Moved to the far right lane at 60 mph to allow a gravel hauler to pass, only to have him swerve into me. The end result, as described by a CHP officer, was a "pit maneuver", with the truck pushing me down the freeway about 200 feet. I saw the truck approach in the next lane to my left in my mirror. The next thing I know, I feel an impact on the left rear accompanied by a loud "bang". I couldn't control my car to keep it from spinning around to the front of the truck. It was a scary ride, complete with shattered glass flying through the cabin. Fortunately, I suffered only very minor cuts on my arms and legs from the glass. The damage to my car is along the left side, from the rear corner to just behind the front wheel. Unfortunately, the CHP officer told me that since no witnesses stopped, and the truck driver and I told conflicting stories of how it happened, this one will be considered mutual responsibility. The one driver who stopped was another gravel hauler (there was a whole string of them on the freeway) and I heard the involved driver tell the other one, "I didn't see him". That statement, which I gave to the officer, along with the fact that he was passing me in excess of the 55 mph limit for trucks, sadly has no bearing. I hope to upload some pictures later, but no guarantees. I'm confident it will be cost effective to repair, rather than be totaled.
Sorry to hear about the accident Roger but thankfully you are fine! Accidents with trucks of those size are no joke...
Sorry to hear about the accident , glad to hear your ok , what a ride! Good luck with repairs or replacement.
Sorry to hear about your unfortunate situation. From your description of the events, it doesn't sound like you had an opportunity to use your horn to warn the driver that you were there. After everything is fixed, I highly recommend you upgrade your horns to louder, more assertive ones. See the link below in my signature below to evpc's thread. SCH-I535
xliderrider, I do indeed have louder horns- the "Freeway Blasters." Yep, one second he was in my driver's side view mirror, the next he was in unauthorized contact with my left rear wheel and fender. My hands were too busy with the wheel to hit the horn. Thanks to all you guys for the kind words. I did have one bit of good news in that my Auto Club insurance adjuster has told me that they will waive my $500 collision deductible. So that reduces the pain slightly.
yikes! glad you're (mostly) okay roger, all the best with repairs. good thing you had your seatbelt on!
Glad to hear you are OK. The car looks terrible. It can be repaired. Your health is more important than any car.
Thanks, bisco. Yep, nothing injured but my pride and my poor PiP. I should know in the next few days if it will be fixable.
I think we all need Dash Cameras, like most of the Russian drivers have. Better evidence for the CHP and other cops.
Yup, that is exactly why I installed a dashcam. Don't know what it is about the Prius, people love to get real close to it.
A dash camera would've still shown that you didn't leave your lane prior to being struck by the truck. SCH-I535
Yeah, I thought of that after I posted the earlier reply. And if I had a rear view camera as well, it might have caught the trailers angling over toward my lane. Do you own such a system? Any recommendations?
Bwilson4web recently purchased a dual front and rear dashcam that he mounted on the passenger sun visor. He has a thread on here with his experiences. It has built in GPS and speed monitor. Since you live in CA, be aware of the laws. I was pulled over for having a radar detector in my car. When I explained to the officer it was a dashcam, he let me go with a warning. It is illegal to to block your windshield except at the 4 corners within a set distance. I had it mounted in the center of he dash where people usually put their GPS.