Towing Mishap

[paulsharvey]

So, given what the OP stated, taken at face value, he should have been ticketed. Regardless if the other guy merged, the OP should have slowed down, and increased follow distance from the car now in front of him. The old 3 second rule, but they say to add an additional second follow distance for heavy loads and or bad weather. No offense, but I highly doubt the OP had 4 second follow distance.

With sight distance requirements and all, and following the posted speed limit (design speed or regulation speed either one), there should be plenty if distance to stop from the apex of the hill to the off ramp traffic. I'm not saying he was driving crazy or anyhting; let's say he had 2 second follow distance, a heavy load, and maybe 10 mph over limit, and yep, stacking tolerances. Sorry to hear about the truck, but I also don't buy that it's totaled, unless maybe airbags deployed. That's a $5k repair on a $25k truck; should be 100% repairable.

 

[potomska]

The tacoma was rated for 5000+, the 16’ trailer was 1200, the tlb was 3600. the electronic brake controller was dialed in, boosted to 3. (i don’t boost for an empty trailer.) tongue weight was not an issue - i check the leaf springs on the truck. Everything worked as expected, and nothing behind me changed places.

I wondered if anyone would say that they turn abs off when using electric brakes.

 

[airbiscuit]

I was wondering about that, but it takes some doing for ABS to kick in on dry pavement.

 

[CliffordK]

Truck looks totaled to me. Time to deal with your insurance company, pay your deductible and move on.

Sorry to hear about the truck, but I also don't buy that it's totaled, unless maybe airbags deployed. That's a $5k repair on a $25k truck; should be 100% repairable.

Assuming the vehicle has collision insurance on it, the insurance companies are a bit odd to deal with.

The owner often wants the vehicle post accident to be back "as good as new".

That accident looks like it is a fairly straight on accident. Taking out bumper, grill, hood, radiator core supports, perhaps the radiator, side core supports, fenders, headlights, perhaps the bumper mounts. It all adds up. Then the whole front end will need to be repaired and repainted. My guess is that a mainstream shop will charge well over $10K for the repair. Perhaps over $15K. And they seem to get a bit squeamish if the frame is bent or the bumper mounts are bent and part of the frame.

If the pickup gets sold at Copart/IAAI, then it will go for around $10K if newer than 2020.

So, the insurance company will factor a number of things in including customer satisfaction, and it is a good chance it will be "totaled" if they think the repair + expected auction sale price will exceed the replacement value.

Then there is a good chance that a small shop will purchase it and rebuild it and resell it.

I wondered if anyone would say that they turn abs off when using electric brakes.

You've mentioned the Emergency Brake and ABS a couple of times. The theory is that a full skid is always worse than ABS. And, it is impossible for a human driver to brake at a point beyond the tolerance of an ABS system, keeping the vehicle just below the skid threshold (remember, you've already mashed the pedal hard enough to the floor that the ABS was engaged). And, with the ABS engaged you don't lose steering unless the trailer puts you into a spin.

I don't know how ABS on a tow vehicle impacts the trailer. Perhaps it depends on the brake controller.

I haven't seen a normal option to disable ABS. Some notes indicate that on some vehicles you can remove the ABS fuse to disable the ABS. I wouldn't encourage doing that.

One thing that if you deem you can't stop in time, look, for an escape. Your photo shows the pickup parked on the shoulder of a 3 lane highway. Could you have safely gotten to the shoulder and avoided the collision?

 

[dodge man]

You talked about using your e brake or turning off your ABS. Something must not have felt right with your brakes on the trailer or the truck.

 

[5030]

So, given what the OP stated, taken at face value, he should have been ticketed. Regardless if the other guy merged, the OP should have slowed down, and increased follow distance from the car now in front of him. The old 3 second rule, but they say to add an additional second follow distance for heavy loads and or bad weather. No offense, but I highly doubt the OP had 4 second follow distance.

With sight distance requirements and all, and following the posted speed limit (design speed or regulation speed either one), there should be plenty if distance to stop from the apex of the hill to the off ramp traffic. I'm not saying he was driving crazy or anyhting; let's say he had 2 second follow distance, a heavy load, and maybe 10 mph over limit, and yep, stacking tolerances. Sorry to hear about the truck, but I also don't buy that it's totaled, unless maybe airbags deployed. That's a $5k repair on a $25k truck; should be 100% repairable.

I doubt it seriously. Today, you cannot even get a dent repaired in a reputable body shop for 5 grand, I have no idea where you come up with your guesstimate, but it's hogwash. Truck is totalled plain and simple and furthermore to comment in insurance, in this state no insurance equals no drive as the State Police won't issue you a tag at plate renewal time.

 

[sandman2234]

I bet if you ask any semi truck driver, they'll have plenty of stories of people doing stupid things around their trucks.

I definitely have seen a bunch in my career!
Just because you hit someone in the rear doesn't make it your fault, but proving them to be at fault is a lot harder!
One of the first thing you should have done when you stopped was check to see if any of the vehicles around you, including the one you hit had dash cameras. Makes for a lot better case when fighting a driver who failed to change lanes properly!
Good luck, and yes...now is the time to hire an attorney to protect your self!
David from jax

 

[paulsharvey]

Maybe I'm way off, but it looks to be like bumper/bumber cover, lights, hood, and drivers side fender, and paint of the same; and new grill/trim. Glass, door, and everything is probably fine; honestly the radiator is probably fine too. It's not like they are gonna repaint the whole truck, that's just a hood, front fender, and a color matched bumper cover

 

[dodge man]

There is coolant on the ground and the radiator is fine? It can be fixed but it’s going to have to go on a frame machine. Depending on value it could easily be totaled.

 

[paulsharvey]

There is coolant on the ground and the radiator is fine? It can be fixed but it’s going to have to go on a frame machine. Depending on value it could easily be totaled.

I didn't notice the coolant, I was more looking at the truck.