18 Wheeler Crushed My Toad, Ruined My Day and Summer

[MovingMann]

FYI...

Anytime "Vehicles Accidents" have injuries that require medical treatments, ONE would be wise to seek and "Retain" legal advice.

Prepare for your health & well being next year today.

Just my 2 cents worth...

[BRex45]

Originally Posted by Monacoach

Even though the trucker is at fault you might have prevented the collision had you thrown your Dukes of Hazzard County lights on.

Hazard lights would have been too late and never have I heard that type of reasoning that would have prevented the crash.

[Charles L]

Checked the four slides yesterday. I will ask the adjuster to include this check in the repair estimate. RV goes in tomorrow for the dreaded slow rv repairs. The company handling this claim for the big rig driver appear to be accepting responsibility. Will know more details soon when they call me back. I will see how much they offer before I decide on the legal avenue. I spoke to them about accident depreciation and other issues. Just have to see what they offer. Sure isn't fair if I have to dip into my pocket.

[Ret.LEO]

Originally Posted by OFDPOS

Kinda gleaned over all the posts , so not sure if this tidbit was covered. ?

Remember anything damaged that gets fixed on the vehicle from a body shop etc goes into cyber space and now its marked/flagged !
You decide a couple years from now to trade it in, the dealership your trading it into does their carfax Or ? and bingo it comes out in the report.
All it had to be is a minor replace bumper to spray a qtr panel the value of your vehicle just hit rock bottom !

There's a term used for it.....

So just repairing the damaged parts isn't making you whole !
But now you have lost value of the MH too ...

You are so right. My Daughter In Law was in their new 2018 Honda Odyssey Van and was rear ended by a unattentive car behind her a week before leaving on summer vacation. Did $10,000 worth of damage. Son was pleased that the woman's insurance took care of them. I told him that was just half the story though.........it will now be listed in CARFAX that it had major damage..............it will always be used against it for value as a trade in or if a prospective buyer runs it's CARFAX.

[CntryCoachRV]

Originally Posted by fla tom

Wow wet rainy situation and you were worried about stopping in time. The last one in a pile up is the one ticketed regardless. Your loss will be covered why even bring up a law suit? Life happens loss happens why do people try to make money on mishaps? If you are made whole that is what is important.

He will not be made whole, his daily driver will probably be totaled and the insurance company will not replace it they will give him greatly depreciated value which will not be enough to replace it with a suitable replacement vehicle. He will have to dig deep to add to the insurance funds to get a new daily driver.

The only way he will be made whole is to get an high powered attorney who knows how to squeeze the guilty party. Why would anyone suggest otherwise?
Protect your interests.
Ray

Footnote: I am not a lawyer and I hate dealing with them but they are a necessary evil!

[ballard770]

Sure and at what time does he turn on the hazard lights? While he is trying to slow down and stop? I don't think that a typical driver would have the indication and time to turn on the hazard lights in time to warn the 18 wheeler following him exept if he had noticed a slowdown ahead but slowing down should apply the brakes and brake lights (or using an exhaust brake in a class A whould turn on the brake lights)

[Roadhogger]

Was coming back to NC from Tenn. and ran over a semi tire carcass the size of a VW, almost. Was towing a Mini with Blu Ox bar and destroyed the spoilers front and rear.
Minor in comparison.
Glad you guys are ok.

[Swingvoter]

Not that it would have anything to do with your accident, but I see more and more truckers looking at their phones. Not a good idea anytime, but especially driving something that big. I hope it all works out for you.

[TomTX]

My wife was rear ended by an 18 wheeler in her Jaguar. She was fine but the car had extensive damage. We were made whole by also claiming dimunition of value on the 2 year old Jaguar. We got about $12,000 in lost value. You may not consider that on the tow car but the record will show that your motor home was in an accident and it may have an impact on the resale value whenever you sell it. There are people who specialize in this and your insurance company should be able to help you find someone. Get it done now and don't wait. Good Luck and glad you are OK. Some if not MOST of these truckers are CRAZY and follow way too close and some should not be allowed on the road.

[sajohnson]

First of all, I want to be absolutely clear that I am not suggesting that the OP should have turned on his 4-way flashers, or that it would have necessarily made a difference. I feel very sorry for him.

With that said, I will say that I am in the habit of hitting the hazard light switch whenever there is an abrupt slow down, something in the road, an animal or person beside the road, etc. It has become instinctual.

IDK that it makes much/any difference in most cases, but it can't hurt.

Needless to say, it can be difficult to have the presence of mind to turn the 4-ways on in an emergency braking situation.

Also, as was posted above, some vehicles do not have amber lights -- in which case the hazards do no good during braking because they aren't visible.

Side note: ALL vehicles should have amber turn signals/hazard lights, period. They are much more obvious and therefore, safer.

[newmar1]

I am for using 4-way flashers when ever driving slow or stopped especially on a highway with a large gap of traffic behind, including my pickup and car. It gets peoples attention a lot better than break lights and doesn't hurt a thing to use.
Best of luck with all Charles,

[PeterFTH]

Originally Posted by Charles L

95 north exit 121 North Carolina Sunday afternoon. Traffic came to a quick slowdown from 55-60 MPH down to about 10 MPH. I was following another RV towing a trailer at a safe distance in rainy weather. I was able to slow down maintaining distance from the other rv. I was worried at first but realized I was going to make it and I felt a sense of relief. Then all of a sudden wham and a big push forward into the rv and trailer in front of me. We are ok besides the whiplash my wife received. My tow dolly and Camry absorbed most of the impact. Both are destroyed. The front bumper, grill, and left fender are damaged. The tow hitch will need to be replaced and the rear plastic bumper replaced or repaired. No frame damage that I can see. After impact I veered right to avoid the trailer and caught the middle vice full frontal impact. I don't know whether to sue the driver and company at fault. My insurance will go after them to recover funds. The driver was ticketed and the trooper said it was because he was responsible for causing the wreck but did not specifically say the charge. I will pay my deductible to expedite the repairs and get it back when the trucking company insurance settles the claim. I am bummed out about this whole thing. My daily driver is destroyed. It was old but ran and looked good. I took care of it. So I will have to get another car eventually and another dolly. Maybe I will try 4 down this time. The RV will probably be in the shop for a month or more. I think I will try a ford place vice an rv place. The damage in the front is all ford stuff. The rear bumper I am not sure who will fix that. The hitch should be able to be replaced but I am not sure who can do that. So I am waiting for the geico rv adjuster to look at my RV. I was able to drive it home the 100+ miles after the wreck. Funny how people move over when they see the wrecked front end of an rv coming.

Don't be quick to assume the trucking company will do the right thing. I had an Averitt semi clip off my right mirror on I-75 a few weeks ago. Driver wouldn't acknowldege me and drove off. I managed to get off the road with the mirror hanging by it's wire - had to buy two as the original ones no longer available. Averitt said it's my fault according to their dash cam, but the camera would not show the mirrors at the time of the hit. Nice to know that leaving the scene of an accident in Georgia is not something they are willing to pursue. I ate the $1,200.

[JWA]

Had a friend who went through this on a 10 year old 1 owner Ford Bronco II which was totaled. The at fault drivers insurance furnished him a rental car until they could settle. After several weeks they were calling him twice a week. After about 6 weeks, they coughed up another $3K or so for the Bronco so they could get him out of the rental car.. And, they agreed to only settle the vehicle damage. He had been seeing a doctor for shoulder pain and they were covering those bills, but he did not desire to sign off on the medical until the statute of limitations was almost up so he could see if he might encounter future problems.

[JNSNWT]

"My daily driver is destroyed. It was old but ran and looked good. I took care of it. "


I feel your pain. Same thing happened to my neighbor. Insurance offered him next to nothing for his car. He was able to "produce" a receipt showing he just replaced the engine so they gave him an extra $1500 for the "new" engine. wink wink


I am NOT suggesting you do this but it worked for him.