My RAM saved me in a freeway crash

[Bob.]

I have a question. Without a dashcam, how can you defend yourself from blame if the person in the rear car says you hit the front car before you got hit from behind?
I'm glad you didn't get hurt much, and accident's suck big time.
(The car insurance in back is trying to lessen the damages), if you understand my question.
I'm lucky I never had one on the highway.

 

[Brutal_HO]

I have a question. Without a dashcam, how can you defend yourself from blame if the person in the rear car says you hit the front car before you got hit from behind?
I'm glad you didn't get hurt much, and accident's suck big time.
(The car insurance in back is trying to lessen the damages), if you understand my question.
I'm lucky I never had one on the highway.

Given the distance between you and rear car after they launched you, and proximity to the car in front of you (though I don't recall seeing that), isn't that obvious?

What does the police report say?

 

[Ninety-9 SE-L]

I have a question. Without a dashcam, how can you defend yourself from blame if the person in the rear car says you hit the front car before you got hit from behind?
I'm glad you didn't get hurt much, and accident's suck big time.
(The car insurance in back is trying to lessen the damages), if you understand my question.
I'm lucky I never had one on the highway.

Dash cams are a must, but I'd imagine it would have had something to do with the difference in damage front-to-back.

Simply being the middle car in a 3-car incident already makes it feasible. But the difference in damage shows that the Ram was struck in the back much harder than in the front. I'm sure there were also witness accounts, plus statements from each driver would eventually resolve what actually happened.

 

[Rammit]

Good to hear you are ok. The truck held up great considering the seriousness of the impact. Good to know our trucks will protect us. Now if only people would actually pay attention to where they are going

 

[ben b]

I have a question. Without a dashcam, how can you defend yourself from blame if the person in the rear car says you hit the front car before you got hit from behind?
I'm glad you didn't get hurt much, and accident's suck big time.
(The car insurance in back is trying to lessen the damages), if you understand my question.
I'm lucky I never had one on the highway.

I believe cars have black boxes that record events under certain conditions, such as airbag deployment. Maybe also if the collision avoidance braking activated. If you are able to access the info, it might help piece together the order of events. Not as definitive as a dash cam, but may still help reinforce your statements.

 

[GKIII]

Needs an entire frame replacement and they won't total it? Wow. That's gonna be a huge labor bill, not sure how they figure it's not a totaled vehicle.


If it indeed does get repaired, make sure to get a diminished value claim in with the responsible party's insurance.

 

[Reverse]

If you would rather have it totaled: ask for a rental car for the duration of the repair. The costs of the rental car is included in the decision whether to total or not, and with a repair like this it will add up and likely total the truck.

 

[GerryS]

With that amount of damage, I would consider trading it in the day you get it back.

Gerry

 

[Bob.]

It depends on who fixes it, but my luck would have gremlins start messing with my ride or the paint peeling etc in the future. If you can afford to trade it that would be my choice.

 

[SKT Customs]

Dang dude glad you’re okay and that’s nice to see our trucks hold up well! But sheesh all that damage and a bent frame and they won’t total it?? Seems super weird to me. I thought a whole new frame would make it no longer “numbers matching” with the VIN and be a salvaged title? Oh well hopefully it gets fixed and is good as new

 

[brewdad]

With that amount of damage, I would consider trading it in the day you get it back.

Gerry

Do not keep this truck---it will never be right again.

 

[truckless]

I just wish with all the cameras on these damn vehicles now they would implement some sort of buffer to record even just the last 30 seconds or so using what is already there too. I believe Tesla does that now.

 

[BNJMN]

I don't have the advanced safety group and found out my truck does have some kind of automated braking; truck thought I approached a turning vehicle too fast - sounded a chime and smacked the brakes quick and briefly until the vehicle ahead was totally out of my path.

 

[Pertzbro]

Did all the airbags deploy?

 

[GerryS]

And I'm filing a claim against the Honda who hit me for the truck's reduction in value.

I wonder if you make like you are going to trade it in when you get it back, the dealer might factor in any reduction in value?
If so, that paperwork might be valuable to help with your claim if you compare it to blue book value for a trade in of your truck before the accident.

Gerry

 

[SBrentnall]

Given the distance between you and rear car after they launched you, and proximity to the car in front of you (though I don't recall seeing that), isn't that obvious?

What does the police report say?

The insurance adjuster said the photos and video I took made it clear, plus the images of the skid marks.

The woman in front of me admitted to hitting the car in front of her first, and both she and the guy she hit said there was a delay of a few seconds before the second hit.

Of course, the woman in front of me later hired an attorney, changed her story and claimed she never hit anyone until I hit her twice and forced her into the car in front (!)

Luckily, she'd been in enough shock at the scene to tell the truth, and the police report held her responsible for the accident and in violation of the traffic code that forbids driving at an unsafe speed for the road conditions. The woman who hit me was held secondarily responsible. and the report said I was at a complete stop when hit.

 

[SBrentnall]

Needs an entire frame replacement and they won't total it? Wow. That's gonna be a huge labor bill, not sure how they figure it's not a totaled vehicle.


If it indeed does get repaired, make sure to get a diminished value claim in with the responsible party's insurance.

The parts bill is $20k, not sure about the labor. They said they don't total it until the repair cost is 75% of the value. Since the truck is 6 months old, the replacement value is around $75k.

 

[SBrentnall]

If you would rather have it totaled: ask for a rental car for the duration of the repair. The costs of the rental car is included in the decision whether to total or not, and with a repair like this it will add up and likely total the truck.

I tried, but the insurance won't do it. I actually hope they repair it, because several of the options on my 2021 (like BLIS) aren't available anymore due to chip shortages.

 

[SBrentnall]

It depends on who fixes it, but my luck would have gremlins start messing with my ride or the paint peeling etc in the future. If you can afford to trade it that would be my choice.

I'll see how it drives. Since it's being repaired at a dealer's body shop, they said there's a total warranty on all repairs for as long as I have the truck. So if I find anything not working correctly, they have to fix it.

 

[SBrentnall]

Did all the airbags deploy?

No - I was at a complete stop when I was hit. The airbags on the car that hit me did deploy.