I rear ended women's SUV after she slammed her brakes to save a cat

[notsure411400]

I live in Dallas,TX.

I was driving my 15 Mustang on highway, when my SUV infront of me trying to save a cat slammed hard on her brakes. Even though I was at a safe distance, I couldnt control the car. My car took maximum damage. She had an old passenger who was shook. I am scared if she would claim a whiplash or some sort of medical payment from me. This is the first time I had an accident. My insurance is from Geico (full coverage) and she has statefarm. I dont know who is at fault from this.

How would this impact my Driving record? Insurance rate?

Can my car be fixed ? I dropped it at a collision center suggested by the PD!! I have an insurance agent coming to estimate the damage tomorrow? What about the damage to her car? Am i really at fault? If yes, What do I owe her ?

Pictures of my car:

https://ibb.co/ZxbT8xW

https://ibb.co/qD3dhVr

https://ibb.co/7kGNQzZ

https://ibb.co/7YnQqV1

https://ibb.co/Jq5g5Cn

https://ibb.co/qCtBbXw

https://ibb.co/sws307C

EDIT 1:

Her car:

https://ibb.co/Qm1zMkT

EDIT 2:
Hey everyone!
The auto damage adjuster suggested it as a total loss estimating $15,000 in repair!!! Damm parts are more expensive than the car itself. I feel there is a deeper level of insurance scam that dominate the consumers. The numbers just dont fit. However, I have the car valued at 14,700. Kelly blue book rates it at 15k-17k. Is there a way i could pump it up?

 

[resjudicata]

@notsure411400 Are you really at fault? Yes. You were following too closely. If you can't stop in time to avoid rear-ending the car in front of you in a panic stop situation, you're too close.

Work with your insurance, be honest, and let them take care of the rest. Hopefully no one was hurt too badly.

 

[ijrgerohnoxi]

@notsure411400 You were obviously not "at a safe distance" or you wouldn't have rear ended her. You need at least 1 car length per 10mph in speed and that's under optimum road conditions. You are 100% at fault here. Judging by the damage it appears you hit her at pretty good speed so that means you were following reallllly too close for your speed. Your insurance will pay to repair her vehicle if repairable. If totaled she will be given the fair market value of the car. Medical bills will be paid. All of this is subject to your policy limits. You will have this on your record as a surchargeble claim for several years. Your rates will increase on your nrxt renewal. No one here can tell you how much. Im not an adjuster so I can't give you a definitive answer on whether your car is totaled or not, but if I had to guess, I'd say that it is

 

[resjudicata]

@ijrgerohnoxi This is the best answer. Also, yeah fixing a Mustang is pretttttyyyy expensive, specially the front end. And the market value is not right there (depending on the trim). I expect it to be totaled as well

 

[provocateur]

@resjudicata No bumper, no problems

 

[notsure411400]

@ijrgerohnoxi I get what everyone is saying, but she gave a statement saying she slammed her brakes to save the cat. I have a witness who has the same statement. It is right to maintain distance but from 70mph to a completely unexpected stop is indeed a dangerous attempt. Do u think her statement might hold infront of the insurance agent and make her company liable in anyway?

 

[ijrgerohnoxi]

@notsure411400 No. It doesn't matter if it was a cat. You were following too close. You're 100% at fault

 

[kyx]

@notsure411400 Safe distance = enough room to stop if the vehicle in front stops short. Based on the damage to the front, that wasn’t a safe distance.

In a rear end collision the person hitting from the back is almost always at fault.

Thankfully you have insurance and they’ll take care of all the tough stuff.

Glad you’re okay.

 

[notsure411400]

@kyx The reason for such extensive damage is the impact did not occur at the bumper reinforcement. The impact point missed the bumper reinforcement by couple of inches and my car has lot of room between the engine and radiator.

Take a look at the damage to her car. I am glad that nothing happened to her and her passenger or else would have had regret for life. https://ibb.co/Qm1zMkT

 

[donaldsbo]

@notsure411400 Good job blocking out that license plate... not lol

 

[mlm32]

@notsure411400 While extreme braking for a cat may seem unreasonable, swap the cat out for a small child chasing a ball and you’ll understand why others are saying that “no, you weren’t following at a safe distance if you weren’t able to stop in time.”

It makes no difference. You weren’t in complete control of your vehicle and you hit something.

Edit: Damage doesn’t appear that bad overall but Mustang parts aren’t cheap. That hood is approx $1500 alone.
Depends on if the engine block took any damage but it probably didn’t.
Did any airbags deploy? Doesn’t look like it from the previews on my phone.

 

[notsure411400]

@mlm32 One airbag by my leg was deployed. Do you think I should go to a local mechanic rather than a collision center?

 

[mlm32]

@notsure411400 Mechanics don’t usually do body work. Go to a collision shop and if it needs mech work, they’ll take care of it.

Just a guess, but without any additional info I’d say your car is probably repairable. It might be close to a total loss, though.

 

[resjudicata]

@notsure411400 You’re at fault. Your insurance will indemnify her for the cost of the repairs and medical coverage, provided you have enough insurance to cover her. You’ll either have your car repaired or you will get a check for a new vehicle, depending on whether it is totaled.

Your insurance rates will most likely increase, and the increase will most likely be pretty substantial if there was bodily injury that your insurance pays out for. I used to work at GEICO, and I remember $10,000 in BI often being the threshold where they would non renew people’s policies.

 

[jnat24]

@notsure411400 You're probably looking at $7-$8k in damage ... This can vary quite a bit depending on the shop you take it to but that should be about the average. It's a pretty normal hot where you were on your brakes so your front end dipped under the other cars bumper which is why it looks so bad.

So it should be repairable. But like I said some shops will inflate estimates so until you pick a shop it's just an estimate.