Dealing with a wreck

[cliffyp]

Marcus, thanks for the offer. Like you say, it will cost more than the truck is worth. At this point it's up to the insurers and attorneys, I'm going to be happy if I come out unscathed. It all happened in front of a large convenience station. Hopefully their cameras where able to catch the incident.

 

[Dave87]

hey sorry to hear about the bad luck. i hope your feeling ok and thank god you were in your truck, probably would have been a lot worse. on the legal side of things i dont have much advise but its the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. i really hate when this kinda thing happens. a person is wronged and the guy who did it has "friends". good luck i hope it works out for you.

 

[cliffyp]

On my way home tonight, I stopped at the station the wreck happened in front of. Turns out the guy working tonight was also working that night and saw the whole thing. He confirmed that my lights were definitely on and that the other vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed. He's seen their camera footage and said it shows the impact and you can see that my lights were on and the resulting "fire ball" from the impact. I got his name and he gave me management names and numbers so I can inquire about getting a copy of the video for evidence. Hopefully this will be definitive evidence to establish the other driver's fault and my innocence, as well as the fact that the police report was totally fabricated.

 

[Heath_h49008]

On my way home tonight, I stopped at the station the wreck happened in front of. Turns out the guy working tonight was also working that night and saw the whole thing. He confirmed that my lights were definitely on and that the other vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed. He's seen their camera footage and said it shows the impact and you can see that my lights were on and the resulting "fire ball" from the impact. I got his name and he gave me management names and numbers so I can inquire about getting a copy of the video for evidence. Hopefully this will be definitive evidence to establish the other driver's fault and my innocence, as well as the fact that the police report was totally fabricated.

Delayed report? Suddenly a drunk was a victim?

Looks like you got hit by a drunk off-duty cop or some other connected person for sure.

Make certain you get a lawyer fast and can even get the video from the gas station. Evidence like video has a way of getting "lost." If you press the issue, they will come after you, so be prepared. If the other driver left in an ambulance, they should have an intake blood alcohol you might get your hands on. (But if it was a cop, they know better than to go to the hospital until they sober up.)

Good luck man, sadly you're going to need it.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

I will echo what others have said about the truck. DON'T fix it or let them talk you into fixing it. I got hit the exact same place in a 1992 dodge pickup back when I was in high school. A friend of mine was behind me in a low hooded saturn, was looking at a wreck in the other lanes, and didn't see I had stopped. Hit me on the pass side just like yours. My other friends several cars back said they saw the underside of my truck over all the cars behind me. His car actually traveled all the way under my truck, with my truck riding overtop. Insurance company and the body shop said it could be repaired, but I still have it to this day because the frame is bent. They just put spacers under the bed to level it out.

Hopefully you won't suffer any long term medical issues from this, and that the insurance company replaces the truck with one just like it or better.

Very nice that there is video! Make sure you get your hands on it. I hit a car when I was running a train and it was caught by a security camera at a neighboring business. I went in and asked about it while waiting on the police and they agreed to to get me a copy. I told the cop and he went over and said don't give me a copy, just the detectives. I never got to see the video. (would have liked to as I was running long hood forward and didn't actually see any of the action.)

 

[Flyingvan911]

Make sure you make a copy of the video in case it gets "lost" after you turn it over to the authorities. I am very pro law enforcement but something is rotten here.

 

[steelypip]

1. Get a lawyer now. Ideally, a pitbull from outside of town, so he doesn't have any reason not to go after somebody 'with connections' locally.
2. Remember that your cost is not the vehicle, but the vehicle plus the years of insurance rate increases you'll eat if you don't beat the declaration of responsibility.
3. Get the camera footage. Proving that your lights were on and the rate of closure is high is key. Even, better, make sure your lawyer gets the footage instead of you - he'll know all about chain of custody and proof of origin.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Excellent advice on all points!

 

[o1951]

I got his name and he gave me management names and numbers so I can inquire about getting a copy of the video for evidence. Hopefully this will be definitive evidence to establish the other driver's fault and my innocence, as well as the fact that the police report was totally fabricated.

Good for you! Looks like your first break. You got good advice in previous posts - If cops find out about video, probably will disappear, and witness may be told to shut up. 1. Good lawyer who is not connected to police or other side. 2. After good lawyer, your ins co should know about this so they do not wrongfully settle based on police report.

 

[goldneagle]

Another suggestion is to get the news media involved. Some stations have a help line or tip line you can call. Reporters are always looking for coverups.

 

[Heath_h49008]

Another suggestion is to get the news media involved. Some stations have a help line or tip line you can call. Reporters are always looking for coverups.

Get the video first.

Without that, bend over and take it. It will be their word against yours, and a line of pretty blue uniforms will say you are just trying to CYA from that upstanding person who couldn't see your evil old camo truck running "blacked out" in the middle of the night. Do you think that traffic judge has a "working relationship" with the guy who lied on his report, or not?

Unless you want a target on you from the cop that lied in his report, and any of his buddies who might not like a "civilian" having the gall to question them, don't fight unless you know you can win. And give them the chance to change the report quietly while letting the guy who hit you skate. As long as you don't get stuck with the bills, let the sleeping dog lie.

Good luck man.

 

[Crash_AF]

Best advice I can give you... stop talking about details on here until you have an attorney and he has gotten all he needs from all the witnesses he needs to. You don't need anyone figuring out what your game plan is until the game is over.

While I would love to hear a blow-by-blow of what's going on, I would rather you deep-six their corrupt asses and tell us all about it later.

And definitely get an out of town attorney, and make sure he's a pit-bull. It's going to be one of those battles it seems.

Failure is NOT an option here, it's your truck, your health, and possibly your livelihood on the line.

Good luck

 

[Cruceno]

Best advice I can give you... stop talking about details on here until you have an attorney and he has gotten all he needs from all the witnesses he needs to. You don't need anyone figuring out what your game plan is until the game is over.

...snip...

Excellent advice here. I would also add that in regard to the potential video, time isn't on your side. Most security camera software will only hold footage for 30 days unless someone MANUALLY saves it. You're about 2 weeks in at this point, so the sooner you get your hands on it the better.

Best of luck to ya cliffy

 

[SouthernSteel]

WoW,Sounds rough My thoughts are with ya my friend I hope you get well and come out on the top.Though my truck wasn't a military truck in 2004 I had an 87 Chevy stepside I had built and spent a lot of money on.Long story short I went thru a battle with the insurance adjuster and I ended up getting more than the $1500 they were gonna give me and I bought the truck back and drove it for about 6 months and then sold it.I had a lot of Receipts to prove how much I had in the truck I ended up getting about half of what I had in it over a 8 year period.So im not complaining it worked out well.I hope it works out for you to my friend Good luck.

 

[GM-M1008]

It would be a lot of expense for a CUCV pickup

Lol, go buy a one ton chevy frame and swap everything over. Get new springs and a rear bumper and fix the body. I totaled my m1008 and I am rebuilding it.

 

[cliffyp]

Update:

Well, it's taken a month and a half but the other guy's insurance adjuster is finally coming out today to look at my truck. The very first time i spoke with them they wanted to place some liability on me because of the police comments in the report. I had to inform them of the existence of a witness an security footage. When they called this morning they said based on the witness and footage they are taking 100% liability. They stated on the phone that they would probably consider the truck "totaled".

Hopefully they make a reasonable value offer because I'm tired of this and I'm ready to wrap it all up, however if they low ball it I'll drag it out farther. In our phone conversations it's already come up that they want to use mid 80's K30 as comparison for value and I've been adamant that the value is based on M1028 former military service vehicle.

I'll keep y'all posted on what happens and see if I need to request help from other members establishing a market value for a 1028.

 

[M925]

You should find out the price the Gov. paid for it. And find some ads for comparable trucks. My M923 had a big sticker on it saying $70.6K.

 

[patracy]

Hopefully they make a reasonable value offer because I'm tired of this and I'm ready to wrap it all up, however if they low ball it I'll drag it out farther. In our phone conversations it's already come up that they want to use mid 80's K30 as comparison for value and I've been adamant that the value is based on M1028 former military service vehicle.

If they're talking about using a standard K30 truck as a comparison. I highly doubt you'll get a decent offer from them. You need to provide them with what the military acquirement price was, as well as a lot of 1028 sold and asking prices.

 

[cliffyp]

It's finally all over. After buying the truck back from the insurance co., I'll be left with $4,900 and change. It's not quite where I'd want to be in a perfect world, but I'm ready to have all this behind me. For the time being I'm just going to park the 1028. After the wreck I bought a '95 K2500 6.5 turbo w/ NV4500 that I'm working on at the moment. I'm just going to keep my eyes peeled for a solid K30 frame and body in need of a driveline. I've also thought about picking up a 1009 and making it into a 1 ton, or perhaps something similar with a suburban. I've got lots of options with a 6.2 with approx 50k, brand new gear redux starter, a 700r4 with about 10k, new steering components and new king pin spring and bushings for the D60. I had a new drive shaft made just a few months back. Hopefully that is still good. I'll get it balanced and see if the hit had an impact on it. Thanks to everybody on the site for the support and suggestion.

 

[br44]

What make and model car was it? I would like to know what car could barely damage a CUCV, yet be totaled itself.