My Truck Rear Ended - Pics

[FirstGen]

Well tuesday around 3:30pm in the afternoon driving down a four lane asphalt road some one up ahead slams on their brakes to turn left on to a residential street with no turn lane and everyone behind this person slams on their brakes hard to not hit the vehicle in front of them. Un-luckily for me, the lady behind me in a 2001 Dodge Durango doesn't hit the brakes in time to slow down and rear ends me going 30+mph.

Damage includes completely destroying the bed, tailgate, roll pan, bedsides, smashed the back of the cab in 2+ inches, shocking both door and scraping paint off around door jabs, cracked my rear mounted A1000 Aeromotive fuel pump and cracked the optima battery. The motor even was moved back about 3/4 of an inch and the transmission crossmember is bowed now. Neither doors close as nicely. All the gaps on the hood and fenders are out of wack. Hell even the front bumper was shocked by the collision enough to come back and scratch the paint at the grill area. I did not hit the lady in front of me thankfully although after being pushed 4+ feet I only had about 2 feet from hitting her.

I feel like someone beat me up and just plain sick to my stomach...

[sdkid]

I feel your pain dude. That really, really sucks. Hope things turn out with insurance.

[70rs/ss]

I know this sucks, but you are alright, and the truck can be replaced (I am not being insensetive to your time invested, but you know what I mean). My brother died in a car accident June 3, 2005. I was in one within three days of his. A guy in Houston traffic on I-10 doesn't follow the road and bounces of the guy next to him and clips me going by and my sister and I go flying into on-ramp concrete abutment at 70mph. airbacks and fast deceleration suck, I have 4 herniated discs in my lower back now. I told my sister as we watched her car go on the flatbed, cars are replaceable, people aren't. Glad to see you are still around.

[FirstGen]

Originally Posted by 70rs/ss

I know this sucks, but you are alright, and the truck can be replaced (I am not being insensetive to your time invested, but you know what I mean). My brother died in a car accident June 3, 2005. I was in one within three days of his. A guy in Houston traffic on I-10 doesn't follow the road and bounces of the guy next to him and clips me going by and my sister and I go flying into on-ramp concrete abutment at 70mph. airbacks and fast deceleration suck, I have 4 herniated discs in my lower back now. I told my sister as we watched her car go on the flatbed, cars are replaceable, people aren't. Glad to see you are still around.

I am sorry to hear about your loss. I am glad no one was seriously injured. However it just sucks to see the literally hundreds of hours of time I invested become worthless in seconds.

[70rs/ss]

Originally Posted by FirstGen

I am sorry to hear about your loss. I am glad no one was seriously injured. However it just sucks to see the literally hundreds of hours of time I invested become worthless in seconds.

I am with you, it looks like you spent a lot of time and elbow greese on it. Well on the bright side (if there is on at theis point) your settlement will be enough to buy a nice one that someone else can't afford to keep, and I know that doesn't help the pain either

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by sdkid

I feel your pain dude. That really, really sucks. Hope things turn out with insurance.

That sucks

[shifty]

Please tell me you had your truck appraised and fully insured.

I would sue the **** out of that lady. Get a lawyer and have her cell phone records pulled, see if she was talking on the phone or doing anything else that could have prevented the wreck, then sue the hell out of her.

Be sure to get her insurance to cover medical (actual and preventative) - go see a chiropractor, if it did that much shock to your truck, guess what your spine and other stuff is looking like right now? Last thing you want is future pains and aches like I got from my wrecks.

I'm really sorry to hear about this, but at the same time, If you end up partin' anything out, lemme know

[FirstGen]

Originally Posted by shifty

Please tell me you had your truck appraised and fully insured.

I would sue the **** out of that lady. Get a lawyer and have her cell phone records pulled, see if she was talking on the phone or doing anything else that could have prevented the wreck, then sue the hell out of her.

Be sure to get her insurance to cover medical (actual and preventative) - go see a chiropractor, if it did that much shock to your truck, guess what your spine and other stuff is looking like right now? Last thing you want is future pains and aches like I got from my wrecks.

I'm really sorry to hear about this, but at the same time, If you end up partin' anything out, lemme know

I don't plan on walking away until I am very fairly compensated. I just know it will be a big battle to get what I want out of it. I also know that I don't want them to try to fix it either. Once stuff is hit that hard nothing ever lines up right anymore.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by FirstGen

Once stuff is hit that hard nothing ever lines up right anymore.

Wanna sell all the fenders Seriously though, I checked out all the pics on your website, she sure was a pretty ride. You sure you neck doesn't hurt Hope everything works out for you and glad your ok.

[Jim_PA]

Originally Posted by shifty

I would sue the **** out of that lady. Get a lawyer and have her cell phone records pulled, see if she was talking on the phone or doing anything else that could have prevented the wreck, then sue the hell out of her.

Yeah, that's what I'd do too... Sue the sh*t out of someone weather the compensation for damage caused is reasonable or not. Must have a lawyer in the family.....

[MrC1]

Man, that sucks. Sorry for all the loss, but glad it was only mechanical, not physical.

I can't agree with the couple of posts saying you should sue the s*** outta her though. Unless she truly did something negligent to cause all that damage there's no reason to go wild with the lawsuits. Sorry, that's just a really crappy attitude and it's one of the big problems in our society today.

That said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with getting fully reimbursed for your loss. In the regard, make sure you get all that's coming to you. If the lady simply couldn't stop fast enough, I'd leave her alone beyond that.

Good luck!!

[junkyardjohn]

Originally Posted by MrC1

Man, that sucks. Sorry for all the loss, but glad it was only mechanical, not physical.

I can't agree with the couple of posts saying you should sue the s*** outta her though. Unless she truly did something negligent to cause all that damage there's no reason to go wild with the lawsuits. Sorry, that's just a really crappy attitude and it's one of the big problems in our society today.

That said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with getting fully reimbursed for your loss. In the regard, make sure you get all that's coming to you. If the lady simply couldn't stop fast enough, I'd leave her alone beyond that.

Good luck!!

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE. THATS ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS WITH THIS COUNTRY TODAY. PEOPLE BEING SO SUE HAPPY. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. NO ONE WAS KILLED & I'M SURE YOUR TRUCK WILL BE REPLACED. NOW IF THAT LADY WAS TO RUN INTO YOU ON PORPOUS (SP) THAT WOULD BE ANOTHER STORY ALL TOGETHER. I'M A FIRM BELIEVER IN "WHAT GOES AROUND.. COMES AROUND" . ALL THE PEOPLE THAT AVOCATE SUING THE HELL OUT OF THIS LADY BETTER HOPE I'M WRONG IF THEY EVER GET INTO AN ACCIDENT. I'M SORRY ABOUT YOUR TRUCK. I'LL BET YOUR NEXT ONE WILL BE EVEN NICER. JOHN

[CPNEJR]

damn that sucks! not to be a broken record but the most important thing is that you're ok

[FirstGen]

That's the plan. I think she is just like any normal mother with three children in the car - distracted. I don't plan on sueing her personally and I think even the state minimum will cover my medical problems and replacement value of my truck. Hopefully. I just know trying to get them to write a check to me for 26 grand or something in that ballpark won't be easy...
-taylor

Originally Posted by MrC1

Man, that sucks. Sorry for all the loss, but glad it was only mechanical, not physical.

I can't agree with the couple of posts saying you should sue the s*** outta her though. Unless she truly did something negligent to cause all that damage there's no reason to go wild with the lawsuits. Sorry, that's just a really crappy attitude and it's one of the big problems in our society today.

That said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with getting fully reimbursed for your loss. In the regard, make sure you get all that's coming to you. If the lady simply couldn't stop fast enough, I'd leave her alone beyond that.

Good luck!!

[shifty]

Originally Posted by Jim_PA

Yeah, that's what I'd do too... Sue the sh*t out of someone weather the compensation for damage caused is reasonable or not. Must have a lawyer in the family.....

Man, you're really quick to jump into someone else's thread and insult someone with an off-topic post, aren't you? Troll much?

Maybe you don't know how this whole thing normally works - the insurance company has lawyers and they have the insurance adjusters that they pay nicely to underprice and underquote everything and total a truck like that at the drop of a hat so they can pay out 1/4 of the amount it's really worth. If he sues that woman, she doesn't pay a dime, the insurance company does. That's why people like you and I pay for insurance in the first place...in case we screw up and hit someone. Your best bet in any wreck where more than a thousand or two in damage is done is to get a lawyer. If they have them, why should you be the only one who doesn't? I know, a lot of people hate/don't trust lawyers...and it's understandable. Most of the people that run our country were lawyers and the lawyers and politicians alike are shady!


I don't have any lawyers in my family, but I've been in a lot of wrecks and I know how the system works, I've been dragged through it more than I care to recount (ok ,so it was 6 wrecks from age 15 to 22, only 2 are my fault, the rest are negligent drivers). I'm thinking about it from an emotional perspective. I see what the guy put into his truck and I know if that was my truck, it would have been as dear to me as one of my children. Having it killed (literally) at the hands of a negligent driver would leave me on the ground in tears and I don't cry. That truck is irreplaceable. It would be like losing a family heirloom to me personally, some keepsake that you just can't replace. No matter what he does, he will never have that truck back. Maybe you missed the recent videos he posted showing him racing a Z06 'vette. Those are some of his last memories having a blast in the truck. He will never experience that again. All because some lady was following too closely or her reaction time was delayed because of distractions (kids? cell phone? just wasn't watching the road? who knows?)

Bottom line....You, JYJ or anyone else can sit here and talk about the decline of our country and how "sue-happy people" are causing degredation of our life and well-being, but the sad truth is, the people who lead you to believe that crap are usually the ones who are at risk to take a loss from people getting a lawyer in the first place. It sucks that you hafta get a lawyer to keep from getting railroaded completely, but you can blame the businesses and insurance companies for keeping it that way. People like you and I need lawyers to even get a fair settlement out of it.

72 hours ago, this guy had an incredible prize-worthy truck...now he has a twisted hunk of metal and memories of "what might have been" and "what will never be". That is worth someting in my book, but it's not tangible to an insurance company so they aren't gonna pay for it unless a lawyer steps in to fight em.

Now, there are frivilous lawsuits out there ... I don't think this would fall into that category.

[FirstGen]

I couldn't have agreed more. Good points and good intentions by both parties. I think unfortunatly for 99.9% of the people out there, a vehicle is nothing more than something with 4 wheels that takes them somewhere. It is easily replaced and that's all an insurance company takes into consideration.

Originally Posted by shifty

Man, you're really quick to jump into someone else's thread and insult someone with an off-topic post, aren't you? Troll much?

Maybe you don't know how this whole thing normally works - the insurance company has lawyers and they have the insurance adjusters that they pay nicely to underprice and underquote everything and total a truck like that at the drop of a hat so they can pay out 1/4 of the amount it's really worth. If he sues that woman, she doesn't pay a dime, the insurance company does. That's why people like you and I pay for insurance in the first place...in case we screw up and hit someone. Your best bet in any wreck where more than a thousand or two in damage is done is to get a lawyer. If they have them, why should you be the only one who doesn't? I know, a lot of people hate/don't trust lawyers...and it's understandable. Most of the people that run our country were lawyers and the lawyers and politicians alike are shady!


I don't have any lawyers in my family, but I've been in a lot of wrecks and I know how the system works, I've been dragged through it more than I care to recount (ok ,so it was 6 wrecks from age 15 to 22, only 2 are my fault, the rest are negligent drivers). I'm thinking about it from an emotional perspective. I see what the guy put into his truck and I know if that was my truck, it would have been as dear to me as one of my children. Having it killed (literally) at the hands of a negligent driver would leave me on the ground in tears and I don't cry. That truck is irreplaceable. It would be like losing a family heirloom to me personally, some keepsake that you just can't replace. No matter what he does, he will never have that truck back. Maybe you missed the recent videos he posted showing him racing a Z06 'vette. Those are some of his last memories having a blast in the truck. He will never experience that again. All because some lady was following too closely or her reaction time was delayed because of distractions (kids? cell phone? just wasn't watching the road? who knows?)

Bottom line....You, JYJ or anyone else can sit here and talk about the decline of our country and how "sue-happy people" are causing degredation of our life and well-being, but the sad truth is, the people who lead you to believe that crap are usually the ones who are at risk to take a loss from people getting a lawyer in the first place. It sucks that you hafta get a lawyer to keep from getting railroaded completely, but you can blame the businesses and insurance companies for keeping it that way. People like you and I need lawyers to even get a fair settlement out of it.

72 hours ago, this guy had an incredible prize-worthy truck...now he has a twisted hunk of metal and memories of "what might have been" and "what will never be". That is worth someting in my book, but it's not tangible to an insurance company so they aren't gonna pay for it unless a lawyer steps in to fight em.

Now, there are frivilous lawsuits out there ... I don't think this would fall into that category.

[Jim_PA]

Originally Posted by shifty

Man, you're really quick to jump into someone else's thread and insult someone with an off-topic post, aren't you? Troll much?

No, but I don't have to like your attitude towards something. Sorry for not liking what I read.

Hopefully the 2 times the wreck was your fault, you got the S sued out of you?

[shifty]

Originally Posted by Jim_PA

No, but I don't have to like your attitude towards something. Sorry for not liking what I read.

Hopefully the 2 times the wreck was your fault, you got the S sued out of you?

Actually, in both wrecks damage was minimal and happened at less than 10mph. No vehicles were totalled, nobody was injured. That's more than I can say for the other 4 that happened to me, 2 of which were really bad, permanent injuries, totalled cars, people not paying attn.

You don't hafta like what I say. But just because you don't, doesn't give you the right to insult me publicly. PM me about it next time, ask me why I'm saying it...give me your viewpoint. That's how opinions are made and changed.

If you want to continue carrying on, can we take it to PM so we're not hijacking someone else's thread?

[shifty]

PS - could any of this have been better if you'd have had a bumper on the truck?

[FirstGen]

Originally Posted by shifty

PS - could any of this have been better if you'd have had a bumper on the truck?

Seeing as how I had a hitch and the bumpers on these things suck ass I don't think so. If you notice the entire bed was pushed forward into the cab etc. I think if it had been a more direct hit to the frame like with the bumper it would have just been an accordian.

[MDC]

That sucks man. What a helpless feeling to see her coming and not a damn thing you can do about it

[JRB]

Sorry to see that. This is making me rethink the bumper route. .

JRB

[FirstGen]

Originally Posted by JRB

Sorry to see that. This is making me rethink the bumper route. .

JRB

Seeing as how you can't even tow with a factory bumper I don't think they will save you anything in a situation like this. More likely you will just end up with a bumper smashed into the back of the truck bed and implanted there along with the rest of the damage already incurred.

[68C15]

dude, this absolutely sucks. I LOVE your truck. its been an inspiration to me.
Shifty has a few good ideas there. follow his lead

please re-build it. I dont know what else to say
Todd

[PLavelle]

Damn! Your truck has always been one of my favorites. Makes me sick to see that too. Hope everything works out for you. Keep us updated.