Accident in tuunel

[Chiefs]

Given the fact that that 99.95% of vehicles terack flawlessly down the conveyor, what do you do when a vehicle jumps both rollers and the result is a collision when the conveyor pushes the vehicle behind the jumper into it?

Given that there are only three reasons or a combination therof that can cause a vehicle to jump both rollers (low tires and/or a vehicle badly out of alignment; customer applied the brakes; And/or, customer turned the wheel) Are any of these causes the fault of the car wash per se?

The reason I ask is that a customer in a GMC truck jumped both rollers and collided with a Mercedez causing $1000+ damage to the bumper. I ahve the accident on video and the customer (an old man) had great difficulty at the beginning of the wash, jumping rollers as they loaded him. also, in the video, I witnessed a brief apllication of the trucks brake lights just prior to the jumping of the rollers.

Of course, the customer wants me to pay for the damage. I have refused to as the car wash did not cause the vehicle she struck to jump the rollers. I have filed a police reoprt and given them the video which shows not only the accident but also clear pictures of the customer and their license plate number. Our attendnats asked both customers to stop after coming out of the wash to fill out an accident reoprt but the owner of the truck just took off - in all likelihood knowing full well that his actions caused the accident.

I don't know where this is going, just thought I'd like to get other perspectives. Thanks in advance for your insight.

Bill

 

[Washmee]

If they take you to court, your gonna pay. Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that stuff happens. Pay it.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Technucaly in court they ould have to prove your negligence caused the accident. Practicaly the jude may not care. I would tell the customer to pursue the insurance company for the vehicle in front of her that hit the brakes.

And yes, I have been reamed by a judge who pontificated that a car could "Jump off track, and then jump back on".

Sometimes I win 'm and sometimes I don't. I prefer to set the tone that we take the highest degree of care ot insure the safety of the vehicles, but we are unable to control the actions of the public, particularly those in full control of their vehicle.

 

[Washmee]

My legal adviser told me that once you take the money, you have now made a covenent to ensure the safety of the customers vehicle. Just because the driver of the vehicle that stopped in the tunnel might have caused the damage and then drove away does not mean a thing to the customer who's car sustained damage. In the eyes of the law, you are responsible to make sure that if that does happen, there are safeguards to prevent damage to other customers property. Pay the claim and if you really can prove that the other party caused the accident, you can sue him in small claims to recover your damages. You have good video and his tag #, right?

 

[Bubbles Galore]

You can never buy enough insurance or take enough precautions to compensate for the stupidity of man.

 

[chips35]

We've had this happen in our wash 4 times since we've been open(09/07). In every incident we explained to each customer that was involved that because we have numerous signs telling the customer to put the vehicle in neutral, keep foot off of the brake, and hands off of the stearing wheel that we can not be held liable for any damages caused by the incompetance of a customer. Whether that is correct by the words of the law I do not know but no customer has taken us to court or even attempted to at this time. We just tell the customers to exchange insurance information and if they need evidence of the accident inside the tunnel of the carwash that we can provide them with a copy of the accident on video.

 

[Earl Weiss]

FWIW I am currently being sued. Woman in front claims woman behind hit her 3 times all at 5mph or less. Plaintiff still claiming some obscure theory of liability. Ins. co. handling. Lawyer dvises will try to get dismissed once discovery completed if they don't come up with some more definite theory about why wash was not "Safe".

Also being sued for a second one where exiting driver hit a delivery man inside the building. We will see how it plays out.

 

[Washmee]

I'll be interested in hearing the outcome of that first case Earl. When I said that I was qouting advise from "my legal adviser", I'm not talking about just my attorney. This advice comes from a Judge!

 

[MEP001]

Chiefs, it sounds like you've done nothing wrong and have taken all measures possible to you to prevent such problems. Hopefully your video includes the customer applying the brakes - I would think that might even prove fault on his part. Add to that the "leaving the scene of the accident" and the customer asking you for damage should have no legal leg to stand on. She and the police should go after the other guy, not you.

I agree with the comments that if she can't prove your equipment caused the damage that she'll lose in court.

 

[BayWatch]

Did the cameras get the guys license plate number? If so give it to the customer's insurance. Work with the lady. She didnt do anything wrong. You cant expect her to see the truck while in the wash, and even if she did, should she have hit her brakes so the vehicle behind her could hit her vehicle? Try to find the truck. Did the guy have a VIP card that you might have info for or did he pay with a credit card?

For anyone else who might read this, if you are a rear wheel push conveyor, dont let a vehicle be pushed by the front tire.The rollers can pop underneath the tire when done so. Took me a while to catch my guys doing this. Due to customers not having the vehicle in nuetral, the vehicle would jump the rollers, bypassing the rear tire. While the customer would get it in nuetral, the rollers continued forward and would catch the front tire. I guess the power steering would let the roller turn the tire(s) enough that the rollers go underneath. Even had one jump the track and take out an arch. We have the vehicle jump all rollers and send extras so it is pushed by the rear tire.

 

[BayWatch]

I know every state/police department handles these things differently. Here, if the accident happened on private property,the police wont file a report and a few customers, after raising the voice to the officer, were almost arrested. We have had this happen, and we learned that while both cars are in the tunnel and we are trying to sort things out, we tell each customer once they are out of the tunnel to pull around front, fill out an incident report (ours) for their records and ours, and swap insurance. We also tell them, while in the tunnel, we have cameras that captured what happened so we can sort everything out. It is a small statement that you shouldnt take off. This has kept anyone from leaving the scene. Our guys are also trained to look for the roller placement, and point that out on camera, before anyone tries to leave the tunnel. We try to stay neutral while doing all of this.

I have seen a customer hand another customer $1500 cash to not file a report as well as customers fight in the parking lot over the accident. It doesnt matter what precautions you have in place, people are going to do stupid things.

 

[JimmyJaffa]

Bumper repair should never cost as much as you were quoted. If you do a little research in your city, there are repair people that only specialize in bumper repair. They are not full body shops, but will set up in a parking lot. In fact, most used cars sold that have some minor damage, are repaired by people like them. When we have had to repair a bumper, it has been between $100 - $200 (most we just give some free washes to go away). Our wash speed is about 0.75 miles per hour, resulting in at most minor damage. Is yours that much different?

 

[stevie g]

But that's not true. The customers are responsible for following the directives of what constitutes making the carwash "safe", namely, car in neutral, foot off the brake, hands off the steering wheel...just like all our signage indicates

If a dumbass decides to disobey those rules, then he/she is responsible, not us. I would happily debate any small claims judge on that one. We've had this happen before, but never went to court. We had the drivers in question exchange insurance information just as if the accident happened out on the street.

 

[Washmee]

Earl and Bill, any updates on how things turned out with your tunnel accidents?

 

[Earl Weiss]

The litigation on is pending. Based upon backlogs in Cook County Illinois courts I expect it will be for some time.