My current auto crash

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

I need to let off some steam, if y'all don't mind.  

Rant warning ahead......  (you have been warned-- opinions >will< be expressed in the following.  Someone escort the squidlings out of the room, please)

           

Here I was, going East on a 2-lane city road, max speed 35 or so.  

And I make a swinging-right turn into a parking lot-- when this car slams into my passenger side door of my 15,000lb truck...

... now I checked both my side mirrors-- no cars (she was so close, she was literally in my blind-spot behind).

I have a large truck-- I >>have<< to swing it to make a correct turn, even though it's not strictly kosher.  But I slowed, and waited until there were zero oncoming cars in the left side lane, then began my slow-down turn.

****wham****

To look at her car?  You'd be certain she was doing 50 or more... it literally scrunched in her left fender to nothing, and burst her transmission (front-wheel drive car).  Only her driver's side air-bag went off, though, so off-center was the impact.

But the police claim it's partly my fault, because I swung wide.... !!  WTF???

What is worse?  A witness has her as talking on the cell....

...meh...

It ought to be a mandatory law, that in any accident, no matter how trivial, if cell phones were owned by the driver(s), the records are subpoenaed, and if either one was talking/texting?  That driver gets an automatic driver's license suspension for 6 months....

... and, they get suspended from all cell phone activity for the same period.

That would get the attention of idiots like this moron who hit me while driving too fast with a cell-on...

Now, my livelihood is in limbo, until the insurance companies fight it out--

--- oh, yeah, did I mention?  The policeman refused to say who was at fault, calling it "an unfortunate accident".... !  What are we paying these people for, anyhow?

I'd much rather he have given us both tickets-- me for going left-of-center during a turn, and her for speeding, for using cell while driving, and for following too close.

Her 3 tickets to my one?  Who pays whom, now?  I'd insist on a court hearing, and I'd get to explain .....

..... sigh ....

I'm still all stressed and sh1t, in case anyone can tell...

... okay.  Rant's over.  

You can let the squidlings out, now...

.................................................

In case anyone wonders, no one seriously hurt-- she had minor glass lacerations.  I was fine.  Literally-- I was fine-- my truck was/is so heavy, her tin-can could not move it sufficiently to impart side-momentum into me.  I've been shoved harder in a fast-moving ticket line ...

... she went to the hospital.  No doubt, to look for a replacement brain ...

[Griffin NoName]

Sorry to read this. Can you hire a vehicle to tide you over?

[Aggie]

Work trucks, if they are as set-up and stocked with tools as I suspect Bob's is, are sometimes tough to replace with a rental.  Pickup trucks usually rent for a premium, as well.

I hope everything gets sorted out smoothly.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

It will.  We do have a backup truck, but alas, my boss is something of a pack-rat, and not big on maintence.... and the A/C on the backup truck is not working...

... so, tomorrow, we'll attempt to repair it (or I refuse to drive in this heat more than one trip per day-- I just cannot take it any more with my health).

I'm hoping the problem is simple-- at the worst, in a truck, there's easy access to all the bits, and changing the compressor in a truck shouldn't take too long.  Crossed my fingers.   But we'll have to locate a place for all the crap my boss has "stored" in it first...

[pieces o nine]

Heart-felt sympathies, Bob.     

The cell-phone menace has yet to be dealt with properly.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Sorry about your predicament. I imagine the insurance companies will do what they usually do, did you have collision insurance?

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

We had only liability on that truck... alas.

But, the damage is actually repairable-- the frame is fine.  A slight bend to the trailing arm, so that'll need to be replaced.  The cab is toast, but it's an "F" series cab, and pretty much anything in the general year would retrofit.  And they make millions of those Ford pick-ups.   There is some damage to the tool-box, but a competent body-shop can pull it back out well enough for service.

The beauty of a work-truck, is that it doesn't have to be pretty, just functional (and safe).

[anthrobabe]

Oh Bob--darn, drat, dang, f em all!!! I am glad you are uninjured and the truck can be repaired.

Last year this sort of happened to me--- chick yacking on her cell- swooped in front of me and dead stopped and yes I hit her-- and flayed a mile of rubber. I was ***not*** given a ticket and the officer clearly stated in the report what occurred--- yet my insurance paid her (her insurance paid my replacement car) but still my insurance went up a tad. Now I have never had a claim (thank you great toadfish) so yep---- drivers on cells phones suck. I think she was attempting to get hit to sue for a big payout the way she did the swoop-- officer thought so too ( I know him slightly as I went to school with his sister)--- she had a 2 year old child on the front seat with her-- child not in any safety gear at all---all my insurance paid her was a small settlement for a ' shoulder injury' and nothing ever filed for the dear baby.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Oh, my Anthro... that's a sad case for sure.

I pity the baby, with such a selfish and thoughtless mother... I really do.

You were okay, I trust? 

[anthrobabe]

Oh I was fine-- a bit of a bruise from the seat belt on my shoulder but I am most thankful that no one was in fact injured-- especially that baby-- oh sure she got some money but they let them get by with it to save a bigger court suit.

And I hope that your work truck truly takes a lickin and keeps on ticken for you. It must have just scared you to death when it happened-- when you depend on a vehicle so deeply-- I use mine to get to and from work of course but yours is so very much your work on wheels and so I am glad you are all in one piece and that the truck will continue for you.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

I suppose an update is in order.

The insurance guy finally came and assessed the damage, and it was worse than we'd thought-- the frame is bowed, and the front compartment on the passenger side is wrecked, unlikely possible to be repaired into working condition.

He called it "totaled" even though it had a somewhat rare toolbed on it.

I am currently driving our backup truck, and I mean to continue to drive it if at all possible-- it has rear vision that I have not enjoyed in nearly 6 years, and I forgot how much I miss it.

More, when I was backing in a trailer?  My old skills (now that I could >>see<< the trailer directly) came back, and I slotted that sucker in as neatly as you please, just by backing.

So, although I will likely miss the extra space, I won't miss the obstructed view.

We have not settled yet-- and indeed, all I have heard is the report from the adjuster-- the actuaries have to make a decision and we have to be willing to sign-off on it.   We'll likely buy the old truck as salvage, and strip it for it's valuable assets, such as they are-- the tranny, for example has only 1 year on it since a major overhaul.   It's a good thing that will fit into either of our remaining vehicles.   We'll likely keep the engine, too, and maybe the rear-end.  The rest will go for scrap-metal.

Meantime, I've been removing all the A/C stuff that has accumulated over the years-- most goes into storage, some is trashed, the smaller set goes to my current truck for use.   Same goes for tools-- I'd accumulated more than I use on a daily basis, and there is no real need to tote-and-pack that all around. 

I'm thinking we need a lockable work-box, to leave at the worksites, and store in our work-trailer.   Nothing too elaborate, but something that can house our collection of extra metal-working hand tools and stuff we only tote out during construction.  Why haul it about, and pay gas for doing so?

[anthrobabe]

Oh sorry that it will be a total loss but it seems that you will get a great benefit from the additional sight line in the old truck and some good salvage parts off the totalled truck. And while it is a pain what fun to have to clean all that mess out and look at certain items and go what in the world did we buy/use this for and WOW so that is where _____ went.
Just be so careful about an onsite lockup-- people have gone completely insane in the last year for all thing copper and will do the most horrid damage imaginable in the attempt to find copper. Our communications center has just been flooded, especially, the last 12 months with theft reports, it is just sickening. I'm sure you know some people that have been hit and you know how they have been hitting job sites and will just literally destroy new home construction to get at it.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Yeah... the level to which some desperate people will go to get a lousy $20 is astounding.  I routinely read about some slob who electrocuted himself trying to get at some bits of scrap.  It's tragic, but it >is< "evolution in action" in a sad sort of way.  I just hope the self-victim didn't have anyone he'd passed his idiocy on to that he'd left behind.

My partner is thinking that we're done with construction (it's always commercial, so the jobsites are relatively secure) as the hassle is so high, in spite of a pretty good payoff. But he's said that before, and after a year or so, the lure of big bucks is always too attractive.  I don't fight it, as after a year or two of no construction, I find I have forgotten all the painful aspects...

In a way, though, I'm not that sorry to see that old '97 go... it was starting to get to the point where there was always something minor going on with it-- nothing major, but a nuisance that needed attention. And I really like the lighter-weight of the current truck, and that's it's about 2 feet more narrow... and that I can SEE out the back... that is without price.

Perhaps I can talk my partner into another covered trailer-- a smaller one-- to keep on my property, for parts warehousing. I'd be better at organizing it, than he is-- I'd put in shelves and bins and such-- not unlike what the old truck had. Then, if needed-- I can simply pull it to wherever.