Driving to work Friday afternoon. I was heading up the main road to the highway, when a lady driving a Ford Freestyle pulled out of the Waffle House parking lot right in front of me. I was doing 35-40mph when I saw her pull out. I'm not sure what my speed was at impact, but it couldn't have been that much slower. She pulled out with maybe 25 feet between us. I'm not even sure about that, because my sense of time is all messed up from the adrenaline. It felt like I was waiting for impact for a long time, even though it was maybe only one second from the time I registered that she had pulled out to impact. I T-boned her from the rear driver side door to the rear brake light. She spun about 90* and was facing the wrong way straddling the left hand lane and the center turn lane. I stayed mostly in the right lane where I was driving.

What's interesting is that to have spun her car like that, which wasn't a particularly small vehicle, and to cave in the side, my airbags didn't deploy. That was actually my first thought after impact. I immediately called 911, and they sent a couple officers out to the scene and took my statement. They let me hop out and take pictures of both of our vehicles before letting me go. She stayed and was cited. I was able to drive home, she was not. Fortunately she was unharmed as I missed her door by very little. After I called my supervisors at work and told them I was in a wreck, they said don't worry about trying to make it in today.

I ended up going into the ER later that evening after the adrenaline wore off. I had some stiffness in my neck and back on the right side, but my shoulder, wrist and elbow were hurting the worst. I was pressing the horn hard at impact and I think it jammed my shoulder into the socket. So they took some X-Rays, which all came back good. All in all, it could have been much worse, so I'm thankful for that. And I'm really glad I trusted my instinct that was telling me to get something bigger than the 2 door Honda Civic I was driving before I bought my last truck. I don't think I would have come out as well as I did.

As for the damage, I'll need a new bumper for sure. The bumper bent the transmission cooler that sits right behind it, so that'll probably have to be replaced. The foglights snapped off the mounts, and were shoved up into the intercooler, so the light housings are all broken, and the fins of the intercooler are all bent up. My block heater cord was crushed as well. When I limped the truck back home where it's currently parked, the steering seemed off. It could have just been thrown out of alignment, or something could have been damaged, but I won't know until I have it totally looked over by a shop this week. Either way, I'm glad I won't be the one paying for it.

Time for pictures!

 

That sucks, but glad you're ok!

 

Yeah, me too! It doesn't look like the damage is too extensive. Easy enough to have fixed. Expensive though!

 

Glad you're ok. And really the truck doesn't look too bad. Her's, not so much.
As for your airbag, it didn't deploy because her vehicle absorbed the shock so it didn't trip your sensors. Be thankful for that.

 

Glad you both are OK.....hope she had insurance!

 

Glad to hear you're ok and the truck isn't damaged more then it is. That was a good amount of energy your amrs took rather then the seat belted area or airbag against the body.

The impact on her car was exactly the best location it could have been per our accident avoidance training. There are times when you're going to hit, and it's best to hit at the lowest mass point and let the other vehicle spin. Sometimes you can control that, sometimes not and you're lucky.

 

I see how it happened from here... looks like she's still focused on her phone.
Good picture.

 

Florida driver - say no more. Glad you're OK - truck really does not look bad. It is good that she got cited. You should also pursue a DOV (decrease of value or diminishment of value) claim with her insurance. Your carfax will have an accident on it now and that will decrease the value of your truck some. It takes some fighting to get it. Her insurance should cover a rental while yours gets fixed.

 

Why I drive an F350!

 

I figure that's why they didn't deploy. I didn't have any codes for the airbags previously, so I was doubting they were faulty or anything. Still, I'm going to have the truck looked over head to toe anyway.

I can't imagine how my arm would look if the airbag had deployed while I was laying into the horn, for that, I'm thankful. I'm happy to have slowed down enough to avoid her door. I think she would have been taking an ambulance ride.
I've kind of been kicking myself a bit because I'm typically very good at seeing the cars waiting to pull out onto the road, but maybe she blended in with the wet pavement or something. Either way, with how much room I had, I figure a wreck would have been unavoidable whether I saw her before or not.

I will definitely ask my insurance guy about the DOV. I don't plan to sell my truck, but who knows what new opportunities will come up in the future. My insurance agent is a good guy. He said he'll make sure my cost of a rental is covered, plus any other expenses.

Living in a college town and seeing how terrible college age drivers are is the exact reason I wanted a larger vehicle.

 

And this is why I am not disappointed that my wife is driving a 5.4L SDCC, especially when she is commuting to college classes.

 

Bummer. Glad everyone walked away. Could have been worse.

I see it knocked off your front plate too.

 

Few on the road larger and brighter colored than yours and her statement will read, "i didn't see it."

jack vines

 

X2...With airbags to go off there needs to be about a 25 MPH or more velocity change within a certain amount of time. People are often times infuriated the airbags did not deploy. I say that is a good thing they did not. Since your vehicle struck behind the center of mass of hers, she took the majority of energy from the impact.

Glad you and the truck are ok for the most part. Larger vehicle usually wins.

 

That or it will be, "That guy was going soooo fast I thought I had more time!"