[Loch-Ruadh] I'm Mobile Again!

[Padraig Ruad O'Maolagain]

I hadn't put the details out on the list yet (too caught up in trying to get 
another vehicle, I guess).

On Thursday the 23rd of February, I was going to lunch, driving east in the 
left hand lane on Northwest Highway past Bachman Lake in Dallas.  It had 
just started to rain, and the road was very slippery.  There were 2 or 3 
cars stopped, with the one in front making a U turn at a spot where there 
was no turn lane.  I stepped on the brakes and the truck just slid along 
like the road was greased.  Because of other traffic, I couldn't change 
lanes, and hit the bumper of the car in front of me.  The damage was 
minimal, with only a few scratches to the front bumper of my truck, and some 
damage to the rear bumper and left taillight assembly on the other car.  We 
got out to exchange insurance info, and as I was on my cell phone calling 
the police to come take a report, a Jeep Cherokee, going considerably faster 
than I had been doing, also slid on the greasy pavement and rear-ended my 
truck, pushing it forward into the other car.

Well, now my rear bumper is crumpled, folded and twisted, along with the 
tailgate, and the truck bed is buckled up, with the left rear fender bowed 
out over the wheel well.  The second collision drove the front bumper of my 
truck up over the bumper of the other car, springing the trunk, smashing 
both taillight assemblies, bending up the trunk lid and bending the rear 
quarter of the car down by about 10 to 15 degrees.  Oddly enough, the worst 
damage to the front of my truck was that the grille was cracked in three 
places and the plastic faring under the front bumper was broken off.  The 
front of the Cherokee was stove in, and the radiator was cracked, judging by 
the coolant pouring out.

Meanwhile, on the west bound side of the road, rubberneckers managed to 
cause a 4 vehicle pileup, with a 5th car gong off the road and hitting a 
tree.

The driver of the Jeep spoke little English, did not have a driver's 
license, only a Matricula card, and I'm fairly certain she was an illegal 
immigrant.  My isurance company has informed me since that the plate number 
from the Jeep actually belong to a salvaged Grand Caravan.  So I guess I can 
kiss my deductable goodbye.  I just love illigal, uninsured drivers.

As my truck had over 135,000 miles on it, the repair costs come to more than 
the salvage value, so the insurance company totaled it.  My camper shell 
seemed to have escaped relatively unscathed, so I'm going to see if I can 
get that back before they dispose of the truck.  As the new truck is the 
same size and color, it makes more sense to use that perfectly serviceable 
shell than to spend several hundred dollars on a new one.

And that's the excitement I've had for the past week.  :-)

Padraig

Bicé wrote:

At 09:45 PM 3/2/2006 -0600, you wrote:
>I have procured a new (to me) truck, that is practically identical to the 
>one that got totaled last week.
>
>Padraig


Well, this proves that I was right.  I have not been getting all the email
on the  list.  I hadn't heard about you having a wreck.  Fill me in
please?  I assume that you are not injured??

Bicé