I think I need a new bumper

[71chevylowrider]

and maybe some other hidden damage repaired too, I was sitting at a light today & all the sudden a car behind me slammed into me, I never saw it coming, both other parties were hurt & had to be taken to the hospital, (Back & Neck injuries). I was upset that i got hit, I jumped out of the truck & went back & when I heard the lady behind me crying, & she said, I'm sorry, he hit me & pushed me into you! I instantly felt bad for her, she was hurt & was upset & crying, I didn't care about the truck anymore, she tried to get out of her car & with a calm voice I told her she should try to stay still in her seat & rest her head against the headrest & try not to move it around much until the paramedics can asses how badly your hurt. I then checked on the guy in the van behind her that blasted hre into me, he was in better shape but was hurt also, man, you never know when something like this can happen, I was just sitting there on my way to portland to buy a bench seat from a board member (GMCJIM) I wasn't looking in my rearview mirror so I never saw it coming, my elbow hurts, my back's a little stiff, and my truck is built like a brick wall. Luckily everyone will eventually be okay, & thank god the guy in the van has insurance!
Everyone be safe out there!

[Stocker]

Ouch! Glad you (& your truck) and the other folks aren't badly hurt. You just never know...

Reminds me of the time a lady drove into the back of my truck while I was stopped (behind another stopped vehicle). Nobody hurt (and very minor damage to my truck), but the front of her little Toyota was a mess.


edit: just bumper damage? or is the tailgate a bit bent on the left side?

[71chevylowrider]

Thanks stocker, I am very thankful, it could have been alot worse, & I am feeling more stiffness & pain in my back & shoulder now, I guss I will be going to the doctor to get checked out. I think what you are seeing is reflection in the tailgate, but the painted metal piece below the tailgate is all punched in. I'm concerned about the fact that the bed of the truck is a little closer to the back of the cab on one side then it is on the other, also the majority of the impact was in my license plate & I have a hidden hitch that is welded to the frame & it looks to me like the hitch receiver bar, (where the draw bar goes into it, is now angled downward towards the ground, I worry that if that got bent & it's welded to my frame, & the bed is moved closer to the cab, oh, oh, more damage then I first thought.

Not alot of damage to the front of her car, I think she was probably stopped pretty close to my rear & then he slammed into her at full force, I talked to him briefly & he said he was coming off of the freeway & hit the brakes & nothing happened, so he her really hard, and my truck just made both vehicles stop instantly!

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by 71chevylowrider

I'm concerned about the fact that the bed of the truck is a little closer to the back of the cab on one side then it is on the other

The bed mounting could be tweaked a bit. Might need to loosen the bed-to-frame bolts, then pull back on the side that's closest to the cab. Hopefully it's not worse than than, you sure don't need a bent frame.

Good idea to see the doc. All spinal injuries should be checked to make sure it's not something serious that could cause problems later. Good luck.

[watahyahknow]

Originally Posted by 71chevylowrider

Not alot of damage to the front of her car, I think she was probably stopped pretty close to my rear & then he slammed into her at full force, I talked to him briefly & he said he was coming off of the freeway & hit the brakes & nothing happened, so he hit her really hard, and my truck just made both vehicles stop instantly!

glad everyone got out ok enough and damage was only to material i hope you be able to get the bed aligned again or it will be a costly repair for the guy hitting you ,

get up on his bench again GET YOURE BRAKES CHECKED REGULAIRY AND THELL OTHERS TO DO SO TOO the fact that there working doesnt allways mean there ok

[71chevylowrider]

Thanks guys, I think I will call her & like you said stocker, try to just keep it simple & not discuss injuries/no injuries, prior accidents with injuries ect. I just want this to go smoothly, I know insurance companies are good at going after other insurance companies, but it both of us have the same, who do they go after? Or for that matter is only the guy in the van at fault? Or do they lay partial blame of you just for being there? I also might have forgot to mention the guy in the van had a wheelchair & wheelchair lifting mechanism mounted in the back of his van, so I don't know if he had any special controls for applying his brakes that might have failed or what.

[bowtieride]

I feel bad for the bumper, lol. Glad to hear your ok.

[71chevylowrider]

Thanks bowtie.

[cdowns]

i bet your glad you didnt put a rollpan on ythe truck

i'd imagine to brackets got damaged too// good luck with the insurance if you know somebody with a body shop have him handle the adjuster you'll end up with some extra money out of it to cover your aggravation

[Kurt L]

had that happen to me also,sitting at a red lite this chick [drunk]slams into me bout 40 mph.slammed my head against the back window[headache for three days].tore the back bumper off of my 69 that i had at the time.lost three days work, she had no insurance.had to fix my truck myself.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I got smacked about 2 months ago. Glad everyone is OK! It bent my exhaust too. We were both fine. I was sore for about 3 days after. My aftermarket 3 point seatbelts worked great.

[71chevylowrider]

Geez, Redneck what ran into you? a bicycle? That bumper is hardly bent, man that really shows how solid these trucks are huh? Glad you guys are okay & only a little sore, bad things can happend anytime anywhere.

[70c10]

Glad your ok, your truck is one my favorites on here!

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by 71chevylowrider

Geez, Redneck what ran into you? a bicycle? That bumper is hardly bent, man that really shows how solid these trucks are huh? Glad you guys are okay & only a little sore, bad things can happened anytime anywhere.

The guy was *almost* stopped when he hit me. He hit me at about 15-20mph so I can only image how hard your truck got slammed! I actually pulled the bumper yesterday and got the backside of the new one painted. The brackets are bent. I hope I can straighten them.

[71chevylowrider]

Hey redneck, I was just playing with ya, it sucks anytime someone slams into your pride & joy.

OKay so I get a call from the guy in the van's insurance company (Geicko) & they say that the lady's car that he hit into me is probably going to be totalled & she didn't even mention thae fact that the lady was hurt also, (there may not be enough policy to cover the damage on my vehicle ( oh boy, I got pissed) I pretty much let her know that I will be contacting an atty & according to what the eye witness say's she saw, I think your insured was negligent, I have a truck that has close to $30,000 into it & your saying go get it fixed from my policy! Thanks for nothing.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by 71chevylowrider

Hey redneck, I was just playing with ya, it sucks anytime someone slams into your pride & joy.

I know

I was just reiterating that my hit was at 15-20mph and did a little damage... you must have been slammed pretty hard!

[70ChevyStepside]

Yep check those brake lines too. I have a lifted 71 with 35" swampers that I used to drive daily. Heading to work one morning here in Phoenix traffic I took my exit and hit the brakes doing 50ish and "Nothing" happened. Oh shizzle I thought. I still have yet to replace the missing emergency brakes from when I bought the truck!! It has a th400 tranny so I tried shifting it to low and got nothing again !! Mind you this is a downhill exit so I'm gaining speed. three lanes are before me into this T intersection the two left turn lames are occupied by three small cars. The road i'm turning onto is five lanes wide two in either direction and a turn lane. I'm looking at either side of the road to drive into a wall and they both have transformers and BIG power poles on them. Accross the T intersection is a train yard filled with oil cars and locomotives so not an option. I say to hell with my tranny and throw it into park but either my ratchet sifter prevents it or it has a saftey bypass and I get nothing for the third time. I think OH Hell three strikes and i'm dead. So last option (as using the poor cars in my way as cushioning was in no way an option. Man I would have cut the tops of them off!!) is trying to make the turn and pray to GOD I don't kill or maim somebody, hopefully I'll just hit a tractor trailer and injure only myself and incurr property damages. Grand Ave is a very busy road and all the trip downhill I saw cars on it. Just before I got to it there was a lull in traffic. I swing it wide left behind the cars in the center lane to make the right hand turn cranking it just before the car, thinking this ain't good I'm going to roll 30 times and it's gonna hurt...BAD !! Now days I wonder if the driver in the center lane ever looked in thier rearview, if they did I bet they soiled themselves !!!! Anyway, I slid across four clear lanes sideways and I mean sideways and those tires were howling at what I'm guessing was around 60 mph and coasted to a stop 3/4 of a mile down the road using a brick building to stop me as the next oncoming intersection was a 6 way. No damage to anything!!!!!!!! As I slid across the lanes I could see traffic heading towards me about 1/4 mile down the road. Once I got down to a low enough speed the tranny started grinding. I'm also thinking that the mud tires not having so much grip allowed me to slide and not flip. Turns out that the brake line going into the proportioning valve on the rear pumpkin had the flare brake off from vibration and age and pump all the brake fluid out. I walked the last mile to work and it took and hour or so for the adrenaline to wear off. After work I replaced the line and drove it home very warily and needless to say I have parked the truck until I replace the entire brake system. It's the orange and grey one in my user profile. I had every spare guardian angel busy that morning. So please keep your braking system ranked top of your list for everyone else's sake on the roads.

[billy wachter]

Glad to see everyone is ok!

[sjarrett71]

I am a police officer and i worked a wreck today where a drunk driver was speeding and crossed the center line and slammed into a young man and his mom. Everyone had to be cut out of their vehicles and flown to major hospitals. The drunk driver was a local pot head and isn't expected to live. The innocent people should make a full recovery. He hit them around a curve and I suspect they never seen it coming. He was in a Grand Am and they were in a 78 Chevy Impala. He hit them so hard the frame in the Impala was V shaped. Both vehicles had child safety seats in them but luckily they were all empty.

[mvfd70]

"she tried to get out of her car & with a calm voice I told her she should try to stay still in her seat & rest her head against the headrest & try not to move it around much until the paramedics can asses how badly your hurt"

That was a smart move on your part. People don't think about stuff like that. I'm a firefighter/paramedic and I see people all the time that try to get up and walk around with back and neck pain. They need to stay put and not move until we move them. We're trained how to get people out of situations and not further injure them in the process.

I'm glad to hear that everyone is going to be ok. I know these trucks are built like tanks and what looks like minor damage can actually cause some pretty serious injuries. Newer vehicles look a whole lot worse in an accident but they're designed that way so they absorb the impact and not your body.

Cudos to sjarrett71 for your work as a police officer too. I know what you've been through. I've been the one cutting innocent people out of cars when a drunken idiot slams into them head on. I wish people would use that 3lb mass of tissue located about 6 inches above their shoulders and consider the consequences of their actions.

[TonyJohnson]

I was sitting at a light in my 'vette the other day and luckily noticed the gal coming up behind we was going too fast to stop in time. The road was clear, so I was able to get moving in time. If I hadn't glanced in the mirror, she would have blasted me... Sorry about the truck. Hope it's just the bumper.

[71chevylowrider]

I wanted to say thank yu to everyone who has replied, I really appreciate your kind words & Your own experiences, it is also cool to hear from an officer & a paramedic on this subject, it sure brings home how minor this was & how bad it could have been, thank you guys for what you do, Please know that we sure appreciate people like yourselves doing that kind of work. I also wanted to ad that the lady behind me that was hurt so bad that the paramedics put a neck brace on her & straped her to a board & held the neck brace in position so her head could not move in transport to the hospital called & left me a message last night & was wanting to know if I was okay, I thought wow, how can she be worried about me? Shouldn't she be in a hospital somewhere with a dripper of pain medicine going into her arm? My wife is concerened about me calling her back & us discussing the accident/injuries ect. cause as it turns out, we both have the same insurance company, but I want to call her, I think it would be rude not to return the call, anyone have any thoughts on this or any experience involving being in an accident with someon who has the same insurance company as you?

[Stocker]

Tough call... I have no experience in that area, but I understand your wife's concerns. Given that you both have the same insurance, and that neither of you could possibly have nay fault in the accident -- I'd be strongly tempted to return her call. Just keep it more along the lines of "I hope you are doing better" and avoid details of blame etc.

[watahyahknow]

usually those type of wheelchairbusses have a stronger booster and a brakerod near the steeringwheel going to the footbrakepedal , there build pretty strong .
for who's to blame........ the girl slammed intoo you so she should pay youre damage (has something to do with not keeping her distance even if it isnt her fault ) and her insurance should claim youre and her damage at the busdrivers insurance since he was pushing her into the back of youre truck , his claim that his brakes where out put him even more at fault , he cant say he only hit her after she hit you

[71chevylowrider]

Thanks, I just wish she had a different insurance company then I do, I'm very happy that a nice lady stopped & gave me her phone number & said she saw the whole thing, sometimes days/weeks after the accident, it's amazing how stories change when they start realizing the Consequences, & with an eye witness hopefully that won't happen.