Heavy reading incoming.

Earlier today I was on Poole road and turned onto the exit ramp to 40 East. Another car had turned right (coming from the opposite direction) at the same light and was about 3 car lengths in front of me. I could clearly see about 3/4 of the way down the ramp that there was a large piece of tire debris from what I would guess was a tractor-trailer. I thought that there was no way in hell the car in front of me couldn't have seen it, but he instead swerved right into it. As he swerved right, I juked left. When he hit the debris, the piece of tire was launched about 4 feet into the air and came sailing into the right side of my car. It hit so hard that it completely snatched my right outside mirror off, shattered glass all into the car, and hit me in the face. If my windows weren't rolled down, I'm sure I would have also lost my passenger side window. Because I had glass in my right eye, I immediately pulled off of the road - but only after catching the license number of the car which ran into the debris. I called 911, got the glass out of my eye, and immediately started taking pictures of everything from inside the car. I didn't know how bad the damage on the outside was yet. I've got pretty bad damage on 3 panels on the right side, but the car is still drivable. The RPD showed up a few minutes later, and I inquired as to whether or not having the license plate of the person who hit the debris was relevant. The officer told me no, and said that this would be classified as a one-car accident.

The question is: is there anything which I can do to follow up to try to find the person who hit the debris liable? I cannot believe that this person didn't see a 5-foot-long piece of tire in the middle of the road. There was no reason to have steered straight towards it, either, as there were no other cars on the ramp which would have made it impossible to avoid. It's a stretch, I know, but has anyone else had a situation like this and was able to reach a resolution?

4/8/2011 9:13:29 PM

Are you fucking serious

Kill yourself now

4/8/2011 9:28:01 PM

your insurance company may go after them to pay for your damages

4/8/2011 10:16:33 PM

if you knew the truck it came off of you might have that option, but you shouldn't pin it on the car in front of you.

and i'm not even sure if the truck would have liability, its not like it was an unsecured load or something

4/9/2011 10:44:57 AM

I see your side of it Axelay. Do you have full coverage? I'd contact your insurance agent and see what advice they can offer. It doesn't seem that far fetched that the other driver could be responsible.

4/9/2011 1:24:15 PM

Thankfully, I do have full coverage. It feels like a longshot but it can't hurt to investigate. Gonna contact my agent in a little bit to see what they say. I already have a friend who has volunteered to follow up on the liecnse plate info. Probably won't do anything with it other than satisfy my curiosity. The thing which really angers me aboiut this is that I just finished payiong off the car and had already bought some new electronics for a retrofit and was gonna have the stripes repainted week after next. All 3 panels on the right side are damaged in places which I don't think can be repaired. I'm guessing maybe $5000 damage.

[Edited on April 9, 2011 at 2:41 PM. Reason : coverage]

4/9/2011 2:39:47 PM

Yeah the driver in front of you is not in any way liable.

You are solely responsible for maintaining a safe and responsible distance between you and the vehicle in front of you to avoid situations exactly like this. Only if the car in front of you was driving recklessly and cut you off or displayed erratic driving behavior to prevent you from maintaining a safe follow distance does that driver have any responsibility.

Sounds like you were following to closely and made a bad assumption about the choice the driver in front of you would make.

4/9/2011 3:37:47 PM

It might seem that way. I wish I had had a witness who had also observed what happened. I don't especially feel like 3 car lengths behind the guy would be too close, but I don't know how that's legally determined. Also, the fact that the guy went straight at - even turning into - the debris instead of making any kind of effort to get away from it seems very unusual. I dunno if he was on the phone or what, because I can't think of any other reason how someone could have missed an object so large. Once I get back home, I'll get my pictures off of my phone.

4/9/2011 3:47:38 PM

Eh, I'll just do it through the phone.

http://www.thewolfweb.com/photos/00520138.jpg
Here's the tire in the middle of 40. It was originally about 3/4 of the way down the Poole Road exit before it hit my car. RPD came and moved it right after I got the pic.

http://www.thewolfweb.com/photos/00520135.jpg
Front right quarter panel. I feel like the dent here can be massaged out.

http://www.thewolfweb.com/photos/00520136.jpg
Mirror is gone, and the car is filled with its parts. LOL. I've never been so happy to have had the windows rolled down, even if I did get glass in the face.

http://www.thewolfweb.com/photos/00520137.jpg
This is what worries me most. I'm not sure this dent can be repaired easily, and the window seal is also damaged.

Lots of other dime-sized dents and dings, and scratches go all the way down the side of the car below these (especially in the door panel). It could have been a lot worse, but it still really hurts the overall value of the car. I hate to think that nothing can legally be done about this, but I guess that's what insurance is for...

[Edited on April 9, 2011 at 4:31 PM. Reason : stupid imageshack]

4/9/2011 4:27:09 PM

You're talking about debris in the road man. Not some improperly tied down shit that fell off a truck.

It sucks but so does dieing in a fire. Consider yourself lucky.

4/9/2011 4:27:24 PM

how high did the tire get in the air? i want to use 9th grade physics to show how you were following too closely.

4/9/2011 4:36:33 PM

That is all very minor stuff to be fixed. Im gonna guess $1200-1500 to get it fixed

4/9/2011 6:59:25 PM

Try and look on the bright side. It's only a Mustang.

4/9/2011 7:45:30 PM

Rule for safe following distance I've always been told is 1 car length per 10 MPH. Since I doubt you were going 30 MPH on an I-40 on ramp, by the definition of the rule, you were following too closely. I wouldn't pursue that avenue if I were you.

Not like that's an unsafe distance, really, but by rule, you should have been farther back. Sucks in any case.

[Edited on April 9, 2011 at 9:06 PM. Reason : 1]

4/9/2011 9:06:11 PM

This reminds me of the time a trash bin literally jumped in front of my car. I was following a box truck one morning on the way to work. We were driving on the two-lane road that my neighborhood exits onto, and a little ways ahead was a trash bin not quite in the road but not on the curb either. The box truck swerved left to avoid it at the last second, but the bin clipped his rear bumper (the kind thats a metal bar suspended below the back door - kind of like an upside-down pi symbol).

Through some ridiculous physics, the bin was knocked UP and TOWARDS THE ROAD. For a brief moment, it was suspended 6 feet up and 20 feet in front of my car. If I had not slammed on the brakes, it would have landed square on my windshield instead of impacting my bumper (leaving a big scuff).

4/9/2011 11:51:59 PM

This thread made me laugh.

4/10/2011 12:50:37 AM

I can buff all of that out

4/10/2011 9:33:38 AM

I seriously thought this was a parody or joke about that 2x4 lady...

Axelay I'm sorry this happened to you. Unfortunately, I don't believe there's anything legal you can do other than claim the damages on your ins.

[Edited on April 10, 2011 at 11:57 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on April 10, 2011 at 11:57 AM. Reason : .a]

4/10/2011 11:56:55 AM

You want to hold the other driver liable for you following too close? Is this thread serious?

4/10/2011 12:09:01 PM

Quote :

"I JUKED LEFT"

4/12/2011 9:01:10 AM

Quote :

"I JUKED LEFT"

4/12/2011 11:58:04 PM

While it's pretty fucked up that the driver in front of you ran straight over that crap and it hit your car, it sounds like you were too close to him. Rule #1 is to never trust other drivers. There are too many fucking idiots out there driving around not paying the slightest bit of attention. If you were 3 car lengths behind him, as you said you were, then you were too close. You should have backed off to see what that driver would do. Of course hindsight is 20/20.

Quote :

"That is all very minor stuff to be fixed. Im gonna guess $1200-1500 to get it fixed"

lol, yeah right. It's gonna be more than that.

4/13/2011 9:42:17 AM

At least you weren't riding a motorcycle - that would've been real ugly! Hopefully, if nothing else, you will leave a little more cushion between yourself and other drivers. You never know what they're going to do...

4/13/2011 10:41:31 AM

reminds me of swerving to avoid spit bomb

4/13/2011 7:06:43 PM

^^^ Yup, just found out the initial assessment is almost $3000 on the penny. But at least I have a low deductible. I guess this will be a good time to get the stripes repainted after the damage is repaired.

4/13/2011 7:28:37 PM

Good luck man, and make sure the body shop gets everything 100% right!

They didn't for me initially, and now I have to go back again actually (8 months after the repair) b/c some paint's starting to chip off

4/15/2011 1:30:24 PM

1) This sucks that it happened to you
2) You seem to have been following this person too closely
3) You would have to prove that he intentionally hit the tire and knew that it would fly up into the air and damage your car to have any kind of case against this guy

You have no case, this is just something shitty that happened by chance.

4/15/2011 8:14:37 PM

Nvm

[Edited on April 19, 2011 at 10:49 PM. Reason : calmac beat me to it]

4/19/2011 10:46:48 PM