Therapy is working. :D. I did NOT lose my chit when a drunk ran into me

[vash]

I got rear ended by a drunk driver. FIRST. I am so thankful neither I or the drunk idiot/moron was hurt at all. his car is totaled...my car is totaled*. after the crash, I shook off the shock and stepped out and did inventory on my body. nothing. I checked on him, and he was still driving!! he was trying to gas his way out of it. his car was under mine, and he was still reving the throttle and steering. he was either brain injured, or drunk. he was surrounded by airbags. I called the 911 and it took a team to extract him from his car. I should have filmed it. but I am not that guy. they strapped and cuffed him to a gurney and whisked him off.

I quickly found myself in a pickle. first I didnt get his name or insurance until later. the cop gave me some info and an accident report number.

my insurance tracked down the car and we contacted the other insurance company. NOPE. it used to be under them, but no more. the driver under name and DOB, seems uninsured. I will know more when I get the police report in TWO MONTHS!! haha.

right now everyone is asking: "Vash, what about your uninsured motorist coverage? surely you were smart enough to buy that?!" about that. in CA, a law passed. pushed thru by the insurance lobby. if I dont have Comprehensive insurance, my maximum uninsured coverage is $3500. my truck is a 2006, so I went with Liability-only a long time ago. AND the $3500 is only to be paid to a body shop.

I'll contact the DA office later to ask that they put some sort of restitution clause the the probation. maybe I can get something later on.

*In the meantime I am still driving my truck. it still runs awesome. the bed is tweaked and the hitch and bumper are both aiming down. initial body shop estimate is $3700 to only fix what they can see. she said it will balloon up when they remove the bed and bumper. she said once they take those off, it is the point of no return. they can't put it back. I would have to come out of pocket to fix it at that point.

like I said, a PICKLE. thru all this, I am in very good spirits. I almost have to laugh about it. I joke wishing a brand new BMW will rear end me gently again. I'm gonna buy a new truck and donate this one to some charity. at least I have a $3700 estimate I can give to the DA. anything is better than the ZERO$ I am looking at now. hope someone doesn't steal my catalytic..

[Baz]

First - good news you are OK.

Second - how about small claims court as an option to recoup what insurance doesn't cover?

You may even want to discuss with an attorney.

[vash]

not to judge by appearances, but he didnt look like a well adjusted contributing member of society. I think taking him to court would be a waste of time and effort and maybe some of my money.

[Cairo94507]

Glad you were not hurt; I really do not care about the drunk driver however. Small Claims... essentially a waste of time if you are suing private people with nothing. You can get a judgment and write the loss of your taxes maybe. Trying to collect money from the type of person who is uninsured is often futile.

[KFC911]

Glad you're OK vash!

Serenity now .... it works !

[Scott Douglas]

Sorry to hear this and for the loss of a good vehicle.
If you were hit that hard I'd suggest waiting at least a month before saying you're OK physically. The effects of the adrenaline haven't hit yet. When they do, you may be surprised by how hard it is to even get out of bed.

[craigster59]

Dang Cliff, that truck was your baby! That sucks bad. I was rear ended and totaled my first F150, luckily the guy's insurance "made me whole".

Is there some type of relief you can apply for through the state, maybe like the compensation people get who are victims of a crime? It would suck to have to eat the total loss on your end.

The most important thing is you're okay. The second most important thing is now the Wife has to agree that you need some new wheels!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Baz

First - good news you are OK.

Second - how about small claims court as an option to recoup what insurance doesn't cover?

You may even want to discuss with an attorney.

I've heard over and over and over again that winning in small claims court is mostly just on paper. Collecting what you won seems to mostly not happen. But I don't have any first hand experience with it.

[masraum]

The most important thing is that you are OK. The second most important thing is that your truck is still driveable and seems to be running OK, so at least you don't have the inconvenience of suddenly being without a means of transpo. The next best thing is that you'll be fine in the long run. At least you aren't leveraged to the hilt and scraping buy paycheck to paycheck.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Cairo94507

Glad you were not hurt; I really do not care about the drunk driver however. Small Claims... essentially a waste of time if you are suing private people with nothing. You can get a judgment and write the loss of your taxes maybe. Trying to collect money from the type of person who is uninsured is often futile.

Exactly.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by KC911

Glad you're OK vash!

Serenity now .... it works !

the other option

[juanbenae]

i follow a number of no cal off road sites and taco's are garnering big money. mid to late 80's with 200k miles are fetching $10k or more. you could likely sell it as is for a decent price to be turned into a wheeler, or to somebody who has the energy to do a DIY fix.

as i recall you had said at some point it had 200k miles, but with your maintenance and the 3.4 motor you could get a nice down payment for the next rig.

[herr_oberst]

Glad you're OK, and happy you posted. Your threads always have the positive vibes, and are always read by me.

Good luck being made whole again.

[Eric Hahl]

Oh wow! Glad to hear about no injury bud!

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Glad you're OK, and happy you posted. Your threads always have the positive vibes, and are always read by me.

Good luck being made whole again.

^^^^ This! And Iook at the bright side of this....

Cliff hasn't forgotten about us !

[MBAtarga]

As others have stated - glad you're okay. The vehicle can be replaced - you can not!

[cantdrv55]

Glad you’re ok.

I know you’re busy but can you take the insurance money and fix it yourself with pick and pull parts for the bed and bumper? Also, I know someone who can get Toyota OEM parts at a discount for the other stuff.

[fanaudical]

I'm glad you're OK. Vehicles are replaceable - You're not.

I suspect that the shop will remove the bed and find the frame bent (which is trouble). Anecdotal story to follow:

My '07 Dodge 1500 has been rear-ended three times (all three by Subaru wagons - weird). The first two were easy - I brushed paint chips off the bumper and hitch, waived goodbye to the tow truck hauling the crumpled Subie, drove home, and rinsed the coolant off the tailgate.

The third one occurred when I was stopped in traffic and the lady behind me locked up her brakes as she hit the truck. It bent the rear bumper and hitch down ~15 degrees (and crumpled her car to mid-way up the hood). My truck was totaled in the insurance settlement as the body shop found the rear frame attachment for the hitch to be bent and Chrysler's only recommended repair was frame replacement. That shop (and insurance) wouldn't do anything outside of the manufacturer's recommended repair procedures due to potential liability reasons. My insurance balked at re-insuring the vehicle following that judgement unless it was professionally repaired.

I ended up buying that truck back, giving it a salvage title, and found an old-school body shop that "adjusted" the frame. My insurance didn't press for details of the repair.

[911boost]

Damn, it really does sound like you are doing well if you didn't lose it.

Getting out of the car and seeing the guy trying to run, I am not sure how I would have responded. Like you I might have been in shock, like WTF is this guy doing.

Juan beat me to the Tacoma's being used as a base for a pre runner or rock crawler, but I also think your plan to donate it and take the tax write off is a good one.

You have mentioned a few times looking at a new truck, maybe this is a sign? I try to see the positive in everything and if you donate it, maybe it is the break someone who is struggling needs to get a good running truck cheap to get back on their feet. You do not have the headache of trying to fix it or sell it as the place you donate it too will do all that.

Time to go test drive a few new Tundras! You keep cars for a long time like me, so I do not mind the depreciation hit knowing I have always taken care of it.

Also it is great to see you back here.

[911 Rod]

Can you say ........TUNDRA!
You deserve it and glad you are okay.