Towing Mishap

[5030]

Sorry to hear about the truck, but I also don't buy that it's totaled, unless maybe airbags deployed. That's a $5k repair on a $25k truck; should be 100% repairable.

Obviously, you have not been in a wreck lately. Insurance companies will total a vehicle for a lot less damage that is apparent in the picture and I bet he has structural damage as well, like the motor ripped off the mounts and shoved back. Far as the following rule, he should have immediately increased the following distance to at least 3 times the 3 second rule. Wonder what the person's vehicle looks like that he rear ended? His insurance company will have to eat that as well.

I don't care of you are motoring along and some bubba cuts in front of you and you butt pack him or her, it's still ACD. Why I prefer a 2 lane and be apprised I drove big trucks for over 40 years and I never rear ended anyone, winter. summer, rain, sleet, snow or dry roads because I always adhered to the 10 second following rule when driving a tractor trailer, 10 seconds for every 10 feet of vehicle in front of you.

I have had many butt heads cut in front of me and then have to stop but I always got off the fuel pedal and dripped back, with my right foot hovering over the brake pedal, anticipating what the butt head in front of me was going to do and remember air brakes act differently than hydraulic auto brakes, they take longer to activate. In closing, 2 years prior to retirement I was given the position of safety and compliance officer for the company I drove for so I got to see and investigate many accidents involving our trucks and in every one that was a rear ender, the butt packer was always cited with ASD, no matter what the accident involved.

 

[paulsharvey]

For everyone, try counting, and see if you are really following even a 3 second rule? It's further back than people realize.

Reminds me of somethjng; doing a lane closure, 2 lane, rural road, 55 mph, flagging operation. Had this young guy, maybe 18-25; on a croch rocket, that licked it sit at the flagger and gun the engine over and over. We were paving, and he was behind an asphalt truck, that slowed down, and turned into the closed lane, to back up to the paver. Kid followed him into lane closure and laid the bike down and went flipping/sliding down the asphalt.
We laughed when he got up, and he said he was calling cops, ect. Like 15 dudes around him, and we explained follow distance, and when he grabbed a piece of pipe, we calmly explained how the whole crew whole drag him into the woods and make him squeal like a pig if he didn't just get on his bike and leave

 

[5030]

I'm kind of amazed there isn't more motorcycle accidents / fatalities' than there are. Those youngsters with their crotch rockets generally ride like idiots from what I see. Least the HD riders ride somewhat sanely, they just make an unholy amount of noise.

Speaking of watching the video about the 1500 buck each tail lights. It reminded me of my wife's Suburban LTZ and all the electronic stuff on it. I had an issue with a check engine light that the dealer could not fix so I plugged my very expensive Autel scan tool in and in about a minute found the issue. it was the evaporative emissions cannister that had failed so I bought a new one from Rock Auto and installed it and that handled it. She has the crash avoidance stuff and back up cam as well but instead of in the tail lights, it's all in the rear bumper and first ting I did when she got it was I pulled all the Molex connectors apart and stuffed them all with electrically conductive grease. I do the same with my tractors as well. Her tail lights are also LED as are the headlights (HID) but you can replace them without buying a whole assembly. Best thing I ever bought was the Autel scanner. Wasn't cheap, was a grand but well worth every penny and Autel provides free updates to the firmware for the life of the unit.

I'm here to tell everyone, the OP's truck will be totalled. Heck, the gal that rents from me next door, her Escape got side swiped and her insurance totalled it. Was all sheet metal damage, front fender, passangers side doors and rear fender. Told her to get a salvage price from her insurance company and keep driving it. We live on a dirt road anyway so just don't wash it and no one will know.

My wife got hit in a parking lot in her Burb, front fender and it was 6 grand just for that. Before this UAW strike because our insurance carrier insists on OEM parts only. I won't ell the dealer about my aftermarket Evap cannister however.

 

[MossRoad]

For everyone, try counting, and see if you are really following even a 3 second rule? It's further back than people realize.

Reminds me of somethjng; doing a lane closure, 2 lane, rural road, 55 mph, flagging operation. Had this young guy, maybe 18-25; on a croch rocket, that licked it sit at the flagger and gun the engine over and over. We were paving, and he was behind an asphalt truck, that slowed down, and turned into the closed lane, to back up to the paver. Kid followed him into lane closure and laid the bike down and went flipping/sliding down the asphalt.
We laughed when he got up, and he said he was calling cops, ect. Like 15 dudes around him, and we explained follow distance, and when he grabbed a piece of pipe, we calmly explained how the whole crew whole drag him into the woods and make him squeal like a pig if he didn't just get on his bike and leave

I always try to follow at 2 seconds in the car. When I put our Subaru in adaptive cruise control, with the shortest interval allowed between me and the car in front of me, it's dead on at 2 seconds. If I increase it to the max interval, it's a tad over 3 seconds. I like it.

 

[paulsharvey]

Never driven anything with an auto follow distance, but the work car as some annoying lane holding thing, where the steering wheel vibrates when your near the line, and after a couple times, it pops up with a message suggesting you need to rest.

 

[Jstpssng]

Some notes indicate that on some vehicles you can remove the ABS fuse to disable the ABS

I used to do that. One day not having ABS saved a guy's life when he looked me in the eye and pulled out... I pulled some maneuvers which I couldn't do today and managed to miss him. Yet because I had disabled ABS it would have been my fault.

I went home, hooked everything back up and if somebody gets stupid the results are on them.

 

[airbiscuit]

On my wife's Subaru, I called them Anti Stop Brakes, (instead of anti skid brakes) because in snow, you would coast to a stop because they were off more than on (by a lot).

 

[Omega Woods]

Bad deal, I'm sorry that this happened to you. You are near the tow capacity of your Tacoma, which you know. I'm not going to jump on you, you've had a bad enough few days without one more piling on. I am truly fortunate that I haven't had a similar accident in my 40+ years of driving.

Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you.

 

[paulsharvey]

I didn't mean to attack the OP, just pointing out that we all get a bit too comfortable following too close, and adding heavy traffic and a heavy load, it should have been a bigger buffer for stopping. I hope the truck is repairable, as unless you have replacement value insurance (very unlikely) a totaled vehicle isn't going to go very far towards a new vehicle. If insurance totals it, I would ask about buying it back, and maybe skipping the paint and trim, as long as they can align it, and you get a hood and fender, (yep, and radiator and/or possible transmission cooler, don't know on the toyota) it should be 100% drivable.

Now, note, we don't have vehicle inspections, so as long as it has functional headlights, tail lights, and turn signals, it would be 100% fine; yall up north, no idea what they "inspect" to keep a vehicle on the road.

 

[potomska]

I had paid for good insurance, even at 5+ model years, and they deemed it totaled. No word on negotiations with the other driver’s insurance.

 

[5030]

We don't either and some of the 'clunkers flying up and down our dirt road amaze me. I'm always finding various car parts and tools in the ditch along with empty beer cans which I pick up when I walk the pup. I always carry a smaller trash bag for my 'discoveries'. Michigan has a 10 cent deposit law. I've picked up 5 bucks with of cans before. What I find amazing is the more ratty the car or truck is, the faster they fly. Suspension screaming, fenders flapping and the dirt road sandblasting them underneath. I drive slow, I need my buggies to last.
Couple years ago we had this snot nosed kid fly down the road foot flat on the floor every day about 3pm. It's 2 miles from the pavement to the farm and I bet he was going at least 100. I finally called the State Police and let them set up in the farm lane and they nailed him. he hasn't been down the road since. if it was my kid, I'd have warmed his butt. Didn't ask the officer how fast he was going but he said he was 'flying low'.

 

[5030]

On my wife's Subaru, I called them Anti Stop Brakes, (instead of anti skid brakes) because in snow, you would coast to a stop because they were off more than on (by a lot).

ABS don't bother me except when a sensor pukes and then it has to be replaced and I always replace all 4 at the same time. One never knows when the other 3 will expire.

I don't like them as I check my tire pressures at least every week and of the look or feel low, out comes the air chuck.

 

[CliffordK]

ABS don't bother me except when a sensor pukes and then it has to be replaced and I always replace all 4 at the same time. One never knows when the other 3 will expire.

I don't like them as I check my tire pressures at least every week and of the look or feel low, out comes the air chuck.

Are you confounding ABS (anti lock braking system) and TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system)?

I'm pretty good at seeing/sensing when a tire is low. However, I've been thinking of adding a TPMS to my trailer. Perhaps I'll be able to find a faulty tire before it disintegrates on me.

I do like to kick my trailer tires every time I stop.

When my grandfather was driving a log truck, he'd tap each tire with a bar to determine if one was low. Visual inspection alone could easily miss a low dually.

 

[5030]

Called a tire thumper and doubles as a theft deterrent up side a perps head too. You are right TPMS.

 

[CliffordK]

On my wife's Subaru, I called them Anti Stop Brakes, (instead of anti skid brakes) because in snow, you would coast to a stop because they were off more than on (by a lot).

I try to avoid driving in snow. However, snow tires (or studs) help a lot. 4x4 with snow tires?

I got to drive my Nephew's Honda Insight. It has these little paddle shifters to adjust the regen. Great for in the snow/ice. Just give yourself some room and click it max regen to bleed off some speed.

 

[1Mech]

Some here have been mentioning using the "emergency brake", well, vehicles don't have "emergency brakes" they have "parking brakes" To be used when you park your vehicle, not as a backup brake for when you let your service brakes fail. I guess you could use them in event of a brake system failure, but that is not what they are designed or intended for. As someone mentioned, if you did apply the parking brake hard enough to slow you down much, they may throw you into an uncontrollable skid, probably with a worse effect than rear ending someone.

 

[CliffordK]

Truck is totalled plain and simple and furthermore to comment in insurance, in this state no insurance equals no drive as the State Police won't issue you a tag at plate renewal time.

All states require liability insurance in one form or another, although there are a few drivers that drive without it.

Collision or Comprehensive insurance is generally required if one has a car loan, but it is optional if the vehicle is owned outright.

There may be other things added such as uninsured motorist coverage.

I tend to trust my own driving, and have opted not to carry collision/comprehensive insurance on any of my vehicles. Just going with liability only, and whatever other additional coverages that are mandatory or included.

Later in this thread, the OP has stated that "he has good insurance", which means the vehicle will likely be totaled. There may still be a buy-back option if he wishes to try to take on the repair himself.

 

[MossRoad]

Some here have been mentioning using the "emergency brake", well, vehicles don't have "emergency brakes" they have "parking brakes" To be used when you park your vehicle, not as a backup brake for when you let your service brakes fail. I guess you could use them in event of a brake system failure, but that is not what they are designed or intended for. As someone mentioned, if you did apply the parking brake hard enough to slow you down much, they may throw you into an uncontrollable skid, probably with a worse effect than rear ending someone.

emergency brake and parking brake are interchangeable terms. some call them hand brakes as well. All the same thing. If your hydraulic brakes fail, the parking brake is a completely separate system and can be used to slow you down.

https://knowhow.napaonline.com/parking-brake-vs-emergency-brake-whats-the-difference/

 

[RandyT]

Later in this thread, the OP has stated that "he has good insurance", which means the vehicle will likely be totaled. There may still be a buy-back option if he wishes to try to take on the repair himself.

And that can vary by state. In IL you are not allowed a buyback option until the vehicle is 9 years old. If the insurance totals it they now own it and the only thing is to negotiate a settlement price based on market value.

 

[CliffordK]

A couple of years ago an acquaintance was pulling her horse trailer down a two lane "highway". Somebody managed to do a U-turn across the highway, and clipped her right rear fender of the pickup bed. I'm still not quite sure how they managed to do it. 2005 Ford F150 King Ranch, I think.

The pickup was driveable, but had a mangled bumper and bedside.

Anyway, the insurance sent it out for a quote. Replace bedside, repaint. I'm not quite sure what else, but it came out to about $11,000. So, they "totaled" it.

I found a nearly identical pickup on COPART for about $3000 with front end damage and a good bed, color matched.

So we swapped the bed and bumper. And the friend kept the pickup and is happy. Plus she managed to make some money from the insurance company.

I did find some beds at the junk yard that would have been cheaper, but I wasn't prepared to do painting at the time.