FR-S VERSUS SEMI TRUCK!
 

Hey guys,
Got into an accident recently and wanted people’s opinions on a couple things...
I’ll start off with a little bit of background, first!
On Tuesday of this week I was on my way to work, it was about 6:30 in the morning. I’m on a 5 lane road, starting from the far left there are 2 left turn lanes, two forward lanes, and one right-hand turn lane divided by a solid white line. As I was making my way in the right-turn lane I pass a semi-truck in the lane left of me with his signal on. Didn’t really pay attention to it, it was a green light and he was moving at a considerable pace so I thought maybe he accidentally left it on.
At the same time I made the right turn, the semi truck had turned right from the forward lane into the far right lane of the street I was turning onto (i.e: my lane). I managed to stop before I hit him, and like 1.5 seconds after coming to a dead stop the truck continues to speed up into my lane, tracking his trailer right into my car.
FYI, the street we were turning on to was a two-lane road, and the semi truck WAS NOT STRADDLING MY LANE. Truck was inside both lines of his lane.

TL;DR: big truck too long squish my car!! my lane!! eee

I am crossing my fingers on having it totalled, you could probably understand why judging by the pictures. Opinions?

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...10efddeb6e.jpg

PLAYER State Farm has joined the game

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180824/fc9851e7***ddc7eaa966963cedca841.jpg[/IMG]

3 out of 4 wheels look like this:
-made pretty hard impact on the curb

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7eec76f5d9.jpg

PLAYER YMD Trucking has left the game


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~refer to username~

Having drove transport I can say that even big cars can be difficult to see in the right lane. These cars must be almost invisible. It is also not uncommon to have to turn from the left lane in order to negotiate some corners. This has to be done with extra care though since the driver knows he has a massive blind spot.


IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not I any way blaming you with the next comment but it needs to be said even though the truck driver was at fault.


If a transport has his right signal on but is in the left lane keep out of the right lane! The few seconds it would cost you to drop back and see what he is doing could very well save your car or even your life. The same applies for following or passing trucks on the right on the highway. Remember, if you can't see the truck driver's face in the mirror HE CAN'T SEE YOU!


These signs exist for very good reason


http://dailypicksandflicks.com/wp-co...on-a-truck.jpg


I highly doubt that the car is even close to totaled but it can be hard to tell.

Who got the ticket?

I'd consider it lucky the truck didn't crush you.

Unless there's more damage not pictured, that looks fixable. My guess is the total comes to about 9-10k for the suspension, quarter panel, and wheels.

Glad you didn't get crushed like your car did.


It looks totaled to me.

^^^

On second thought, that's what I really meant to say.

These statements are very true. If you see a big rig with a turn signal ON - give em a break.


humfrz

My grandpa had a trucking company. He had a few stories like this. blinkers are on, stay back.

Well, idkwhatimdoing, that's a shame your car got all messed up - :cry:

I hope YOU are OK?

I think your car can be fixed.

Now, you know what the "lesson learned" is - right?

Having driven a semi-tractor trailer for hundreds of miles and a stake truck for thousands of miles, I can reinforce what ol @Tcoat said up above.

However, if a trucker is making a wide right turn, requiring more than one lane, he should make damn sure that other lane remains clear.


humfrz

Thank you all for your replies and concern for my safety (didn’t really expect that to be honest). I understand now. I don’t think I can get behind the wheel again anytime soon, this accident left me pretty paranoid.
I will agree it was absolutely idiotic of me to get next to a truck that big with it’s turn signal on, but I guess that’s where experience comes in to play. I can say I have learned my lesson

No matter who is at fault in these accidents, let me be the living example in what you shouldn’t do. It’s really not worth it.


________

~refer to username~

Thanks for being man enough to share your experience so that others may learn from it.


Be safe out there.

The officer must have been feeling the arthritis that day. We both got off the hook as far as that goes.

However, the officer didn’t witness any of the incident, so he could not make reasonable judgement.


________

~refer to username~

The cop must have been in a very good mood because even though trucks sometimes have to do it it is not legal anyplace that I am aware of. As far as pulling up on the right goes it may be not a great idea but there was no law broken there. The trucker should have been ticketed for an unsafe turn.
Is refreshing to have somebody man up and say they screwed up though even if what they did was legal.

Well, I suggest you just "get back up on the horse" and drive again.

Yep, I learned that "getting behind a truck" lesson at a RR crossing back in California. I just took delivery of my brand new 1970 BRG MGB-GT. I was on a two lane road approaching a RR crossing and there was a large county gravel truck stopped in front of me. Yep, I tucked in right behind it - :bonk:

Well, when the train came, the trucker figured he was too close to the tracks and decided to back up - his trailer hitch ground into the AL hood of my precious car, although I was laying on the horn. I couldn't back up because a pickup truck was stopped right on my ass.

The gravel truck finally stopped, pulled forward a few feet and backed into me again, although my horn was blaring again (well, so was the trains horn).

I jumped out of my car and ran up to the trucker, jumped up on his running board and grabbed him by the shirt and yelled at him to STOP.

As I was dragging him out of his truck to show him what he had done, he was trying to explain that he didn't see me in his mirrors and just saw the pickup behind me.

My lesson learned - :bonk:

Do you feel any better now?


humfrz

Bought the brand new 70 MGB as your retirement car didn't you?

I nearly got pinched on a turn like this by a pickup pulling a big trailer (car carrier) on a 5th wheel hitch (a couple years ago, before I bought my BRZ). Saw the trailer coming and backed off in time, but it scared the crap out of me. I've always been pretty well aware of semis making turns like that, but really wasn't looking out for it from a pickup.


On another note, I've seen semis make u-turns from the outer of 2 left turn lanes. So they're turning through a lane of traffic that is in no way expecting a truck that big to go across their lane, many of them making a regular left turn through the truck's path. At least in that situation the truck is cutting off the lane on the driver's side, so the driver can stick their head out the window and wave for everyone to stay the hell back. Seen it a couple times at the same intersection and both times it's surprised me that (1) the truck made the turn and (2) they didn't hit anyone.

The cars are getting to the point where that is questionable based on age. Mine would be borderline totaled for $10K (2013 with 125,000Miles)


(EDIT: OK I see the OP car is a 2015. I agree, good chance it will be fixed)

Close - that was my FIRST "mid-life crises" - :D


humfrz

I don't think this will be totalled

Suspension is bent. It's totaled.

Hate to brake it to you but.... the trucker was not at fault here. Op was.
California DMV drivers hand book clearly states to look out for big trucks on second turn lane turning right.

It sucks but the trucker was 100% correct on this one.

Thanks. I did not look up California law and did use the disclaimer of to the best of my knowledge as my experience driving was over 30 years ago. I always felt there should be something on the books for trucks to make those damn turns. In that case then OP is lucky to get off with no ticket on top the damage.

Edit
Wait a second...

You said the "second" right turn lane. From the OP's description the truck turned from the centre straight lane across a double line. Not the same as a double right turn lane. Would think OP still had right of way?

Wow that sucks! And I even had the benefit of reading that story the first time to soften the blow!





:thumbsup:

Came in here wanting to see a race where the semi truck beats a FRS, let down.

Yeah, this is what I was expecting too.

I empathize with you...

But there was only one designated right-hand turn lane.


________

~refer to username~

FR-S VERSUS SEMI TRUCK!
 

UPDATE:
Cost estimate from Caliber Collision is in day 2 of progress. He has only inspected the left rear side, leaving the entire passenger side suspension to be checked. So far the inspector has found the following:
Snapped upper control arm, bent lower control arm, damaged hub and axle (need to be replaced), snapped traction arm, bent trailing arm, cracked subframe @weld seam between c-channels, obviously the quarter panel, and evidently what he referred to as the “frame rail” (not sure which one) had been dented.

Seeing this all in person is pretty crazy, I’d advise anyone awaiting an estimate on repairs to visit in person during the estimation, considering the inspector didn’t know the passenger side had suffered damage until I told him about it.

Another note: don’t let the other driver in an accident leave until you can confirm their insurance information is valid.


________

~refer to username~

DAMN! - did I tell that story before - ?? - :sigh:


If so, ol @Tcoat is asleep at the switch - :confused0068:


humfrz

Unfortunately the truck is still correct, even though he's not on a turning line. It's advised to give the larger truck space for them to turn if they have their turn signal on.

OK I am not prepared to look things up but advised does not give right of way. A double solid line means stay in your lane. I highly doubt that his action was legal no matter how advised it is to watch for it. In the second post of this thread I strongly "advised" people to back off if the truck is signalling a turn but that does not mean it is the law.
I 100% agree it is the right thing to do but we were talking the legality.

Safety advice and legality are two very different things. For example, I can advise someone not to eat fecal matter, lest it be regurgitated, but there's nothing illegal about them doing it anyway.

But, Officer - I had the right of way -:mad0260:


humfrz

I believe the universal rule "yeild to tonnage" applies.

It was fun and relative so I let it slide.

When we drove the army 5 tons loaded with artillery shells, fuel pods or many other things that go boom we had 3' by 5' signs that said " Danger explosives keep back" on all sides. It did not deter people from tailgating, cutting us off, pulling in between trucks in convoy or any of the other crap people do. The fact that in the event of a bad crash everybody involved could be turned into a fine red mist in a microsecond seemed to be beyond their comprehension. I even had an Americian reporter in Eygpt run his Renualt 3' under the back of my fuel bowser when I had been stopped for 5 minutes waiting for some guy to get his donkey and cart out of the road. Yes just like they use for comic relief in many movies but in this case no watermelon stands were harmed.