charleybull33

Superb 100th post! I'm heading home from a bsns. meeting in Portland on I-5 in Seattle and underneath the convention center. Lane 1 being the far right, I'm occupying lane 3 of 4. Doing 45 in a 60 because it is 4PM and rush hour is on, but not so bad right where I'm at. UNTIL - BANG, I'm hammered on the left side out of friggin nowhere. I look over as my rear end is starting to rotate and there is an enormous white fender staring at me. Back to looking in front and behind, no one in front LOTS of friggin cars behind - steer out of the oncoming 180 or 360 while maintaining contact with the trucker. Body shaking and a tear is falling for the desecration of my 8, get it over to the shoulder and throw on the hazards. Call 911 and watch the semi continue north on the 5! He did stop about a 1/2 mile up the road, but this was unknown until the State Patrolman told me. Starting at the rear bumper and working up the driver's side I no longer have a straight body panel, nor unmarred wheels and tires. MFing semi, he did admit liability at the scene. The kicker I couldn't get out - doors are jammed! My 8 is no longer a virgin and I'm in mourning, the honeymoon is over and my wife is no longer a saint The trucker couldn't see me according to the staters, "I was in his blind spot"! Bloody hell, 5400 miles and I'll be living with a repaired vehicle for the duration.

Cam

iTrader: (1)

That stinks. I feel for ya. I got side swiped about two months ago. Still hurts to think about it.

dazygirl415

I'm sorry to hear this. I think many of us have had our 8's raped at a young age. I did my own at 7k miles... I hope the damaged is paid for by the semi. Maybe you can get some good upgrades??

Stalker

Hows your back injury???? Commercial vehicles are required to have tons of insurance.
"My neck. My back. My neck and my back."
After the settlement you will have a shinka for every day of the week.
Seriously, sux about the car and hope u ok.

Frostee

at least youre here to type to us. cars can be replced (although it still sucks)

oh, and take him to the cleaners to replace the shinka

LiveBlues

Man that sucks. That hurt just to read it.

NMShinka

Man, that is so NOT cool! I suggest there be legislation making it a major felony to rape and pillage a Shinka!! I don't know how you had the strength to even post about this tragedy so soon..I'd be in mourning for weeks!

However, I am glad there was no harm done to you.

Oh, and about the above suggestion of getting a Shinka for every day of the week..ain't gonna happen! ..sorta doubt there's enough left for that to happen! :D

rotten42

Man...I'm really sorry to here that. Thank god the semi didn't mod your car by "lowering it."

charleybull33

The one really good thing is that I am an insurance claims manager in real life, so the settlement should be, shall we say "fun"!

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

I'm sorry. It is always sad to hear another 8 being raped.

Zuhalter Vati

Damn, I feel for you. Been in that situation a few times in my Miata...trucks don't watch!

Good luck on the car, I have learned that at some point it will work out. When it happened to my Miata, I made the insurance company find a like one. When they couldn't I showed them what they went for in the paper. They agreed to give me 7 grand at the time. Found one for 4,800 and talked her to 4k. So I got some bank at least...the best part was the car I had was around 90k miles, the one I got had 40k

I hope you can be so lucky. We're here for you

wedge357

this is worse than what happend to me.

I hope your ok and get on with the insurance thing before the Shinkas are gone!

Inconsequential

So how were you in his blind spot, because the 8 isnt tall enough for a semi to see? or because he is blind?
Dont feel bad about the rape, mine got it after 1500 km on a hit and run.
I would say pics, but I think it would be too painful, for you and for us.
Glad you are ok, and hope the settlement works out well.

Gambit

I think you should definitely kill him

JodoKast

Man, that truely Dysons (ya know, they never lose suction)!

Blind spot, huh? But you were in front of him?!?

Musta been in the No Zone:



Personally, I don't see how they can say that you need to stay out of in front of the Semi, isn't that their responsability to no tailgate? That, and I think that No Zone needs to be extended in a total 360° around the semi with the way they drive.

Aseras

i think they should just ban most semis during the day. nighttime only.

Aratinga

Welcome to the club, Charley. At least you were fortunate (?) enough to be hit by an insured idiot. As for now being stuck with driving and paying for a wrecked-and-repaired vehicle when you had a pristine, brand-spankin'-new one before said idiot did his thing, I can relate! Terribly unfair, ain't it?

khtm

Hey lay off the semi-bashing...considering how many of them are on the road, how much sleep they get, and how much they're overworked, they usually are great drivers. Much better than your average middle-age lady in an SUV on her cell phone

No, I don't have a semi-driving relative, I've just done lots of road trips and have respect for them.

Sorry to hear about your accident though...

Air Force RX8

Sorry to hear about the 8, but glad you are OK...not everyone tangles with a big rig on the interstate and walks away to talk about it.

Now post some pics so we can witness the carnage and weep with you.

Coop '04

Agree with khtm, it's a hard job and given the miles they log and and the crap they deal with there are relatively very few accidents. As for them tailgating, the reason the front is in the no zone is because they need more room to stop, if you change lanes to get in front of them and don't leave them the room they need bad things can occur... In other words it's not tailgating if you never gave them room to begin with.

MadRonin

Relatively few accidents my ***. Every other day there is a backup on a major highway here because some semi was going too fast and overturned spilling their load all over the road. Semis aren't supposed to travel in the left lane in PA, but they'll block everyone going fifteen miles below the pace of traffic. Blind spots? That's what mirrors are for. Hell, with technology the way it is now there's no reason why trucks can't have "blind spot cams" in the cab. My grandfather, father and uncle all drove trucks and buses for a living at one point in their lives. Not one of them ever had an accident. They all knew how to drive.

What we need (and will never have because it costs money) is a dedicated shipping road that ONLY semis can drive on.

Titanium_Eight

That sucks, man.

Sue the bastard for everything he's got.

Stalker

They are professional drivers. This is what they do all day so accidents are going to happen due to the amount of miles they drive.(statistics) It's not if but when. The problem is there are rules to help minimize the risk of accidents and a majority of drivers don't follow them. They are driving way over the 8 hours they are allowed to drive without rest and also take "things" to help them stay awake due to fatigue. So i will agree that most are better drivers than average soccer mom but factor in fatigue and it levels the playing field.

BlueEyes

Yeah, that's the answer, let's sue everybody. Smarten up.

Hyperborea

These already exist - they're called railroads. It would help solve a lot of congestion and ease fuel usage if most long distance transport was done by train instead of by truck. The built-in subsidies to the trucking industry by providing the road shifts cargo from trains to the road.