LaRue in Auto accident, plus a question (updated with pics)

[Rose Medlin]

LaRue was on his way to a call at 6:00 this morning, there was heavy fog and he was driving below the speed limit. A deer jumped out in front of him and he hit it. He braked but the van skidded and hit an embankment (it was at a T cross intersection). The embankment was a little high and his van hydro-planed approx 46 feet, when he landed his van nose dived into the ground. He called me and said he was injured, I called 911 and they got there a few minutes after I did. He was on the ground outside of his van and could not move, he was experiencing extreme pain in his back (same place he broke exactly a year ago). He was taken to the hospital and after x-rays they said he has a 45% compression in his back, gave him pain killers and sent him home. He says the injury to his back last year was nothing to the pain he is experiencing now.

Now the question, would anyone know why his airbag did not deploy when he impacted with the ground? Is it a defective airbag, not enough impact force? Because with the damage his front end endured the airbags surely should have deployed. With all the heavy equipment he carries in his van that made the impact worse. EVERYTHING that was attached to the sides and back of his van were all in the front area driver and passenger area, metal cabinets pushed up against the backs of the seats.

I will be taking him to a real doctor tomorrow and not this sorry *** hospital we have here in Sumter.



If you go to my library you will find some of the pictures in a folder I created under "LaRue Van Accident".



Once again, thank you everyone for all your thoughts and prayers.

 

[Todd Z]

Rose, I am sorry to hear this, I wish him a fast recovery, We will pray for a 100% recovery...



As for the air bags... It sounds like it was a even flat hit on the front of the van, I don't think the front was crushed enough to hit the sensor and set it off...



Only other thing is if he came out of the seat while the van was in the air, the seat sensor may not have seen any person sitting in the van and let it go off....



But it sounds like the strength of the van held the front end from crushing enough for it to go off....



Todd Z

 

[Gerald Pierce]

Larue, you are in my prayers.... best wishes for a speedy recovery.



gp

 

[Martin]

Sorry to hear LaRue was in an accident.....hope he will be ok....give him our well wishes....



TG he had a cell phone on him, otherwise he may not have been seen or found in the fog.



I don't know enough about air bags, but don't see why it didn't deploy...faulty sensor?? I would for sure have someone inspect the van other than the dealer to see if there was some form of defect and if so...go after the dealer.

 

[D Knx]

Wow! Certainly glad that he's able to be at home so soon after that kind of collision, that in and of itself is something to be thankful for.



Don't have anything on why the airbag didn't deploy...hmmm, that's weird though. An impact strong enough to create all that havoc should of easily triggered the airbag.



D-

 

[Todd Z]

Just read above that if the van had the 4 tires locked up or was in the air and the tires were not moving, the air bag computer may have not set them off...



I don't know the particulars but it sounds that something told them not to deploy...



Again, we wish him a speedy recovery..



Todd Z

 

[Dingo]

Please tell LaRue I wish him the best and that if y'all need anything, to let me know.

 

[Tommy VanNess]

Best wishes. You are in my prayers. Speedy recovery.

 

[kil roy]

Damn, that stinks to hear. i wish him a speedy recovery.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Tell LaRue we are thinking of him.



If there is anything we can do, I know there really isn't..but you know, let me know. You can call me too. You should have my number.





Tom

 

[Scott Heckler]

Sorry to hear that. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[Dan Long]

Hope all turns out OK, back injuries are awful!

 

[Bart Adkins]

Speedy recovery LaRue. Stay strong.

 

[George C]

I hope everything is ok when you go to the doctors tomrrow. LaRue is a great guy and hopefully he feels better soon.



Makes all the little arguements on the site recently seem trivial when something like this happens.



George

 

[ShelbyChip Melton]

Rose we are thinking of LaRue and our prayers for him. Chip & Sharon

 

[Gary Kong]

Best wishes on a speedy and full recovery. Prayers out for you.



Rose: Sounds as if you may be inquiring about a forensic analysis of the vehicle, perhaps to determine if a defect caused the failure of the airbag to deploy (assuming the crash was of the nature wherein the airbag should havedeployed). If that's the case, be sure that the vehicle is kept under lock and key, preferably at a third party location. If, in fact, the bags should have deployed and did not, you want to be able to show that nobody had an opportunity to tamper with the vehicle. Perhaps a call to an attorney who specializes in third party liability / collision cases. The attorney likely will have an accident reconstruction analyst and a vehicle engineer available.



I am hopeful this all turns out well for everyone.

 

[TomT]

Wow. Sounds like it could have been much worse. Give LaRue our best and I hope he has a speedy recovery. How's the van? LaRue's health is more important but I know the van is his lively-hood.

 

[Rich Stern]

Rose, please pass along my concern for LaRue, wishing him a speedy recovery.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Compressions can be very painful,,, the nice thing is, they are normally temporary. If it is truly just a compression, as it starts to be less painful, it will come around pretty fast.



He for sure will be very sore and painful for the next few days.



I hope it is minor and remains that way....

 

[Rose Medlin]

Thanks everyone for your kind words. LaRue has been asleep since we got back from the ER and cannot move at all. Rue and a friend of ours had to help him get in the house. The ER Dr, he saw seemed to be unconcerned and was trying to rush us out of the ER, plus the staff stood there like a bunch of statues while I tried to get him up off the bed and back into his clothing and into the wheelchair. We are both very disappointed at the service he received and the noncaring attitude of the staff.

His van will probably have to be in the shop for at least 2 to 3 weeks. His friend went back to the accident site and found the control/idle arm on the ground. The interior is totally trashed. Anything that was bolted down is no longer bolted down. I have taken pictures and will post some as soon as I can get them uploaded onto my PC. I will pass your well wishes and prayers onto LaRue.

I called the wrecking place that took the van and had them bring it back to the house. He has too much stuff (expensive) in there that could get stuck to the sticky hands of others.