1200 Miles and Wrecked

[Hack_Actual]

Also...

I did hear back from my insurance company on an initial estimate. Right now she told me that without getting under the hood, behind the bumper or the skid plate, she’s estimating it at $17.7k.

She said the shop is pulling the hood because it couldn’t be opened, the bumper and the skid plate to assess more damage.

She asked me for a window sticker and an invoice for my mods which I took as a positive move towards a total loss. She is going to head back over there tomorrow.

The other parties insurance hasn’t looked yet, to my knowledge.

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[BDoc]

That's terrible news about your truck. But good to know it did its job and you're ok.

Would LOVED to have seen her face when she realized she just hit a cop...

I second that, except maybe reverse the order. DashcamTalk has lots of good info and reviews.

May need to look into one as well. Never considered one, but may be rethinking that.

 

[Hack_Actual]

Pure reflex had me pushing the bodycam button that I wasn’t wearing, several times!

 

[samsd]

You are OK and the truck performed as engineered. Sucks, the honeymoon just got started but now would you change anything when you replace her?

 

[Hounddog409]

ah man......that really sucks. Glad you are OK and hope they total the truck.

I really hate dishonest people. Just own up to your mistake. Everyone makes them. take it and move on. its not the end of the world.

hope everything works out for you.

 

[David Stalvey]

I am sorry for your loss....

 

[Anthony]

Ouch, glad you are ok though. I join the calls for dashcam, mine has paid for itself twice already (in a previous car).

Here's when someone was on their cellphone, not paying attention to the road when traffic stopped short in front of them. They instinctively swerved the wheel to avoid hitting the car in front of them and right into oncoming traffic (ie: ME!). Took out the entire side of my car.

I beeped out the naughty words I yelped.

 

[DannyL]

Reading all of this has me thinking I should invest in a good dash cam.

Anybody got info on those? What I should look for? Best ones? worst ones?
Thanks in advance

 

[Stevie Gee]

Reading all of this has me thinking I should invest in a good dash cam.

Anybody got info on those? What I should look for? Best ones? worst ones?
Thanks in advance

I wouldn’t drive without one!

 

[NickTheEnforcer]

Glad ur ok!
Dead is definitive, I say this as a 'car' guy. as painfull as the process u are in now, its just 'stuff' we cant replace you!
praying for a speedy total-out for you.

 

[svache]

Reading all of this has me thinking I should invest in a good dash cam.

Anybody got info on those? What I should look for? Best ones? worst ones?
Thanks in advance

I have a Thinkware F770 with rear camera in my Ranger, and a Blackvue 750s in my other car. The Thinkware is a bit older but imho the better of the two. Either work in hot temperatures, although the Blackvue seems more sensitive to heat (I love in Hawaii and my cars are parked in the hot sun, so that was a requirement). Both record in high def, sound, parking/movement recording etc. I got them from blackboxmycar.

Not sure if you want parking recording, but in that case I'd suggest adding a battery pack so you don't drain your truck's battery. They last 24-48 hours, depending on settings and if you have one or two cameras, they charge while driving.

It's an easy install in the Ranger, you can use a fuse tap (they're like 10 bucks or less on Amazon) and hardwire it (looks nicer), just make sure it is connected to a fuse that turns off when the engine is off to conserve your truck's battery. The camera battery fits under the rear seat of the supercrew.

I'll upload a few pictures in a bit to give you and others an idea of it

 

[Msfitoy]

First, thank you all for the well wishes!

Second: Mods. Everything I had done to the truck I had them do prior to leaving the dealership for several reasons. I no longer have the time, unfortunately, to spend hours in the garage doing them myself; I wanted them covered under factory warranty; I didn’t have to pay tax on them because the dealer had it done at their cost and I didn’t pay markup.

So, all of that will be covered because I have an invoice, provided by the dealer, as part of my final OTD price.

Third: Background. I am a LEO and I was in uniform on my way to work when it happened. I made sure I accounted for everything I needed to including securing a witness before they left and the info needed for the accident report. Her face when she realized she had been in an accident with a cop was pretty priceless. I made sure the Trooper has everything she needed when she was there and she assured me her bodycam was rolling and mic was recording. She confirmed she got her statement on mic when she admitted fault without using the exact verbiage. The verbiage for the report was “Unlawful Lane Change” and she was determined to be the cause.

Fourth: Insurance & report. I don’t think insurance will be fooled nor does the evidence support her new claim. Also, it’s illegal to change lanes in a construction zone...so...even if her company were to accept her version, it’s still illegal because she couldn’t have gone from the right merge lane to the left lane without changing lanes (BRILLIANT!).

Fifth: New Truck? I’ve found ONE locally that is nearly identical to mine; new one has factory boards and no tonneau cover and mine was the opposite. Nothing else within 100m gets me what I want without adding or subtracting or a color I don’t want.

Thanks again, guys, I’ll keep this updated as I get info.

Wow glad you're ok...stay safe out there!

 

[svache]

I'll upload a few pictures in a bit to give you and others an idea of it

It became a bit lengthy so I figured to give it it's own thread. Find it here: https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/dashcam-install.3860/

 

[Rhino0624]

I opened a claim with both my insurance and hers and lo and behold...her story had changed.

She’s claiming that she merged and was in the left lane for a time before I just came up and hit her.

You can clearly see by the pictures that it wasn’t a full on frontal collision. I’m sick to my stomach over now having to potentially fight this when it shouldn’t be that way.

The truck is at my dealer’s body shop, I should know more tomorrow.

Derp...

I was hoping to have gotten a build thread started by now but that’s either a ways off or not with this truck.

Sunday night I was on my way into work and in the left lane traveling at approximately 55/60mph and entering a construction zone on a major highway. I saw a semi in the right lane ahead of me and the merge lane to the right up ahead had a black minivan and a Tahoe. Both of those vehicles were braking for the semi and slowing down. The van continued to slow down and didn’t appear to be merging when all of a sudden the Tahoe made a sharp turn to the left - crossed the right lane and into the left lane...

...you guessed it; directly in front of me. It occurred so fast that I had zero time to react. WHAM! In goes the front passenger side of my truck into the rear driver’s side of her vehicle. She wasn’t fully in either lane at the time of the collision.

Driver’s airbag went off, passenger side airbags went off. Smoke and an awful chemical smell filled the cabin choking me. The system immediately called 911 and told me to stay calm or something, I’m not really sure but it was talking to me; it did call 911.

The short version of what happened next was Troopers arrived took both of our statements and the only difference was perspective, she stated she was trying to avoid a collision with the van hence her action. A witness stayed and confirmed she swerved from the merge lane to the left lane and directly in front of me.

Truck’s radiator was spewing on the highway, it wouldn’t start, the front end was punched in - my heart was angry and broke.

Had to get a wrecker to flatbed it to the yard. Trooper stated the cause of the accident was her unlawful lane change.

I had my truck for 13 days and had less than 1200mi on it...

Daam That sux Be thankful your ok
Thats why I have a dash cam

 

[Hack_Actual]

UPDATE:

So...my insurance company adjuster called today and told me that she got approval from her superiors to total the truck - which is what I told her I wanted done.

I do not have any numbers or figures - she said that another division would be emailing or calling or both today or tomorrow...so tomorrow, I guess.

My guy is trying to get the truck I want from another dealer and I should know more on that tomorrow.

Haven’t heard anything from her insurance because they still don’t have the accident report yet.

Side note: my rental Chevy Silverado blows; I hate it.

TL;DR

TRUCK IS TOTALED.

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