2nd one this year :(

Last night around 10:30 i was driving on a very busy interstate in middle lane doing speed limit 65 mph and had a guy pull over in front of me doing about 40mph from the fast lane because his car died on him. When he cut over in front of me he was only a truck length away. Traffic too heavy to move to the side so i locked up the breaks on my 80,000lb rolling bomb and slowed down enough that i just tapped him and only broke his tail light and scratched his bumper as i had tried to change lanes at the last second.

Everyone was fine, little damage on his Mercedes he just bought used but im going to need a new bumper and hood. Hit at an angle so the impact was sideways on the corner of my truck.

Without going into a lot of detail, he got a ticket and they let him go. All my info was taken and i was let go with no ticket but a thank you from the guy i hit for not killing a lot of people when he pulled in front of me.

So this is the second wreck im been in this year. Niether one was my fault and ive still got a clean driving record but things like this are making me want to get out of the damn truck forever. But i wont.

So to everyone, please be aware of your surroundings. This guy didnt look before he moved. His car died for who know why and knew he needed to get out of the fast lane and just moved without looking. He could have taken the left sholder of the road but because he wasnt aware of his surroundings he just changed lanes and was headed for the right side of the road. I see so many people just driving and not really looking ahead. Flashing lights ahead or lane ends and people dont know it until they are on it.

So to all my friends here, be careful on the road and really open your eyes. Look ahead as far as possible, dont get in a hurry and know what is around you before you make a sudden move. Thanks.

Good thing no one got hurt. I couldn’t do your job, I’d be a nervous wreck, there’s a lot of stupid going on out there.

My uncle drove a cement truck for 30 years, the stories he’d tell me make you wonder how people even got their licenses.

Be glad you aren’t driving around the Bay Area, it’s like people make it a point to cut off big rigs, I’m surprised I don’t see more wrecks.

Be safe.

That stinks Jerry.
Glad to hear that all is well.
Sounds like it could have been way worse.

Count your blessings

Pete <:-}

BTW, My location was downtown Denver on a Friday night so bumper to bumper at high speed. And you know most of them are drunk and/or high on M.J. because its legal. The traffic cant be much worse in any city. And in Denver in the middle of the city, the speed limit is 65 and everyone drives 80. Crazy!!!

That's scary, Jerry-Around here it seems like everyone is on their damn phones, texting and what not. Even on the country roads I drive back and forth to the school where I work, I barely escape accidents almost weekly it seems.

And I don't see how they're going to replace experienced, expert drivers like you with robots and driverless rigs like we keep hearing about-I just don't see how that's going to be possible.

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Originally Posted by Gasman

BTW, My location was downtown Denver on a Friday night so bumper to bumper at high speed. And you know most of them are drunk and/or high on M.J. because its legal. The traffic cant be much worse in any city. And in Denver in the middle of the city, the speed limit is 65 and everyone drives 80. Crazy!!!

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As some may know I just spent about 2 months in the San Diego area and while I love the weather I can't stand the traffic it was nice to get home where things aren't so hectic and frantic.

My buddy exceeds the speed limit as does everyone else. They may as well change the speed limits from 65 to 80.

I did get to have some fun with my buddy as we were going on a road trip and I took my 'Girlfriend' which is my GPS that I use on my bike trips. Well it shows when you're speeding and after he'd get over 10 MPH over the speed limit I'd tell him that he was speeding. He'd slow down for a bit then slowly speed back up.

When he was up here and I didn't have my girlfriend and I'd know that he was speeding I'd point out what the speed limit was but what was the most fun was when I'd recognize a Police car from a distance--then he'd slow down for a long time.

Here in New Mexico the State Limit used to be 80 but they lowered it to 75 cause too many folks were killing themselves. Of course we have no really big cities here. The biggest Albuquerque has 65 on the freeways and folks speed anyway. They are really terrible drivers here. If they're not intoxicated the rules of the road don't apply. I lived in Southern Ca for 10 years and the pace of traffic was just really fast. They drive the limit and more in bumper to bumper traffic and then someone hits the brakes and you have another "sig alert" and a chain reaction accident.

Update:
I still didn't get a ticket but the guy that pulled out in front of me is fighting the ticket. So I have to miss two nights work because I've been called to duty to be a witness for the City it happened in. I'm not going to say how much money I will loose missing 2 nights work but I will say it would have been all over-time pay. Pisses me off. Plus I have to drive there and thats 2 hours drive in rush hour tomorrow morning. Needless to say I'm not happy about this at all. Sorry, I just needed to Bit..!

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Originally Posted by Gasman

Update:
I still didn't get a ticket but the guy that pulled out in front of me is fighting the ticket. So I have to miss two nights work because I've been called to duty to be a witness for the City it happened in. I'm not going to say how much money I will loose missing 2 nights work but I will say it would have been all over-time pay. Pisses me off. Plus I have to drive there and thats 2 hours drive in rush hour tomorrow morning. Needless to say I'm not happy about this at all. Sorry, I just needed to Bit..!

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Sorry to hear that. Hopefully it works out. He may be counting on you NOT showing up to testify.

Was recently in a small accident (rear ended them, my fault) and kicked myself for it. When I told my wife I was in an accident she assumed it was the other drivers fault because of how I drive. Going to court next month to see if I can work anything out. Only other ticket I got was when I was about 19yo and the only accident I've been a driver in was a parking lot fender bender at 16.
Already paid a $500 deductible so I don't need a big fine on top of it.

With the amount of driving I do (110K miles a year) its going to happen. I do my best to not be in them, but sometimes you just cant beat it. I hit him from behind. And he was at fault. I'm sure he has a lawyer that is going to try and say it was my fault but the cops knew it wasn't. So I'd have better go or who knows what might come out of it.

You can probably fight for lost wages, Jerry.

At least your not in Ohio. Here if you rear end someone, your ticketed for unassured cleared distance, even if its not your fault. Just went thru it last year, when three of us went thru the light, and the lead car decided he wanted to turn down that road at the last second Slams on his brakes (no turn signal ). Guy in front of me slams into him, I slam into him, I get cited for unassured cleared distance. WTF.!!

Then the guy in the middle car tries to sue me for mental anguish. The guy in the lead car had just gotten a ticket a week earlier, for a wreck he'd caused. But this time its my fault. What a crock.!

The best thing I can say...get a dash cam folks. Everyone is guilty, till u prove your innocence.

Back from court. The guy SAID he didnt know he needed to get a lawyer so asked to continue. And the judge gave it to him. I asked about getting rembursed for my lost wages and was told no plus i have to go back a second time. So this is going to cost me way more than him. I would have been better off paying his ticket for him. It would have been a third of the money im out for lost wages. Needless to say im pretty pissed off!

Glad you’re safe. It’s “sporty” out there. You’re doing the right thing testifying.

Sue for mental anguish

Wow. He should just be happy to still be alive and let it go at that. Sorry for your inconvenience.

Back in the day it was quite a hassle for the truck drivers to get to our loading dock. They had to pull up into the entrance/exit area then back down and around a bit of a corner into the loading dock.

Well one day 'Kenny' came in and announced "Well there goes 23 years safe driving record". When we ask him what had happened he said he'd pulled into the entrance/exit roadway and was backing up when this gal in a little car pulled up behind and started honking her horn at him and then he said "I was a backing her up and she's going Beep Beep and I was a backing it up and she's still going Beep Beep and it just pissed me off so I pushed her back about 5 feet"!

He was dead serious as the cops were there and a wrecker for the 'Beep Beep Car'.

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Originally Posted by cudarunner

Back in the day it was quite a hassle for the truck drivers to get to our loading dock. They had to pull up into the entrance/exit area then back down and around a bit of a corner into the loading dock.

Well one day 'Kenny' came in and announced "Well there goes 23 years safe driving record". When we ask him what had happened he said he'd pulled into the entrance/exit roadway and was backing up when this gal in a little car pulled up behind and started honking her horn at him and then he said "I was a backing her up and she's going Beep Beep and I was a backing it up and she's still going Beep Beep and it just pissed me off so I pushed her back about 5 feet"!

He was dead serious as the cops were there and a wrecker for the 'Beep Beep Car'.

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That reminds me of a scene in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes".
Sometimes people get what they are asking for.

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Originally Posted by Brenngun

Wow. He should just be happy to still be alive and let it go at that.

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You got that right! But idiots dont think, and they sure dont do it when driving.

Time to have a dashcam: that is the only way to prove what really happened.

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Originally Posted by Kees

Time to have a dashcam: that is the only way to prove what really happened.

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The new trucks come with dash cams built in but mine is a 2015 l. No cam. I keep thinking i should buy one that plugs in but have never got around to it.

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Originally Posted by Gasman

The new trucks come with dash cams built in but mine is a 2015 l. No cam. I keep thinking i should buy one that plugs in but have never got around to it.

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It's my understanding that most Everyone in Russia has a dash cam as people will actually jump out in front of a car so they can sue them to make money.

I couldn't figure out how the hell these people were able to 'Happen' to be able to video this until I learned about the amount of dash cams. That's why when that meteor came down in Russia there were so many videos of the event--Dash Cams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSkCQT243q8

I'm surprised there aren't more dashcams in use in the USA. I've been meaning to do more research on them. Also good for recording conversations you have with other people and law enforcement.

Local guy said a truck driver rolled back and hit a girls car while traffic was at a stop (maybe because of another accident) and he saw everything.
Trucker asked if he saw what happened.
He said yeah, you rolled back and hit her.
Trucker tried to claim the girl hit him, but eventually admitted fault.
So, the witness ended up waiting for the cops so they could get his contact information.
Without a witness the girl would have been in a mess.

I installed one for a customer. Very impressive.
You say a code word (forget what it was), and it goes to your phone, recording 30 seconds before and after. Record forward and aft. Neat.

Many a year ago and Way Before Dash Cameras--I'd taken my family on holiday to Canada and we'd just entered Alberta from British Columbia and had stopped at the information center.

A group of 5 guys on motorcycles rode in and were asking questions such as the speed limits and how far they could push them without getting a ticket. They were on a variety of bikes--Harley--Yamaha--Honda etc and one had a video camera attached to the front of his bike. I moseyed over and was talking to them and come to find out one of them had terminal cancer and the guy with the camera was trying to get as much footage of their trip as possible for his family to have after he was gone.

They had been zigzagging back and forth across the border for several thousand miles.

I'd loved to have seen that video--

roy remember the video of the hill we rode? dash cam. this is my thought on this dash cam thing. we live in a world where everything is in a courtroom. so its really a good idea just to protect yourself, but accidents happen 360 degrees around you so how do you fix it with rear enders, side impacts? just a thought . now for another thing, road rage, or and i hate to say this but cops who arent the best at keeping professional. ( i have firemen and cops in the family ) and i still have a problem with some of them. my son when he got his vette for graduation, was not having a good relationship with a cop. lets just say it escalated until i had my uncle a captain with the St. Louis PD make a call to the little county we lived in. son got it on his phone discreetly and then it was resolved by a suspension without pay. so a good thing for video. now for me it would be evidence against me more than likely after i pull over a truck that is cruising in the fast lane at 56 mph. so bad thing.

we keep video survailance on the work site, for many reasons but one is landowners and theft. i may get some for my vehicles and bikes

This has been eye opening!
I'm going to get a dash cam. Wondering if there are any with front and rear facing?
This is one of those things that I think I've been avoiding thinking about, but it would seem we really are at that point of needing the protection.
Oh man, some day it may be smart to have a body cam.
There are probably phone apps that do it.
Maybe a phone mount for the car..

The new trucks have the option of full cameras. Out the windshield, on both side mirrows pointing back, those are built in. And a rear one. This only works out if you always drag the same trailer. Most of them have a button to save the previous few minutes and after. And this time is set by the program. Its a 2 or 4 hours loop so it dont take up a lot of memory. They can cost a lot as an extra in a new truck.

While I doubt that it would have enabled you to skip out of the court appearances, having the video record of what happened might have saved you from having to come back as the judge could have just watched what you saw--but again--maybe not. :shrug:

Everyone shows pictures of the other idiot driver.

I wonder how often they are used against the owner of the camera?

Its over. Went to court again today. The guy that pulled out in front of me had an old lawyer that tbought he was Perry Mason. In the end the guy got a not guilty. What the hell? I hate the justus system. It never goes my way. I wont get a fine and the company i work for wont take it out on me but its jst wrong.

Wasted my time and missed 3 days work and pay for this? Lets just say it cost me over a grand of income plus fuel, mileage and time. At least i now have a camera in my truck.

Sorry. Im just pissed off.

Another driver hit my car today. She initially admitted the fault, then changed her mind. Had to waste about four hours going to the police. She was found guilty and fined the maximum amount possible because she lied. I am installing dashcams in both my cars now.