Road Raged = Nascar-style wreckage

CVP33 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-29-09, 05:24 PM

I've been waiting to post this until everything got sorted out. On my way home from work a guy in a Ford F150 literally flipped out and wrecked 4 cars including his own. Two weeks ago on Monday I was driving home from the office on a 4 lane lane road (2 lanes each way) I could see up ahead that the left lane was blocked. I checked my mirror, put on my turn signal and moved into the left lane. When I moved into the lane a gray Ford F150 sped up and was squarely on my rear bumper. Our cars sit so low in comparison to the F150 I could only see the driver's hands pounding the steering wheel. Now I know this guy's pissed so I'm weary of him and kept my head forward and both hands on the wheel. At the next light I'm the 4th car in line and he's right behind me. As we crossed the next intersection the F150 moved to the right lane and brought his truck directly along side mine. He then takes two swipes at me just barely missing me as I move to the left edge of the road to avoid him. As we passed the entrance to a Hospital two vehicles in front of me put on their blinkers to move into the left turning lane. As they decelerated I sped up to try and get away from this guy. He then takes another swipe at me with one notable difference. He doesn't pull away and I have nowhere to go now with the two vehicles on my left turning. I'm about to become sandwiched between the turning vehicles on my left and the F150 on my right. As it becomes obvious he's not going to pull away I feel my car starting to slide to the left as his truck hits me and I just jam the brakes. At the same time the F150 swerves into my lane to cut me off, but clips my front quarter panel and wheel. What happens next was like watching a Nascar wreck.

I end up "pitting" the F150 perfectly (not on purpose) and he begins sliding sideways first clipping one of the turning vehicles spinning her Nissan Pathfinder back into traffic to the right, he continues on doing a complete 360 and hits a Porsche Cayenne head on. I stopped roughly 6 car lengths short of the main accident thanks to the brembos. No air bags deployed (unbelievable) but the Porsche will most likely be totaled as will the F150 that had damage to 3 of it's 4 sides. The Pathfinder ended up with about $8,000 in damage and although mine was VERY minor in comparison I still had $3,000 in damage due to a $1,000 HID headlight. I confronted the driver who ended up being a very irate computer geek standing about 5'2" tall. I asked him if he was happy now that he'd wrecked 4 cars. He said "I don't know what you're talking about, you cut me off". Thankfully a driver behind me witnessed the whole incident and gave a statement of what happened.

The F150 driver received a ticket for illegal lane change. I spoke to the officer and asked why he didn't receive a road rage ticket. Unless the officer witnesses the entire incident, a RR ticket cannot be written. I also found out from my insurance company, that if it was proven that the F150 driver acted intentionally to cause the accident, they would no longer cover the damage. Insurance is for accidents and not for intentional acts. Very interesting I thought. The only good that came out of this is that I went ahead and paid a little extra dough to have my hood and drivers side fender painted in addition to the entire front end and passenger fender. The shop did a great job and frankly she looks brand new.

I gotta tell you guys, I've seen some crazy shit on the road as I drive 30,000+ miles a year. I always point out to my kids when I think something is going to happen given situations or behaviors that I've seen so many times behind the wheel of a car. BUT - I never saw this one coming. Glad this lunatic didn't have a gun.

ga_etc · #2 (**permalink**) 08-29-09, 05:43 PM

Luckily everything came out okay and sounds like no one was hurt. And people wonder why I drive defensively. It's either drive faster and get away from them or try to hang back from them and have someone cut you off.

tdyguy2k · #3 (**permalink**) 08-29-09, 07:03 PM

You're a better man than I. After the you cut me off comment, I would have...at the knees. Glad to hear that you came out of it all right.

hueterm · #4 (**permalink**) 08-29-09, 07:45 PM

What do you mean "insurance is for accidents" -- so some tool beats the hell out of your car w/a baseball bat, and you can't claim it on insurance??

You might want to consider switching companies.....

**The Tony Show** · #5 (**permalink**) 08-29-09, 09:22 PM

Wow. Crazy, but glad to hear you're alright Chris.

Red_October_7000 · #6 (**permalink**) 08-29-09, 11:21 PM

Wow... that's some serious shit. Wouldn't worry about him having a gun; a car is a much more dangerous weapon, as he proved quite handily. It's quite lucky you weren't hurt; of course having a good car plays a role in this.

About a month ago some idiot in a Civic Coupe decides he doesn't like the fact that I merged into the lane he was in -keep in mind I was over three car lenghts away from him when I came into the center -contested- lane. He had been comming up fast but so was I, but he nailed it and glued himself to my bumper. I floored it and got into the left lane, but since the Suburban has a fuel cutoff at 97 or so, I couldn't get away from him. He pulled alongside me and actually took a couple swipes at me, not really trying to hit me but trying to upset my applecart, so to speak. I dodged them both and I guess when I came back quick from the second one, he realized that I had perhaps three times as much weight, horsepower, and torque as he did, and if we did actually have contact, it wouldn't end well for him. It seems he quickly came to his senses and quickly disappeared into traffic; last I saw him he had a sort of "Holy shit!" look on his face.

RightTurn · #7 (**permalink**) 08-29-09, 11:32 PM

What a crock. Glad you're OK, Chris.

V-Eight · #8 (**permalink**) 08-29-09, 11:43 PM

That's insane, glad that you're ok!

thebigjimsho · #9 (**permalink**) 08-30-09, 02:37 AM

Wow! So...any legal action going on with this??

dirt_cheap_fleetwood · #10 (**permalink**) 08-30-09, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CVP33

I also found out from my insurance company, that if it was proven that the F150 driver acted intentionally to cause the accident, they would no longer cover the damage. Insurance is for accidents and not for intentional acts.

That is very wrong on the part of the insurance company. If someone breaks into my car to steal the radio, that is not accidental, but I am still covered. There is no way your insurance company can hold you responsible for someone else's malicious actions.

Aron9000 · #11 (**permalink**) 08-30-09, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CVP33

I

I also found out from my insurance company, that if it was proven that the F150 driver acted intentionally to cause the accident, they would no longer cover the damage. Insurance is for accidents and not for intentional acts. Very interesting I thought.

Are they talking about the F150 driver not being covered since he did it intentionally?

Or are they talking about you not being covered? If they deny your claim, I'd sue them for the damage to your car plus every insurance payment you ever made to that company, plus your attorney fees, plus another $5,000 for wasting your time.

**I~LUV~Caddys8792** · #12 (**permalink**) 08-30-09, 09:10 AM

Why's it always the guys in the half ton trucks that are out starting trouble on the roads? You never see anyone start any trouble in something like a Malibu...it's always someone in a F-150, Silverado or Ram.

CVP33 · #13 (**permalink**) 08-30-09, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aron9000

Are they talking about the F150 driver not being covered since he did it intentionally?

Or are they talking about you not being covered? If they deny your claim, I'd sue them for the damage to your car plus every insurance payment you ever made to that company, plus your attorney fees, plus another $5,000 for wasting your time.

I used my insurance company to collect. Had the driver been cited for road rage and the incident proven to be intentional, my insurance company stated that they would "back out" and I would have to go after him and his insurance company.

As for the baseball bat scenario. I believe vandalism is covered under your home owners insurance. Now if your ex-wife came and beat the hell out of your car with a baseball bat, I believe that would again become a civil case vs. an insurance claim, but I could be wrong.

Everything worked out for me as the F150 driver's insurance covered everything, including 7 days of rental car so far. Still waiting for one piddly part (headlight washer assembly) to arrive to complete. The good news is the paint turned out flawless and with the blending they did, looks factory fresh.

**Ranger** · #14 (**permalink**) 08-30-09, 10:23 AM

That F150 driver needed to be beaten to a pulp right then and there.

**Rolex** · #15 (**permalink**) 08-30-09, 01:32 PM

Little man syndrome and a big truck = a bad combination. I don't understand why grown men act this way. I'm glad you're okay.

With respect to your concern about him carrying a gun, I will tell you I carry a gun on me everywhere except work (where it's prohibited by law). I'll give you a story of how I deal with angry people:

Early this spring I was taking a friend fishing. I had my Jon boat in Tow and was trying to put it into the lake, with the water level over 20' above normal so you couldn't even see the boat ramp. As we were sitting still, windows down, waiting our turn to put the boat in, unable to pull forward or back out, I spotted a guy in my rear view mirror approaching my boat. Now this guy was maybe 130-140#, 5'6"-5'8," shaved head on the sides, long hair on top - long enough to be in a pony tail hanging down to his waste, covered in tattoos on his neck (IIRC even a tear drop tattoo under his eye), holding a 64 oz cup of booze.

So this guy begins leaning over the sides of my boat looking through my things. I did nothing. I don't think he found whatever he was looking for. Then when he was through with his inspection of the contents of my boat he approached my passenger window and began screaming obscenities at me and my passenger, slurring his words through the rotten teeth that remained in his disgusting mouth. He claimed that I almost ran his kids over and was putting everybody in the lake in danger. I responded by telling him I was a parent too and totally understood that if he believed I was putting his children in danger (his kids were swimming ON the boat ramp BTW) why he would be upset with me. I apologized no less then 4 times as he insulted me, my passenger, my mother, my wife, my kid, etc. When he stopped to take a breath, I told him that since I had upset him and ruined his day I would be willing to take total responsibility for my actions and do anything to make it up to him and restore his glorious day at the lake. I practically begged him to tell me what he wanted me to do to make his day better. Basically I submitted to this piece of trash to the point of absolute humiliation. His only response to this was to look at me like this

, and then begin to walk away. I stopped him and asked him a second time to tell me what he wanted me to do for him. He just swore at me again and walked away.

Now my passenger was in complete shock at how I talked this guy down to diffuse a situation that I never wanted any part of. Even more shocked at how polite and apologetic I was to this guy. Trust me, there was a part of me that wanted to get out and smack this guy. But who knows how many of the other people around would have been "kin folks" or friends and come to his rescue. My passenger asked me why I was so nice to the guy. My answer was simply this: had the situation been escalated by the drunk guy (ie if he became physically threatening or if he had pulled a knife or gun and put me in fear of great bodily harm or fear for my or my passenger's life) I would have had no choice but to shoot him. I couldn't back out or drive away because we were blocked in, so I would be unable to retreat.

I explained to my passenger that if I had to face a grand jury for shooting this guy, he would be the only witness to the verbal exchange. As my only witness he would be able to honestly say that I did EVERYTHING possible to apologize and diffuse a bad situation. He would be able to honestly say under oath, that I never said a single word to escalate the guy's anger or make the situation worse. And he would be able to honestly say I had no other viable choice, had the situation come to this.

When you're carrying a firearm you have a responsibility to stay on the high road at all times. It's a lot less exciting and a lot safer up here on the high road. Whether carrying a firearm or not, I think more people should try taking the high road and chill out. Anger is wasted energy.