so i was on my way out to Eden Friday 10/22, and took camp rd/75 out there as i always do. well the road was all ripped up so they could repave it. i didn’t know that there was construction until i got there so i had no choice. but anyway, entering on the grooved pavement was smooth, as was going onto the bridge that goes over the thruway. but coming off the bridge wasn’t so smooth. i saw the BUMP sign so i slowed down and got down to 10mph tops. as much as i could anyway, so i didn’t get rear ended. well my car hit hard and bottomed out anyway as i would have expected it to, so i pull over in the first parking lot thinking it just popped the sides of the bumper off like it usually does and then i got out and saw this…
and from underneath once i pulled the bumper off
cracked the bumper pretty good, would definitely be better off buying a new one rather than fixing it and hoping it stays together. the headlight panel cracked where the bumper bolts on and my hood has a crack along the edge on the underneath and some paint stress cracks on top from the bumper hitting it.
so just to price stuff out quickly:
new bumper from Roush $489.76
new headlight panel $95.59
paint for the bumper $150???
and whatever i can do with the hood if anything who knows
and here’s the “bump” drop off which was roughly 2-3 inches, i forgot to bring a ruler with me. the one on the side that’s already paved that i went over was bigger than the one pictured, but the traffic was ridiculous to try and take one yesterday when it happened so i went back this morning
has anyone ever tried taking something like that to the county/state for reimbursement for the damage? i have a police report regarding the whole thing so its documented and whatnot. im sure i would have to go to small claims court yadda yadda if i got anything for it. i really dont want to pay whatever it amounts to ~$800 out of pocket to get this fixed if i dont have to.
so any input would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance
dude, ive been driving on this the last few days, it is sketch! youre also lucky you didnt hit the raised manhole cover by the RR bridge and destroy your oil pan
There is a thread here about how to go about this. I thought it was a sticky but now that I look maybe it was back on UBRF… I’ll keep looking. It was either Viper966 or LAFENGAS who wrote steps on how to go after the highway dept for damages.
That sucks, but it was a marked construction zone, this is different than hitting a neglected pothole. Was the work being done by the town or a contractor? You can try, but I don’t think they will do anything for you.
it was marked clearly with a “BUMP” sign but. i was in rush hour traffic and slowed down as much as i could and still that was the end result. so yeah my car is low and im sure most other cars made i over fine but the drop off from the bridge could have been a lot more gradual like it was going on. it was a poor design on how far they dug the road down right up against the bridge.
I hope that tax payers don’t end up footing the bill for you to be able to drive a car that can’t drive over a 2-3" edge without damage. Pay to play. If you want to drive a car like that on public roads don’t expect others to pay the risk. Too much of this kind of entitlement and we’ll wind up with state mandated minimum ride heights. I’m surprised we don’t have that already.
i think either your car is too low or you didn’t slow down enough. i remember drive passing grand island bridge three times a week in the past two months with construction like this and mine with thousands other cars running over edges just like this without any issues.
I hit a huge step up in the pavement on RT 62 in Dayton a few years back, about a 10 inch incline that was right at the “End Construction” sign and wasnt marked at all, broke my ball joint clean off on a stock police package caprice…
the neighbors came running out to see what happened and said I was the 3rd person that week that had lost a wheel thanks to the same spot…
ended up destroying the tire and some cosmetic damage to the fender, it was about $600 worth of damage, I called the state police and filed a report and had the car towed, it happened at dusk and by the time I got back in the morning with a camera they had patched it up with fill, I tried going after the construction company but trying to get a name /address of who was running it was almost impossible, I actually had to follow a construction vehicle to their work site and demand info on their company, they ended up filing for bankruptcy and the project was taken over by a different company, long story short my insurance company picked up the tab and then put it on my record as an “accident” , cost me alot more than $600 over the years…
I got royally fucked and should have just sucked it up and payed out of pocket
I’m not looking to get criticized for having a low car. Plenty of people on here have cars that are just as low that would’ve suffered damage as well. I was just looking for some insight to getting it fixed. So keep you comments to yourself if you’re gonna be a dick about it
That drop off can’t be more than 3". Going 10 MPH doesn’t cause that kind of damage with a plastic bumper. Those things flex a pretty decent amount.
Gotta agree with Fry, area was clearly marked, and obviously 99% of the people aren’t having issues with it otherwise you’d see a paved gradient there.
It won’t matter who you go after, you’ll have to pay for the repairs first anyways and get reimbursed. Small claims court vs whoever is in charge of the project. You probably won’t get a hearing for a year so I’d look out for others who might also suffer damage at that site and see if you can’t build a more substantial case then my modified car was damaged, pay for my mods.
Don’t know how this compares, but a friend of mine got a load of rocks dropped on his bike while in a resturant in a construction zone. The damage was minimal (about $150 IIRC), but the town did end up paying for it. Hope this helps.
same thing happened to me in the north towns, it sucks spec but its the price of being low. my paint on my bumper is cracked to shit but i dont care so im leaving it until i get it painted. either way youll have to pay for it yourself. sorry buddy shitty roads suck
Are construction companies supposed to put some type of mini “asphalt ramp” in front of the bump when they dig up a road? Every time I see them dig up a road in Amherst, the guys put a little makeshift incline in front of it so you’re not hitting the cut off road head on.
Jmezzi, It depends on the town, as everyone seems to have different specifications. For that it looks like a 1 day mill, the next day pave kind of project. You wouldn’t bother to do that ramp, and when it butts to concrete like that, having an edge is pretty much the only way to do it quickly.
To the O.P, whatever you do, don’t follow a worker and DEMAND to know about the company info… That’s about the worst thing you can do. If someone came in my job trailer with that attitude, you would get a door slammed in your face, and the police called lol.
shitty roads suck