Compact car vs. Tractor Trailor ... and the winner is ...

Visiting on Oahu I had to stop by Costco this morning and happened to pull in as all the big trucks were dropping off supplies - I sat waiting in line as one truck backed in, not realizing I was in his blind spot - next thing I know he's not going to clear me. I throw my car into reverse and backup 2-3 feet before stopping because a horn is honking behind me ... ok - brakes and "crunch" his bumper took out my fender. If I hadn't backed up he would have rolled right over my hood/tire on that side... The police got over there within minutes and took a report down... nobody was hurt, and I was able to drive to my next appointment (I was speaking at Iolani School and was less than 5 minutes late due to the "fender bender")

Unfortunately I was borrowing my parents car at the time ...This poor car has been in at least 4 collisions when my parents have loaned it out ... and this was the first car accident I've been in. (Though my truck has been hit 3 times when it was parked - all 3 times the car that hit it was nearly totalled)

So I spent the day thanking God for keeping me safe - and after getting done speaking to the one group at Iolani I ended up with 2 more impromptu speaking engagements with different classes lol - made for a busy morning ...

Aloha, Tim

bummer

glad you are okay

So...whose fault was it?

the report doesn't say ... I assume the truck as he was backing up...

All I can say is, I'm glad I was in a car and not on a bike you really had a close call with your "slide" the other day ... ouch that had to hurt.

Just an update:

Turns out I was listed as "at fault" on the police report ... but the driver told his insurance company that it was his fault not mine - and his company is going to pay for the repairs. I've been thanking God all day for that news

Speaking with a friend that just finished the police Academy over here - he was told that when dealing with drivers who have a commercial license, "If at all possible find the other driver at fault" as they don't want the driver with the CDL to lose his license - so I was thrilled and fortunate to find an honest driver ...

Aloha, Tim

kidspot:

Just an update:

Turns out I was listed as "at fault" on the police report ... but the driver told his insurance company that it was his fault not mine - and his company is going to pay for the repairs. I've been thanking God all day for that news

Speaking with a friend that just finished the police Academy over here - he was told that when dealing with drivers who have a commercial license, "If at all possible find the other driver at fault" as they don't want the driver with the CDL to lose his license - so I was thrilled and fortunate to find an honest driver ...

Aloha, Tim

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I am glad that you are ok. As far as the cops finding you at fault, nothing suprises me anymore...

On the subject of tractor trailers vs. anything else - when I used to go to the North Shore, there was that long downhill grade from beautiful Whitmore Village, home of the famous dinosaur cages, all the way down to the Haleiwa traffic circle through the pineapple fields.
There was a house just across the traffic circle, and it always looked like maybe not the best location for a house.
One night, an Army tractor trailer lost its brakes and barreled right through the circle and into the house. A man and his wife were sitting in the living room watching tv - the truck smashed though and obliterated the guy's wife and left him totally untouched.
Scary stuff that.

brief update - My Dad's insurance agent called today and said when the other driver found out his insurance had a deductible he would have to pay that he changed his story and is now saying I was driving recklessly and weaving around cars... oh well - looks like it's gonna be some red tape now

Hope the facts come out, glad no real damage done i.e. you are OK.

Once hit a VW bug with my gravel truck. Driver was drunk and weaving down the middle of a very narrow country road. Caused the accident and saved his life - he was so "relaxed" that he survived - we all thought he was dead, just passed out. 11 emptys in the box behind the driver, one half full between his knees 8:00 AM. I ended up part way into the ditch trying to avoid the head on.

$20 damage to the truck replacing the crushed spacer between the rear wheels, totaled the VW.

Another drunk drove a big 60's American car into a corner of my front bumper - 16" steel U channel steel beam on a fully loaded off road gravel truck. Scratched the paint and bent the beam about an inch - pushed the engine in the car back a foot or so. $0 damage to the truck - totaled the car. Driver was arrested and unhurt.

You do NOT want to argue with a truck - you are going to lose.

kidspot:

brief update - My Dad's insurance agent called today and said when the other driver found out his insurance had a deductible he would have to pay that he changed his story and is now saying I was driving recklessly and weaving around cars... oh well - looks like it's gonna be some red tape now

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That sucks. Usually the insurance adjustor makes notes of every call/conversation that they have and keep it in your claim file. Hopefully he noted his conversation with the other guy's insurance company in which he was told that the other guy previously admitted fault.

catherine96821:

So...whose fault was it?

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Often when in a parking lot on private property, the police won't rule fault as it's not on a public road but happened on private property.

Speaking with a friend that just finished the police Academy over here - he was told that when dealing with drivers who have a commercial license, "If at all possible find the other driver at fault" as they don't want the driver with the CDL to lose his license - so I was thrilled and fortunate to find an honest driver ...

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I'm glad you had an honest driver, but it's really wrong for the police to teach their up and coming new police cadets to break the law and rule fault to another party just because they don't want the trucker to loose their license. If the trucker is at fault, he should be responsible. It's clearly biased and un-ethical. This is why people hate cops. They pick and choose their ethics to suit them. Here is a case of them teaching this in the academy to new cops. That's just wrong....


It also promotes truckers not following the rules and knowing they can get away with it. If cops enforced the rules fairly, they might have stopped that trucker above that ran through the house. They also might have already suspended the license of the one who decided you were driving recklesly when money came out of his pocket.

We had a problem with truckers when we got 2 new steel mills in town. The rolled steel coils weigh 40,000 or 50,000 pounds each..... truckers were securing them on their flatbeds with only 2 or 3 chains. Needless to say we had lots of "lost loads" when trucks went around the corners. A 40,000+ pound steel roll is not easy to stop once it gets free from a truck. Lots of damage was done. The truckers didn't do anything to fix this because they just got a little fine. Finally the local police got state certified to do full truck inspections by the state. Now they can write several hundred bucks to thousands in tickets to these trucks by doing complete inspections. All the sudden all the trucks running steel rolls started following the rules and we had less accidents. Luckily no one was killed before this happened.