Caution: long, rambling post...

I just found a couple of pictures of my old truck. I got it new in early 2000 and right before Christmas 2001, I had this accident. An older man failed to yeild the the right of way (to me of course) while trying to cross the 4 lane street I was driving on. We were blocked from seeing each other by a semi truck that was turning just in front of me (not an excuse) so by the time I saw him in front of me it was too late. I was going about 45-50 mph, slammed the brakes, left about 50 ft. of skidmarks (on the road, don't get any ideas!) and just managed to miss hitting his truck right on the door.



He was driving a late 80's F-150 extended cab (Ford,of course) and I T-boned him right behind the door and smashed in all the extended cab and half the bed. Its was my first accident (hopefully the last) so I was pretty freaked out with all the smoke and noise from the airbags and crunching metal. No one was hurt. Since it was a week before Christmas/New Years time, it took forever to get the stupid insurance to get it fixed. $9000 in damage (only owed $10,500 on it, so don't even ask why it wasn't totaled ).



Drove it for another year and a half, then turned it in (it was a lease) and got my current 2002 XLT supercab. Just thought I'd share.........

 

Glad you weren't hurt !! What does it feel like to hit the airbag??
najdap

 

Yea, I was amazed I didn't get hurt after seeing the damage to the truck. Just a sore neck and a bumped knee for a few days. I didn't actually hit the airbag, the seat belt really kept me strapped in. Good thing too, because I wear glasses and would have probably had some kind of eye/face injury if I would have hit the airbag with my face. The explosion was pretty loud and my ears were ringing for a while and the bag did hit my wrist and left a good bruise.

 

180 views and only 1 reply ?

Oh well.....

 

Glad you were'nt hurt, but "Been there, done that". For some reason, I have been in more than my share of wrecks. A couple were my fault, but most weren't. I guess I finally matured (hate that word!) and decided to use defensive driving skills.

 

well..i wrecked my '99 F150 XL..and i rolled it,and it was in alot worse shape than yours,and i just had liability..so that sucks real bad..i wish mine would'a been in the shape yours was...but i didn't have my seatbelt on,and i did hit the airbag..but i don't remember anything at all about it..so..i think i got knocked out by the airbag..so i can't really tell you what it feels like..and a couple people say that i ran out of the windshield of the truck,but i don't remember that either...so i must have been awfully startled at first..lol...but i miss my truck so much..i loved it..sorry for the rambling..lol..

p.s. i sold mine for $500,and i had just had it a month...

 

I remember when I woke up one morning and my parents told me that my dad had just rolled our Bronco II. He had been wearing his seatbelt, so he just had a scratch on his forehead. The truck was actually in good shape. The passenger side wheel needed some work, but none of the big glass windows in the back were broken. Its always scary getting into accidents. I'm glad both of you were ok.

 

Just one comment about airbags. I have had airbags deploy on my two times, once in my '02 Neon, and once in a government vehicle.

The first time, in my Neon, I was hit head-on by a dodge intrepid going close to 50 mph, when I turned in front of him. I walked away from it, and I never thought I hit the airbag until I realized my glasses were bent!!! I probably wouldn't be here right now if I hadn't been wearing my seatbelt.

The other time, I was driving a government van, and I was struck by a tire going the opposite direction. I never hit the airbag.

 

thanks mistercmk... if you all want to see pictures of my truck after the wreck,they're in my gallery..it hurts me to look at them..lol..i miss it so bad...it doesn't really look that bad in the pics..but it was...frame looked like a ribbon in the wind...but anyways..i got me a '79 to replace 'er now...

 

i just had an accident in the wife's 2003 mitsubishi outlander. a woman was going to a ballgame, planned on turning at the corner, then realized that the ball field was in front of her. she got confused, didn't look at the traffic lights, and went straight through the intersection. there were 2 lanes of traffic, a couple cars in the left lane waiting for the light. she was in the right lane, so i never even saw her coming. we hit corner to corner, then side by side at a 45 degree angle. i saw a metal street sign post ahead, but couldn't turn because she was along side of me and my power steering belt was broken. damaged 3 sides of the vehicle, just got a copy of the insurance appraisers report. 4 pages, total over $14,000. not a scratch on me or my son; wasn't head on so the airbag never went off. insurance declared it a total loss. they don't go on what you owe. they figure out the value of the car, then take 50-80 percent of that (varies by insurance company). if you exceed that , your'e totalled. if you owe $20,000, but they figure the value is $15,000, they give you the 15 & keep the vehicle, you send checks to the bank for $5,000 for a vehicle you no longer have. right now i'm waiting to here how much they're gonna offer me. got a price from kelley blue book online, but they already told me that kelley lists what dealers are asking for that car, "but of course they never sell it for the asking price. we have our own books."

 

now the weapon to use in getting fair market value ..is to do some of your own research..one by buying several local trading posts , and record similer trucks selling prices in a 50 miles area, next visit the local dealers and do the same.
next take $500-1000 off on prvate owner sales, dealer or car lots $2000. this will give you the going price for your truck..alot of insurance companies use out side agencies for this info...i have been there and got what was fair replacement cost by doing this. also any maintance history will help and most importantly pic's of your truck before the accident....don't cave in ...they want to settle for a cheap as possible...and lastly don't be in a rush...one other thing lay all your info out on the desk and then "place a well known attorney"s buisness card down next to the paper work..and if they ask what it's for ? tell them "nicely" thats who they will be dealing with if you can't get a fair settlement......
on edit:what you owe is not a issue...because maybe you had a large down payment,equity in your trade, negitive equity/up sidedown{owed more than what your trade was worth}or you got a good deal on your trade.
just remember to your emotion's in check, remain polite and professional at all times.

 

i was crashed into a guard rail by tri axle dump truck , air bag was like tysons glove in the face, lucky me i did buy the gap insurance , owed 8500 truck worth only 2800 due to milage, ended up owing nothing, now i have 2001 f-150 lariat 5.4auto extcab 4x4 i love it

 

triton_2002, it hurts me just to look at those pictures! In April of 2003, I was driving with my brother-in-law showing him my new Audi TT... It was a beautiful 225 hp quattro model, with a lot of custom mods that made it unlike any other TT I had ever seen. I was going a bit fast on a country backroad corner, and hit some gravel that was pushed onto the road from the shoulder... Long story short, the back end came around and I couldn't bring it back; we launched 3-4 feet down into a farmers freshly plowed field and the car proceeded to flip end-over-end twice, and then sideways another one-and-a-half times, finally coming to rest on the passenger side door.

Air bags deployed, and I actually remember seeing it come out in front of me like it was in slow motion, but my seat belt held me in place (not to mention my locked up arms at 9 and 3 on the steering wheel) so the airbag never actually hit me. In the midst of all the airbag smoke, I undid my seatbelt not realizing I was somewhat upside-down, and hit the roof of the car. I managed to force the drivers door open by standing where the passenger side window had been, which was now the soft dirt of the farmers field, and pushed up hard enough to finally get it open.

The car was a total loss and a mess at that, but the passenger cabin was entirely in-tact, allowing my brother-in-law and I to walk away with only minor injuries (few stitches, bruised ribs, etc.). I was extremely lucky coming out of it like that, and I am a FAR more conservative driver nowadays.

The other upside to this whole thing was that I purchased my '01 F-150 SuperCrew 5.4L, and I have never enjoyed a vehicle more than this one!

Keep 'er 'tween the ditches guys!

 

I just Wrecked my 98 on Monday, didnt do all that damage ...just went in a ditch, and slammed into a driveway only to catch air and hit a sign. I now need all new front suspension/body parts, and a new passenger side! pics are posted on a website.....but if im right, it can"t be listed on FTE. now Im stuck with my girls Kia Sephia, which is crap....man I miss my FORD!!!!!

 

You can set up your own user gallery here and have your pics for all of us to see.