- Joined
- Dec 3, 2000
- Messages
- 4,347
Gosh darn golly gee whiz. It poured down rain today. A gazillions tons. We have had less than 1/2" the past two years.
So I'm driving along.....taking two of my munchkins to see the Vet Ophthamologist in San Diego. Rain rain go away come again some other day. Up ahead I spy with my Pirate Lass telescope some sort of vehicle dilemmas on the inside track. Uh Oh.
So, being the alert driver that I am, I immediate proceeded to take the necessary actions to avoid the two vehicles that were overlapping into my lane.
Uh oh again. I brake slowly. Nothing. I turn the steering wheel. Nothing. My truck continues directly in the direction of the trespassing vehicles. Can you say Hydroplane? Wham bam, no thank you m'am. My left front fender meets right rear fender of the vehicle overlapping into my lane.
Oh, but it gets better! My truck doesn't stop. It thinks it is a pong ball and it now hydroplanes across the #1 and #2 lanes of traffic, then OVER the steep embankment. Geez Louise, we're gonna roll!!!
We didn't roll. The poochies are safe in the area behind the front seats, low to the ground. I turn off the engine, engage the parkin brake, and sit. Wow. I'm a little sore, but was wearing my seat belt and seat belts save lives.
A nice man, who witnessed both accidents (the minivan who hydroplaned and head-on'd the tall brick dividing wall, and my accident, when I hydroplaned in the same area and hit a stopped vehicle at the accident.) This man identified himself as a nurse, inquired for injuries, asked if I needed transport to the hospital and said he had witnessed everything and it wasn't my fault.
He went and check others and I stayed in my vehicle. Hey. It was RAINING. I'm a girl. I melt in the rain. Sugar and spice and everything nice...you know the drill.
What a mess. I finally got out of my vehicle to take pictures and to talk with the highway patrol officer to provide all of the required information. He was quite surprised when I told him that I had NOT collided with the minivan, that I had hit another vehicle. He asked me what color. I said, I can't be sure, but I'm gonna say it was blue. We walk back to my truck, and in the area of the broken headlight, he finds a very large piece of dark blue metal. He said, "Well, I guess it was a blue vehicle!" Apparently the vehicle that I hit left the scene. But I had gotten proof of my blue vehicle! Yippee!
I had to cancel the poochie's appointment in San Diego. I had to call my insurance claims. Arrange for a body shop back where I lived, they sent a tow truck, my insurance arranged for a rental car.
It was one long day from the 10:02 am accident until 3:10 pm when I was able to head home in my new Dodge Caravan rental. I think my truck is really messed up. You can't tell from the pictures. But underneath there is some serious damage, I be thinin'. The insurance adjuster for my truck comes out on Tuesday.
I get he wants to total it. What a shame. It's paid off, runs great. Well, it ran great until 10:01 am today, anyway.
And if the guy in the blue vehicle who left the scene of the accident gets a copy of the CHP report and wants to submit a claim to my insurance, he will get it. Well, I did hit his vehicle. I didn't have control of MY vehicle. Hydroplaning or not, my hitting the blue vehicle was my fault. Dang. I hate it when that happens.
I'll share pictures in a bit.
TJ
So I'm driving along.....taking two of my munchkins to see the Vet Ophthamologist in San Diego. Rain rain go away come again some other day. Up ahead I spy with my Pirate Lass telescope some sort of vehicle dilemmas on the inside track. Uh Oh.
So, being the alert driver that I am, I immediate proceeded to take the necessary actions to avoid the two vehicles that were overlapping into my lane.
Uh oh again. I brake slowly. Nothing. I turn the steering wheel. Nothing. My truck continues directly in the direction of the trespassing vehicles. Can you say Hydroplane? Wham bam, no thank you m'am. My left front fender meets right rear fender of the vehicle overlapping into my lane.
Oh, but it gets better! My truck doesn't stop. It thinks it is a pong ball and it now hydroplanes across the #1 and #2 lanes of traffic, then OVER the steep embankment. Geez Louise, we're gonna roll!!!
We didn't roll. The poochies are safe in the area behind the front seats, low to the ground. I turn off the engine, engage the parkin brake, and sit. Wow. I'm a little sore, but was wearing my seat belt and seat belts save lives.
A nice man, who witnessed both accidents (the minivan who hydroplaned and head-on'd the tall brick dividing wall, and my accident, when I hydroplaned in the same area and hit a stopped vehicle at the accident.) This man identified himself as a nurse, inquired for injuries, asked if I needed transport to the hospital and said he had witnessed everything and it wasn't my fault.
He went and check others and I stayed in my vehicle. Hey. It was RAINING. I'm a girl. I melt in the rain. Sugar and spice and everything nice...you know the drill.
What a mess. I finally got out of my vehicle to take pictures and to talk with the highway patrol officer to provide all of the required information. He was quite surprised when I told him that I had NOT collided with the minivan, that I had hit another vehicle. He asked me what color. I said, I can't be sure, but I'm gonna say it was blue. We walk back to my truck, and in the area of the broken headlight, he finds a very large piece of dark blue metal. He said, "Well, I guess it was a blue vehicle!" Apparently the vehicle that I hit left the scene. But I had gotten proof of my blue vehicle! Yippee!
I had to cancel the poochie's appointment in San Diego. I had to call my insurance claims. Arrange for a body shop back where I lived, they sent a tow truck, my insurance arranged for a rental car.
It was one long day from the 10:02 am accident until 3:10 pm when I was able to head home in my new Dodge Caravan rental. I think my truck is really messed up. You can't tell from the pictures. But underneath there is some serious damage, I be thinin'. The insurance adjuster for my truck comes out on Tuesday.
I get he wants to total it. What a shame. It's paid off, runs great. Well, it ran great until 10:01 am today, anyway.
And if the guy in the blue vehicle who left the scene of the accident gets a copy of the CHP report and wants to submit a claim to my insurance, he will get it. Well, I did hit his vehicle. I didn't have control of MY vehicle. Hydroplaning or not, my hitting the blue vehicle was my fault. Dang. I hate it when that happens.
I'll share pictures in a bit.
TJ
That makes it his fault for improper backing. That must be what happened, otherwise he wouldn't have fled, right? 
