Technically you are at faul;t when you rearend someone. However, I had such a situation where the guy in front stopped suddenly in the middle of an intersection when the light was green. He was not sure which way to go and probaly wanted to keep his options open!
I was drivign my dad’s pickup truck with a heavy cow in the back, secured within the high truck sides. The road was slippery, some slush, and the truck slid right through and rearended the guy’s Dodge.
It took his taillights out.
Luckily, the police station was just on that corner, and the constable ended up charging the guy in front for suddenly stopping with out reason.
@Missileman–I am assuming that your Simca was made in the era prior to Chrysler’s control of the company.
The earliest Simcas (circa 1919) were essentially Fiats, manufactured under license in France and badged as Simcas. Later, in 1954, Simca acquired Ford’s assets in France, and began manufacturing variations on Ford designs.
For instance, the '60s era Simca Arianne used the body of the Ford Vedette, with a Simca engine, and it looked like a miniature version of a '56 Ford. The Simca Vedette, was essentially just a rebadged old Ford Vedette, and had a (small) Ford V-8.
I can’t imagine the later Simcas having a column shift, so I am guessing that your Simca was one of these old Ford designs.
I wouldn’t lay any blame on this lady, had she made her way toward the back with a safety triangle in hand. That’s her responsibility if she was to create a hazard by placing a large object in the middle of the road. However, placing an object in the road does not warrant a manslaughter charge. Had it been a semi truck that hit her car, she would not be facing prison time. The same action leading to different penalty would be unjust. I think majority of the fault lies with the motorcyclist who out drove his field of vision.
On a similar note, I was on a clover leaf leading to a freeway entrance. The truck in front saw a GREEN light and proceed to slam on the brakes. I had to pass that zombie on the right using the breakdown lane to avoid a collision. Some people are better off with a bus pass
Right or wrong she should not face jail time, drunk drivers get off all the time or kill someone and get a slap on the wrist so why not leave her alone.
I believe the motorcycle was most likely speeding. I truly do.
If I was her I would have claimed I had been drinking and stopped to pop open another can of beer. There are defense lawyers that can get murdering drunk drivers off with probation, and there are people that love to sympathize with drunk drivers, because at one time or another, they are drunk drivers themselves.
“…she stopped to avoid hitting some ducks that were crossing the highway.”
I wonder if we have the whole story. I wonder if she saw the ducks right next to the road and stopped to allow them to cross. That is not smart. If I saw a half-dozen ducks in my lane and I could stop, I would. Then I’d slowly push through 'em, horn blasting. I saw the Cincinnati Police stop 3 lanes of I-71 during rush hour to let 6 or so Canadian geese cross from the median to the side.
Geese pay no attention to cars or honking or people. They just defiantly do what they want to do, leaving their deposits behind for everyone to step in. I used to have a couple geese at work that would sit up on the roof and dare me to go through the door. Then would stand in front of the car and not want to move. Were using a shotgun in town not a felony, they would be on their last flight.
@VDCdriver it was a Simca and it was a column shift. The year was a late 50’s or early 60’s model. The exact year model eludes me at the moment. It was a very forgettable vehicle.
Update: It was a 1960 French built Simca Aronde P60. My brother remembered it and here is a picture of one.
@missileman–If it was from the late '50s-early '60s, then it was an…inherited…old European Ford design.
Once I saw “column shift” I knew that it couldn’t have been one of the later models.
Ironically, the one that you owned was probably far more durable than the later ones.
Apparently the car also came with a 4-speed on the column shifted transmission in addition to the 3 speed version like mine. Here is part of a blog I found about it.
On weekends, he drove the French Simca to his “day job” with the City of Fort Lauderdale. It, too, had a column-shifted four speed transmission. I can remember quite well some of the more “interesting” words I picked up from my parents when they struggled to locate reverse (a very convoluted process).
Yeah, that is an old Ford design that Simca inherited when they bought-out Ford’s assets in France.
The last one that was sold in the US–the Simca 1000, marketed by their new owners, Chrysler–was a real dog, and I know someone who still swears a blue streak whenever his wife mentions their old Simca.
Its 5 o’clock 24 times a day somewhere in the world,yes?
.Anyway the Simca would rear its head around here on occasion,its a very interesting read about the Simca-Ford connection in South America(sorry dont have link) but the politics from Europe to South America is rather convoluted-Kevin
Getting back on track with the original theme of this thread, here is a sad example of someone who IS clearly liable for rear-ending several other vehicles. Luckily for Tracy Morgan, he is in an excellent hospital and will hopefully recover from this accident:
As an update to this, I heard a few days ago that she was found guilty by a jury. She faces life in prison unless the judge reduces it which most likely he will.
At any rate, she was stopped to pick the ducks up because they had no mother and she was going to take them home and care for them. The motorcycle was going 20 mph over the speed limit and wasn’t paying attention. Several other cars ahead of the cycle had avoided the stopped car so it wasn’t like an unavoidable accident.
I guess watch yourself in Canada. Not the Canada I knew as a kid where now it seems common sense does not prevail. Life in prison indeed.
“she was stopped to pick the ducks up because they had no mother and she was going to take them home and care for them. The motorcycle was going 20 mph over the speed limit and wasn’t paying attention”
Bing–I don’t claim to be familiar with the law in Canada, but in The US, the proximate cause of that collision would almost surely be attributed solely to the woman who stopped her car–without good cause–in a travel lane of a highway.
Even if the blame was apportioned between the “duck woman” and the cyclist, it could be argued that “if not for a vehicle stopped needlessly in the travel lane of a highway”, this collision would never have occurred. In other words, a speeding motorcycle or car is not sure to hit something unless that “something” is stopped in a travel lane.
In the US, even if somebody is speeding, the unreasonable/unlawful acts of another person can frequently be found to be the proximate cause of a collision.
Does this apply to Canada?
I have no idea…