Tracy Morgan crashed his $2 million Bugatti in New York 

Cafe Society
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OK, so setting aside the Tracy bashing or sports-car-hating or NYC-is-crazy-to-drive-in type responses, here are the facts:

The TMZ article analyzing who’s at fault states the accident happened on 10th Ave. and 42nd St., with “Tracy cruising westbound on 42nd Street and preparing to make a legal turn onto 10th Ave.”, and a picture of the accident scene that matches this Google Maps view of the intersection:

Now, 42nd St. is a major crosstown street in Manhattan, one of the few that have traffic going in both directions. It has two lanes of traffic in each direction, separated by a double yellow line, and an additional “parking lane” in each direction.

The so-called “parking lane” is often supposed to be used as a third line for traffic at peak times; if you go back eastward on 42nd St. to see what the approach to the intersection is like, as both of them would have been driving westbound towards 10th Ave.,

You’ll see a truck for “Alma Gourmet” near the intersection in the “parking lane”, and if you zoom in on the red traffic regulations sign near the Chase bank, you’d see:

NO STANDING 7AM-10AM, 4PM-7PM, EXCEPT SUNDAY
NO STANDING EXCEPT TRUCKS LOADING AND UNLOADING 10AM-4PM EXCEPT SUNDAY

Mon-Sat at “peak times”, you’re not supposed to stop in the curbside lane, ever - it’s meant for moving traffic. And any other time, it’s only allowed for trucks loading and unloading, never passenger vehicles. (In NYC parlance, “parking” means the operator has killed the ignition and left the vehicle, while “standing” means the operator is still in or with the car, but not going anywhere.)

Now, I’ll tell you that these types of rules are all over downtown and midtown Manhattan, and are often ignored until a traffic cop comes over to enforce them. Trucks will load/unload even from 7-10AM or 4-7PM, even double parking to load and unload; livery car drivers will “stand” against the curb awaiting their passengers; and so on. But, on a road like 42nd St., it is closely and heavily enforced.

What I expect happened is that Tracy was in the rightmost lane, like where the Alma Gourmet truck is in the second Google Maps Street View picture (from Jul 2018), and made a right turn coming out of a red light; and that this Honda Civic was in the middle lane, but what would have been the “right lane” if the parking lane were full of parked cars or trucks, and obliviously made a right turn without seeing if the car to her right was parked/standing or in motion, and not even assuming the car on her right was parked, but not even mentally registering that it was possible for vehicles in the right lane to contain live traffic, even though it always SHOULD, during the day except on Sunday.

This happens to me ALL THE TIME in NYC, and is especially a hazard while bicycling or motorcycling - people making right turns across the “parking lane” when that lane is, in fact, a live lane for forward moving traffic. Usually without signaling. I’ve been hit that way in both a car and a motorcycle, fortunately only clipped and not full-on T-boned.

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robardin, Thank you for your first hand knowledge of the intersection. It clears up a lot of confusion.

I shouldn’t have let the ostentatious display of wealth and privilege influence my OP.

I don’t need to be reminded that Tracy can spend his money however he wants. It’s nice being rich.

Too bad the rest of society can’t get a piece of that luxurious lifestyle.

Oh my goodness, I sound like AOC. :wink:

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Why are you reading TMZ then?

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On a Bugatti? Graphene infused with nanobots, I think you mean.

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Thanks for clarifying the rules for use of the curbside lane. The lady was not paying enough attention and could have killed someone if Tracy had been on a bicycle instead of a Bugatti.

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That was the link that had the best pictures.

I saw Tracy’s crash reported on my newsfeed and Google lead me to TMZ.

I’m glad it wasn’t a high impact crash. Tracy had some spinal damage after the semi hit his limo. Another hard hit could be really bad for Tracy’s health.

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I hadn’t seen the nice front view of the cars in that article, and with your explanation it looks a lot like Morgan is not at fault and the other car is. I hope he’s not an asshole about it.

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As someone who’s been clipped by people obliviously making a right turn across “an empty parking lane that is actually for live traffic”, I wouldn’t mind seeing this making more headlines as a PSA about how terrible that is, or seeing her get hit with the appropriate number of points on her license.

And even had the car not been a Bugatti but an ordinary Honda Accord or something, it’s quite probable that the body damage would be expensive to repair: impact and scraping on multiple pieces door, front panel, wheel well, etc., replacing the pieces and sanding/painting would cost several thousand.

And then there’s the additional annoyance of this ending up on the insurance claims records. I just sold my 2008 Acura MDX for at least $1000 less than I would have gotten for it had it had an “accident free” Carfax report, the “accident” referring to an insurance claim I filed to have it repaired from multiple panel scraping when a landscaping truck carrying some fallen tree or something drove down my street and majorly scraped the entire left side of my street-parked car and two others. I didn’t do anything wrong, the car wasn’t mechanically impaired, but the car is documented as no longer being “accident free history” and its market value takes a hit, full stop.

Now the fact that the Bugatti’s body parts may cost much more than a Honda Accord’s would is unfortunate, but are you suggesting that Tracy ought to suck it up because “he can afford it” if the woman’s car insurance policy doesn’t cover it completely? I could see doing that in his position if I felt bad enough, but it would all depend on how she acted or pled, and my own financial situation to absorb it. Certainly it wouldn’t be a case of him being “an asshole” to insist the damaging party make restitution.

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Why? Why would you possibly care how some stranger acts with another stranger while filing their insurance claims? Just because you don’t like his comedy doesn’t mean Morgan is some jerk.

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I just don’t want to see the other driver bankrupted by this. I think the liability for damages should be limited in a case like this, assuming it was just an accident. He was already acting like an jerk by pounding on her car.

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A stranger on the internet expressing an opinion that strangers on the internet shouldn’t express their opinions? How meta:)

Why? Obviously because of the potential consequences. Hoping he’s not an asshole need not be based on any presumption about his character, it’s based on consideration of the potentially devastating consequences for the woman who hit him if he is.

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Coincidentally, the last episode of the second season of his TBS series, The Last O.G., aired last night. I’ve watched both seasons and it’s pretty good, as these things go.

In addition to the medical issues after the crash between his minibus and the Walmart tractor-trailer, I believe he’s a kidney transplant recipient. So his medical history is a little complicated. It doesn’t look from the pictures that there were any injuries in this accident, but he does need to be careful.

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I’m not sure where this happened but in most states, you can claim damage from “diminished value” to account for exactly this effect.

I’m guessing the diminished value on a lightly crashed Bugatti is probably going to be somewhere between the cost of a new Porsche Boxster and a new Ferrari Portofino.

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I like that analysis so much, I want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.

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Why would the other driver be bankrupted? If they don’t have insurance, maybe, but that’s on them.
If they have insurance, it’ll cover the damages. In New York, you have to have $10,000 worth of coverage for property damage. That, I’d imagine, would cover repairing the damaged panels and enough that the remainder doesn’t bankrupt them. The driver may even have insurance above and beyond the state required minimum as well as an umbrella policy that would catch the rest.

As for the accident-free issue. I’d be surprised (or, let’s call it curious) how much that comes into play with a car like this.
At the very least, the report will probably say that what was damaged and replaced and because Tracy is so famous there’s always going to be pictures of it on the internet that he can point to and say ‘see, just a little bit of body damage’.

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The owners of expensive cars would be wise to invest in uninsured/underinsured policies. Problem solved.

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The driver was from New Jersey, which only requires $5,000 in property damage coverage. There’s not a lot of great info out there about Bugatti insurance costs but I found this post about a Russian repair bill for a seemingly similar amount of damage. Bugatti Veyron Repair Bill - Page 1 - Supercar General - PistonHeads UK

It all looks pretty minor. That was roughly $120,000 USD in damage as of 2012.

Plus, as I noted above, perhaps $200,000 in diminished value because the people who are collecting Bugattis don’t want one that’s been crashed and repaired. So, her insurance may cover as little as $5,000 and she may be liable for the remaining ~$320,000. I’m guessing that’s the kind of money that could drive a woman who worries about her insurance rate going up into bankruptcy. I’d guess it’s even likely.

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Perhaps but that just means Mr. Morgan’s insurance company will pursue her instead.

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This was a fender bender, not a crash. In no way was his Bugatti totaled.

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If it’s a reasonable cost to replace it, which might even be more than $10,000 but not something like $100,000 then it shouldn’t bankrupt someone with required insurance. But if he tries to pile on claims, saying he was injured, not mitigating the property damages, then it could easily cost her twice as much with legal fees. If he settles this reasonably then no one can accuse him being an asshole about it. It’s up to him.