Got into an accident Thursday night

John,

The whole situation sucks. Glad you're OK though. Hope you got or are able to get the tow truck driver's info as he could certainly help your case. Try to get a video recording of the spray of water if you can and present that along with the statement from the tow truck driver to Caltrans. Did you take any pictures of your car while waiting for the cops to arrive?

Again, glad you're OK.
 
Sorry to hear this. Look on the brighter side. You can now have a new front bumper with no rock chips.
Good luck with the repair.
 
Contact the National Weather Service to get verification that there was no measurable precepitation happening in the San Clemente area at the time of the occurence. Don't let them try to pass this off as Mother Nature's fault....This would also put them in the position of having to call a Federal agency a liar, and I don't think they want to do that !!!
 
John,

Sorry to hear about your accident. I'm glad you werent hurt. Hope you can get some more people to join you and file a complaint to the city or DOT. Hopefully, theyll accept responsibility for the damages on your car. So sad to see one of the best looking NSX here getting into an accident.
 
Sorry to hear about your accident....I own an irrigation company on the East coast and I must add if that was to happen on one of my commercial sites that I have under contract...I would be sued and would lose in court. With the strict watering guidelines in effect in SoCal you may be able to prove negligence on behalf of whoever maintains that location. Good Luck
 
SilverOne said:
Sorry to hear what happened. Can't say I am surprised by the response, but sounds like one of their scare tactic of shifting responsibility and minimize paper work on their part. If you decide to proceed with filing the damage charge against the city, get the officer's names/badge ID in your documents to show their negligence in handling the situation as well.

I thought we're paying our taxes to have these guys help us, and not try to scare us or bully us around.
Click to expand...

+1. Why can't these cops (AKA Pricks) help a person like you who just got into an accident rather than say if you make me fill out a report, I will write you a ticket. I guarantee that if it was another off duty CHP officer in your same situation, the officer that showed up would have an entirely different attitude.:mad:

I’m just thankful that you are okay John. The car can be fixed....
Sorry to hear about your misfortune.:frown:
 
Sorry to hear about what happened, especially since you just put the car together!

What happened exactly with the water? From your first post, it sounds like the water sprayed onto the car and pushed it off-road? From later posts, it sounds like the water just made the ground wet and you lost traction.

That sounds really shady regarding the cops. Why would they have to cite you for a report to be written up? I mean, if you get in an accident, they don't necessarily have to cite anyone to write an accident report. I really don't know what isgoing on there.
 
I'm terribly sorry to hear about your accident. Your Beauty will be back in no time. Just be patient. Plenty of Prime Folks here to offer whatever support you need:cool:

Sadly, the cop was rather callous; however, speaking as one, I've handled accidents (and was involved in one myself) where there was a road hazard (or moronic hit & run driver) that resulted in an accident for an innocent party. With Hit & Runs, it's easier to write a report without a ticket. With single car accidents like yours, the insurance companies usually expect a ticket.

Nonetheless, at least here, the cop doesn't really NEED to write a ticket. However, most supervisors will expect a ticket to be written. I guess what I'm saying is, I would feel terribly bad for you if I was the cop that pulled up on the scene. If I could get away with it, I would not write you a ticket, citing in my narrative (and the section that asks for contributing factors that may have resulted in the accident i.e. road hazards), the busted sprinkler system. It's probably best that you didn't do a report though.

The aforementioned advice of seeking airtime resulting this incident is good. I would also check to see if there are any previous reported incidents of accidents as the tow truck driver stated. If these reports are on file, get copies of the reports. Take pictures (or even video) of the busted sprinkler system. Perhaps you can contact others who have fallen victim to this and file suit or seek compensation from the city.

If this advice has already been posted, please accept my apology, I'm doing two things at once, and not doing either very well; so, I didn't get a chance to read through all the posts here.

Best wishes to you Scorp

Blade
 
just park it in a field and report it stolen.

Turn it back around on the system...screw them.

Police officers saying things like he said make me cheer for every criminal I see each Sat. night running from them on COPS.

Hes a punk and I would surely get some video evidence of that BROKEN GUSHER, a few affidavits from the towtruck driver, possibly another accident victim in the same spot if possible and go straight to an attorney. I would also call the shift captain and have a few words with him concerning his opinion to write you a ticket. Go after them hard...the squeakiest wheel gets the grease. You ahve nothing to lose...except a disorderly charge. I would be going crazy on their asses.
 
Saw the car today and it doesn't look too bad. I think all you really need are the rear arms :smile: The wheel can be fixed so thats good! I did notice your black NSX having more tread then your Red NSX :frown: I would definitely get new tires for the car all around. :smile:
 
Glad to see you're alright man! Car can be fixed and replaced. A freak accident happened to me last summer when I hit a fallen ladder at 70mph tearing up my front end to pieces. Insurance covered the repairs but blamed me for the whole accident:frown:
 
Ok... here we go again... i am probably gonna get beat up again for posting on this subjuct... but i feel i at least must try... so here we go....

1st... MOST CHP offices have a policy that citations are to be written on collisions where fault has been determined. the offcier PROBABLY did not have a choice.

2nd.. it wouyld NOT MATTER if he HAD writeten you a ticket though... DMV treats the event as ONE incident, so you would NOT have gotten hit twice with 2 points with the DMV.

3rd... given what you have posted and based on MY EXPERIANCE AND TRAINING, i would tend to believe you were driving at a speed unsafe for conditions. i say this because... i grew up in your area (El Toro) and spent MANY MANY days at the beaches in San Clemente... i am VERY familiar with the on/off ramp there. My wife used to work in the shopping center there on the west side of the 5 frwy in the shopping center where VONS used to be. i qualify my reason for the unsafe speed simply because i would take into consideration the number of cars that travel that on/off ramp with the same conditions present (wether it be from the sprinkler or rain, the road was simply wet) when you crashed.... your statement that you were gong 40mph through the turn. you also state two other cars "lost it" while you waited there for the CHP. my question to you would be "why did they not crash also???" i would assume because they were not doing 40mph through the turn...it would be VERY difficult for you or anybody else to convince a trained collision investigator that this crash was CAUSED soley because the roadway was wet. it MAY have CONTRIBUTED to the crash, but simply put YOU the driver are responsible to operate your vehicle at a speed that is safe for the prvailing conditions. i know that is not what you want to hear, but the thats the fact....

4th... by NOT writing a collision report, the officer SAVED you a point on your driving record. weather anyone here wants to believe it or not.... WET ROADS DO NOT CAUSE COLLISIONS !!!!! they cant !!!!! you the driver are the one in control of the car.... NOT THE ROADWAY!!!!

5th.... insurance companies DO NOT NEED a police report for you to file a claim.... even in the cases when reports are filed, the insurance companies DO NOT alway rely on the officers OPINION of the collision cause....

6th... the PCF (primary collision factor) is simply the officers OPINION (based on training and experiance) of what was the PRIMARY cause of the collision. this is almost ALWAYS an undisputible opinion by DMV. they will RARELY not follow the officers opinion.

my response here is NOT to beat up or critisize the OP !!!!!!!! i am simply chimming in because of the posts that are starting to beat up the CHP officer for not taking the report and "threatening" (as some suggest) the OP with the ticket. the guy was doing his job... called it like he saw... and gave the OP an OPTION....

lets face it... we all know what happened here.... late night... open road.... minimal traffic... an opprtunity to pull a G in the corner getting onto the freeway.... the OP simply did not see the wet raodway (which was well lit and not obstructed by bushes from Pico).

unfortunate ACCIDENT.... yes.... has anybody on this forum never done the same thing... i doubt it.... did the CHP officer do ANYTHING WRONG herE... ABSOLUTLY NOT !!!!

sorry if i pissed anyone off defending a brother again.... JUST CANT HELP MYSELF WHEN ASSUMPTIONS AND THE UNINFORMED MAKE SNAP JUDGEMENTS AND STUPID COMMENTS !!!!!!!!!!
 
camber_combover said:
just park it in a field and report it stolen.

Turn it back around on the system...screw them.

Police officers saying things like he said make me cheer for every criminal I see each Sat. night running from them on COPS.

Hes a punk and I would surely get some video evidence of that BROKEN GUSHER, a few affidavits from the towtruck driver, possibly another accident victim in the same spot if possible and go straight to an attorney. I would also call the shift captain and have a few words with him concerning his opinion to write you a ticket. Go after them hard...the squeakiest wheel gets the grease. You ahve nothing to lose...except a disorderly charge. I would be going crazy on their asses.
Click to expand...

I certainly hope your not serious about some of these suggestions. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and don't think you are stupid enough to suggest that he should park it in a field and claim it stolen.

Another thing you should not do is to piss off the officer by calling his supervisor. Although the officer was not sympathetic about the accident, it will be hard proving he did anything wrong. He is entitled to his observations, even if he doesn't agree with you. In addition, who do you think really think his supervisor going to side with....you or him? Hmmm. Your case is really with the Cal-Trans, not with the police department or CHP.

I'm just glad your OK John. Sorry to hear what about the accident and hope everything gets taken care of. Just contact your insurance or attorney and solicit their advice. I hope she is back on the road very soon.
 
Oh crap John, that sucks, but Im confident that you will have your car fixed up as good as it was in no time.

If you pursue a claim against the city, I would take pics, but also video and measurements. What I think you will have to do is present a case that no driver could reasonably be expected to make it through the water without having a similar accident. I think that if your case points out a few others that have had similar outcomes, and presents witnesses who say that the water was really bad, that it will not be sufficient as there are probably hundreds, if not thousands of cars, that may have passed through the water without incident.

If you can get measurements of water depth, rate of fall (go with a bucket and a stop watch!), video of the wall of water, get an average count of cars that pass through under similar circumstances (you dont necessarily have to use that evidence if it doesnt work in your favour) to come up with an accident rate, it may help.

Im no lawyer and Ive never pursued such a claim, but if I were to, I would be out to prove that 1) the conditions were at fault and not contributary, 2) be ready to prove that my driving was well within reason (do you have a gps log?) and 3) that my car did not contribute either.

I guess you could also pursue a neglegence claim if you can get evidence that the water was previously reported, that looks bad on the city but Im not sure would have changed the situation with the police at that specific time.
 
ONEADAM12,

I would agree if it was just wet, but it seems you missed the important part even with your special training.
(Not trying to be the Master of the Obvious here)



"there was just a wall of water, caused by a broken high-pressure sprinkler, that hit the car like a fire hose. As soon as the water hit the car the rear end broke loose,

No one can tell how you would react when out of the blue, in the dark, you are hit with a high pr. blast on a wet road on a dry night.

After reading this again, I walked to the far corner of my back yard to view the evil on-ramp about 1/2 mile away. Just a standard ramp, not much fun like some ramps. Actually quite boring. Nothing like the off ramp
there that people miss calculate when going left and slam into the curb heading under the overpass............
 
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"like a fire hose"???? i cant in any circumstance see how water coming from a broken SPINKLER could have enough force to push a 3000lb car... cant happen.... look again at the picture and the OP's drawing on it.... the road is dry on Pico and gets wet on the onramp.... i would venture a guess here that you could go to that same onramp WITH THE SPRINKLER getting the road wet and drive the same path 1000 and NOT crash.... IF you were taking the corner at a speed safe for the turn in those conditions.... i am sure hundreds of cars enter this onramp EVERYDAY under these same circumstances and DO NOT CRASH.... SPEED WAS THE CAUSE OF THIS COLLISION HERE.... NOTHING MORE..... the OP said he was doing 40mph... that is fast around a city street corner EVEN in the dry !!!!!!

again... i am NOT flaming, critisizing or bashing the OP for crashing here.... if you in any way want to get another opinion on this crash... call your insurance agent... ask to speak to a CLAIMS ADJUSTER and explain to him this crash EXACTLY as the OP did..... i am sure hte adjuster will see it the same way...


MCM said:
ONEADAM12,

I would agree if it was just wet, but it seems you missed the important part even with your special training.
(Not trying to be the Master of the Obvious here)



"there was just a wall of water, caused by a broken high-pressure sprinkler, that hit the car like a fire hose. As soon as the water hit the car the rear end broke loose,

No one can tell how you would react when out of the blue, in the dark, you are hit with a high pr. blast on a wet road on a dry night.

After reading this again, I walked to the far corner of my back yard to view the evil on-ramp about 1/2 mile away. Just a standard ramp, not much fun like some ramps. Actually quite boring. Nothing like the off ramp
there that people miss calculate when going left and slam into the curb heading under the overpass............
Click to expand...
 
scorp965 said:
He gave me two choices; have him write a report, which would list me as being at fault, and would result in a ticket, or have him not write a report, have the car towed, and not get a ticket. He said if I do file a claim with insurance, and they want a report, I have up to 30 days to go to the police station and have a report created, which would list me at fault, and would result in a ticket.

This sprinkler is a massive hazard, I can't believe it has been allowed to cause trouble for this huge length of time, on an onramp with no lighting, and virtually no warning until you're getting hit with water. I think this is comparable to when a pot hole damages a wheel, and the city is made to pay for the repair cost of the wheel - just as the pothole is a hazard, this broken sprinkler, shooting a huge jet of water onto oncoming cars, is a huge safety hazard. I can't understand why nobody seems to consider fixing it a priority, perhaps because its only a hazard for a few minutes each day :confused:
Click to expand...


This IS NOT TRUE, you DO NOT have to have an accident report to file a claim. My wife is an agent, i just asked her. Call your claims adjuster, NOT YOUR AGENT, they know how to sell insurance, not how to make claims. ask them what they think.

giving the state more money for your ticket doent make sence


sorry for your luck,

marc
 
ONEADAM12 said:
"like a fire hose"???? i cant in any circumstance see how water coming from a broken SPINKLER could have enough force to push a 3000lb car... cant happen.... look again at the picture and the OP's drawing on it.... the road is dry on Pico and gets wet on the onramp.... i would venture a guess here that you could go to that same onramp WITH THE SPRINKLER getting the road wet and drive the same path 1000 and NOT crash.... IF you were taking the corner at a speed safe for the turn in those conditions.... i am sure hundreds of cars enter this onramp EVERYDAY under these same circumstances and DO NOT CRASH.... SPEED WAS THE CAUSE OF THIS COLLISION HERE.... NOTHING MORE..... the OP said he was doing 40mph... that is fast around a city street corner EVEN in the dry !!!!!!

again... i am NOT flaming, critisizing or bashing the OP for crashing here.... if you in any way want to get another opinion on this crash... call your insurance agent... ask to speak to a CLAIMS ADJUSTER and explain to him this crash EXACTLY as the OP did..... i am sure hte adjuster will see it the same way...
Click to expand...


It was my intention to re-vist the on-ramp yesterday night at the same time, and take proper photos, but I didn't sleep on Thursday, and took a nap on Friday for a few hours, which lasted until around 8AM today :rolleyes:

I thank everyone on here for their responses to this thread, the damage seems minimal, an estimate for the repair is $2500, looking at the car sitting on top of a hill covered with ice plants, off the roadway, I had thoughts that were much worse.

I also see how the cause for the accident may be confusing, given how I wrote my description of the events. The water pressure did not push the car off the road, if it was capable of providing this much pressure it would have dented the car's body panels. Instead, I was trying to convey the huge amount of water, that was instantly present. I do not drive this red car in the rain, it has no windshield wipers, no wiper motor, no traction control, and has a stiff suspension with an aggressive tire wear alignment; it is intended as a dry-weather car, which is exactly what the conditions were when I took it out. The tires are close, within a mm, of the wear bars - they're not done yet, and are only 2k miles on the car, but they're not something I would want to drive in the rain, and certainly they're not suitable for standing water.

The on-ramp is poorly lit, the camera phone pictures I posted convey the lighting situation. Basically, I was driving up the onramp, I believe at 40mph, but getting ready to accelerate onto the freeway, when out of nowhere the windshield was pelted with a huge amount of water, and the back end broke loose - these two events occurred at the same time, as the car hit the standing water at the same time. I did not see water prior to hitting it, if I had, obviously I would have slowed the car down. This car has a large amount of power, even in the dry, under hard acceleration, it breaks the rear end loose, but this was far more severe, and was NOT under hard acceleration, it was under normal driving; I tried to recover, thought I was getting a handle on it, and then the car snapped to the right - perhaps it was able to gain some kind of traction, I don't know, but at this point, while trying to counter steer to the right now, the car was nearly side ways, and bounded up the ice plants. The total experience was a few seconds, as you can see from the scale, the car went well under 500 feet, at 40mph, this doesn't take long. I feel the car was physically not the best choice for driving through standing water, and this water was caused by a hazard that should have been fixed 3 weeks ago - it was a huge amount of water, instantly present, that I was unprepared for, and once the car hit this water, and became uncontrollable, I had very limited room in which to maneuver. I hope I did the right thing as a driver, I do not feel I was driving in an aggressive manner on this on-ramp.
 
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$2500 worst case repair? That seems VERY cheap.
 
osugrad97 said:
$2500 worst case repair? That seems VERY cheap.
Click to expand...

This figure includes the new left rear suspension, which I purchased yesterday for $800, a replacement front left fender, which was flared out by the wheel pushing into it, and replacement of the wheel. Labor costs, and paint, are additional, but this is close to what the costs will be. I am not including the front lip, as I had a replacement already on order when this happened... I wanted to swap them out on my terms, but I would prefer a different style.

This cost could go up as the front bumper is removed, the mounting points, etc. have not been inspected, if the front bumper needs replacement, the cost will easily double. Perhaps not quite 'worst case', but a 'likely' estimate ;)
 
Excellent job giving everyone more details of your car. Of course we all know that his car wasn't a stock Accord but a 400 Hp Lightweight rear wheel drive car which makes it a lot harder to handle under sudden condition changes. His car was set up for dry conditions so I can understand what Scorp is saying. You are also lucky you went through the ice plants cause they really help you slide instead of stick and that would have caused a lot more damage.I know I have slid across ice plants before in my truck... It saved my life.
 

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