A complicated situation

[bighead384]

Man, can't bighead ever make a thread that isn't about drunk driving.

No one was drunk.

[bighead384]

I'm mainly unsure of what's going to happen with my friend that rear-ended me. I guess if I swerved slightly into the other lane, he could really use that against me. But the thing is, when I swerved, I obviously didn't have enough to time to check if anybody was in the other lane, so I had enough sense to make sure I didn't swerve so much that I would hit a car in the lane next to me. And the fact remains that he had been drinking that day, which could have very possibly made a difference.

[nieh]

Man, can't bighead ever make a thread that isn't about drunk driving.

I forgot that was him that made the pro-drunk driving thread. What delicious irony.

[bighead384]

I forgot that was him that made the pro-drunk driving thread. What delicious irony.

I don't see how it is. Once again, no one was drunk, or even close really. And if anything, if you read the whole story, my actions were different from what you might expect just based on that other thread, where I supported raising the BAC slightly back to where it was, not straight up "drunk-driving".

[Jules69]

I do not drink, makes me sick!! I just smoke!!

[JoY]

Did you swerve right in front of other car or did he have reasonable braking distance? The fact that he was drinking and he ran up the back of you makes it hard to pick.

If you gave him a reasonable amount of distance for the speed you were doing in which to brake I don't see how it's your fault. Part of driving is being alert to what's going on around you so if something out of the ordinary happens you can avoid running up the back of somebody else. Which I have done and I swear I'm never driving that tired again.

I agree, except I'd say the other friend's the one who should have kept a reasonable distance from the car in front of him, adjusted to the speed of both cars. if he wasn't able to pull off an emergency brake, after you had to step on it for that bird, he was too close behind you.

in combination with him having had a couple of beverages, he's certainly not in the position to appoint you as the one to pay for the whole deal. if you'd called to cops to sort out the situation, it seems to me your friend would've been screwed a whole lot more, than you. if he has a heart at all, he's incredibly grateful you handled it on the spot without intervention of the authorities.

to me it sounds at least, like you've pretty much screwed yourself over in order to protect your friend. or did he eventually drink such a small amount, that to the cops it wouldn't have made a difference? either way, he didn't keep a sufficient distance.

about the owner of the car you were driving; what the hell. honestly, normally I'm all for "letting the driver pay for the damage", but if you leave someone no choice but driving your car, because of your ridiculous behavior, one would think you would take at least SOME responsibility. however, you can't make him pay for anything. he'd have to chip in as a favour to you, because he luvs you & you were his man that night, driving the group home for him. otherwise juridically I don't think he owes you a penny.

also, why did you say he isn't 21 yet? what kind of difference does that make in this case?

[nieh]

also, why did you say he isn't 21 yet? what kind of difference does that make in this case?

Legally, if someone under 21 has any alcohol in their system while driving at all (even below the legal limit for a DUI) it's against the law. So even if he wasn't legally drunk, he still would've been in shit had the police come.

[JoY]

oh dude, I get it now.

shit.. you've taken a massive hit for your friend here. besides he's completely accountable for his mad driving skills forcing him to park his car in your rear-end (as far as I know), he's even more lucky than I thought that he didn't get busted with alcohol in his system. believe me, even if you're 21, the police usually doesn't appreciate it when you get into an accident after a drink. now I get that the consequences would have been even much larger, had you called it in. (not that weird, over here the rules for youngsters in traffic are much stricter too)

you understand that you're a total tool for not officially handling this, right? even if it's your friends, you always need to sort out these things properly.

[Mota Boy]

Were you the only person that saw the bird-thing?

[JoY]

good question.