Springer

No fault only pays personal injury in New York not damage to property. In NY no matter who is at fault your insurance pays your injuries. It also limits your tort rights, I don’t think California is a No Fault state but I may be wrong.

I don’t know California Insurance laws, as I am not licensed to sell insurance there. But SOMEONE is always at Fault in an accident. There may be a split on contributory negligence to both parties. The only pure 0% at fault here is hit while parked or being rear-ended. I wouldn’t be surprised if the other party’s insurance company thru Subrogation files a claim against your insurance company. I would consult with your agent as to how this will pan out.

The officer may have said no Fault and issued no tickets but the fact is you were behind another vehicle who stopped and you didnt/couldnt stop and rammed him

kokalit

Mine is stock height and did not settle any/settle any lower when I had it put on. I had only 4K or when it was put on and now just approaching 42K with no discernible "settling". However, my CTD had the snow plow package which supposedly had beefier front springs I think. Cost of the Ranchhand Legend full replacement was just under $900 for me in November 2005.

Check out the Ranchhand website and contact them for exact weight.
http://www.ranchhand.com/

RD TRCTR

I've got a Ranch Hand Bull Nose and it weighs 150 pounds. I weighed the stocker and it weighed 80 pounds.
I'd also recommend NOT buying a Ranch Hand as my truck was at they're San Antonio shop for 2 hours, in the body shop for 2 weeks and I had to take two days off work to deal with those ignorant Ranch Hand people. I'd recommend Ruenel or Frontier Gear. They were very nice people over the phone. And, Ruenel is based in California, which I think is where you're at (?).
I can also explain that you will more than likely be less injured when involved in the type of accident you were involved in with the stock bumper than with a Ranch Hand style bumper. This is b/c of the deceleration that will be transferred to the passengers of the vehicle with a heavy, steel bumper. The stock bumper is meant to absorb the impact and has been in the NHTSA impact tests, where as a Ranch Hand bumper has not.

Delectric

Well I'm not an authority on this by any means but a Ranch Hand or other beefy bumper would seem to cause the other vehicle to crumple further than a stock bumper thus absorbing about the same amount of impact. Of course the passengers in the other vehicle might not be so lucky. I have to say one thing about tailgating. I don't like to tailgate but as hard as I try not to, some vehicle will almost always pull in front of me in moderate to heavy traffic if I keep a decent distance between us. When I go vistit my family in the Bay Area you can even keep a car length between you and the other car so abrupt stops lead to many rear ends. I believe jrussell is correct in saying the small Toyotas and Hondas etc. stop much faster than a fullsize truck.

firemansdiesel

California is not an all fault state. Insurances will go after who ever is in fault. If you are in fault then your insurance pays out for the other and your own (if you carry collision). Insurance premium will sky rocket or you will be dropped if at fault.

jtrimmell

Yeah. And also in California if you have to file a police report then the person at fault automatically gets a ticket. I spoke with my Agent at lunch and she said not to worry about a thing. He had called my local office back home in Kansas and his insurance company "Farmers" isnt going to prosue anything. There wasnt a ticket issued and he wasnt hurt. I was even called by a claim adjuster from his company Farmers and they just wanted my side of the story. He also said there was nothing for me to worry about and thats what insurance is for to take care of accidents like that. And there was about 3 lenghts between us when he decided to slam on the brakes so im pretty sure there was enough distance. I was looking at some road armor bumpers today and they look pretty nice painted to match the truck. I'll research some front end replacements tonight. So if its not going to weigh the front end down then I shouldnt have anything to worry about. I would prollie get it painted to match the truck. Any suggestions

MegaCabinPA

got any pics of the toyota and your truck?

HOHN

If sheer beef is your thing, you can't beat a Reunel. They are the heaviest bumper made, as far as I know.

I prefer the strength without the weight, so I'd look at an aluminum unit from Layne Wright or from UTE.

JMO

jrussell

Dude, you're not getting it. If you can't stop in time then there obviously isn't enough room. Plain and simple.

I learned years ago to never follow someone closely through a yellow light. It sounds like you may have this same problem again sometime in the future though.

RD TRCTR

Yes, you are correct, the other vehicle would sustain more damage. And, if we assume the driver of the vehicle rear ended was not injured when rear ended by a vehicle with a stock front bumper, he would be injured had the vehicle had a hard, steel bumper. He would have at the least sustained whiplash. It can all be explained by energy balance and linear momentum equations. In the current situation the Toyota sustained rear end damage, the Toyota driver sustained no injury (assumed), the Dodge sustained front end damage and the Dodge driver sustained no injury (assumed). If the Dodge was equipped with a Ranch Hand Legend style replacement, the Toyota would have more damage, the Toyota driver sustained an injury, the Dodge no or little damage and the Dodge Driver sustain an injury. Everything has to equal out. So, the Toyota and all of it's energies would be on the right side of the equation and the Dodge and all of it's energies on the left side of the equation. Furthermore, I would not recommend anyone living in a heavily populated area or constantly driving in one to install a heavy, steel bumper due to the injuries to vehicles and passengers more likely to occur and the possibility of an accident more likely to occur.

Springer

I am an Insurance agent . If the other company called you to get your side of the story then they are looking to Subrogate the claim. Their insured most likely told them you hit him from behind.NO insurance company will say they arent going to pursue a claim to an agent , the insured or the claimant. Dont matter if no tickets were issued only time that comes into play is when there is no definate at fault party. Sorry to say but you were at fault no matter what the car in front of you did.

XLR8R

Around here, even LEOs enroute to a call are considered at fault if they rearend someone...


I bet the 'Yota driver saw the cop at the intersection - puckered up at the yellow light & panic stopped.

dieselfuelonly

I have to agree with you...

First off I'm glad that no one got hurt.

And I'm glad that your truck did not have major damage done to it.

But I think the thing is that you were following close enough behind the guy that you couldn't stop when he made an emergency stop. What if a little kid had ran across the road in front of the Toyota and the guy in the Toyota had slammed on his brakes and you had rear ended him?

You were still following too close.

The whole reason you should keep a safe following distance is so that if someone stops fast YOU can also stop fast and safely without ramming them, correct?

Not trying to lecture anyone, I just can't STAND it when people tailgate, whether it is right under my bumper or not (but still way to close).

UT Fan

I was thinking the same thing on why he decided to stop. Glad you're alright though