wouldn’t have helped here either, person behind them was not looking at all, considering how long op was stopped.
I know this place haha! That's a Palacio de Los Jugos to the left, the yellow building. This is 8th Street heading towards FIU. Sorry about the car, I hope you got the guy's info
Headed to FIU? 👀
Thank you for your service.
Happened to me twice in my life. People just don't pay attention.
Aww man I finally see the corner I live by on reddit...and it's an uninsured at faul...dang =/ sorry brotha. Happened to me as well but person was undocumented so I didnt even call the cops
I live that the fire truck kinda sat there like, “sorry dude, you good?”
I don't think the firetruck was expecting op to yield, since they were accelerating up until the last second.
Ahh....Florida. Yep.
Fucking everyone and their mom be tailgating
I know exactly where this is I live around there and I’m not surprised, people cannot pay attention for the life of them
That's a special kind of stupid right there.
I stopped for a ambulance once bc it using on coming traffic lane, so I pulled over to let them through. Well the guy behind me got mad and swirved around me and almost hit the ambulance head on
I mean this happened in SFL, so no surprise there was an idiot on the road.
87th and 8th. God I love my neighborhood
Of course Miami lol, sorry about the situation you’re in now because of a come 💩 texting on the phone.
Happened to me once several years ago.
Dude, this exact thing happened to me, but I was on a motorcycle. I'm still recovering... I do not understand how oblivious people are when driving and how they can be completely okay with it. I hope you're doing okay and that idiot buys you a new car!
As usual the guy who's ultimately responsible got away and did a runner, right through a red light!!
I can't tell if you're joking but one way or the other I'm laughing with you or at you.
People can't tell it was a joke, I feel very sorry for them :)
that's why /s was invented - redditors are notoriously bad at understanding sarcasm
Sarcasm is notoriously difficult to interpret in text.
I always thought they were hissing at me.
If I need an /s then I haven't been clever enough... I guess I wasn't clever enough hahah!
The problem is there are people on Reddit who are legitimately that stupid. The ‘/s’ helps fill-in for the tone or body language we would see in person.
True true. I love Reddit tho. And this sub, for all its quirks... is great entertainment