Sport Trac Rollover

[Mike Wilson]

I'm thinking maybe taller is better sometimes, in the fact that you would

have more headroom in a rollover before the roof caves in enough to

impede into your actual "head space" (make sense?).

Glad all are O.K.!!! Keep us posted.

 

[Tom Schindler]

tracnblack,



Could you imagine what would have happened if he were in something like a Civic or..shall I say a Matrix?



I highly doubt he would be alive to tell his side of the story.





Tom

 

[Mike Wilson]

Hey, Caymen,

Glad to see someone is still here!

Yes, I agree...

He might have been six inches shorter, and not be here to tell us about it!

All of the bad things posted about our tracs, as far as suspension, shocks,

etc..., I think this makes up for at least several of the complaints and bad

posts!!!

This trac apparently saved a life... :wub:

Again, GLAD you are back here with us, WES, and Family!!!

 

[Mike Wilson]

By the way, Wes,

That little puppy deserves a Milkbone!!!

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

Wes, Glad to hear that your family, and pet, are O.K. And, yes the '07 is wider because it is based on the current Explorer frame. We were in Dallas at the National meet, and liked the '07 a lot.

 

[Wesley Leytham]

Thanks to you all for your support....unfortunately I will not be getting any parts or such off the ST because it is 6 hrs away from me. It is in insurance hands now. Rodger, did you notice in Dallas whether or not the 07' ST has those crappy interior door handles like the new Explorer? Why can't they just stick with something already proven functional?

 

[Tom Schindler]

Because Ford is stupid!!!





Tom

 

[Deleted deleted]

Tom, a Matrix might have kept the shiny side up, hard to judge depends on the velocity and angle of the crash. The vehicle didn't receive a 5 star frontal and 4 star side impact rating for nothing.



Back to the accident.... I'm glad to see you made it through the accident, and hope you take the other drive to the cleaners. The driver at fault really wasn't paying attention.. there was not 1 but 2 stop signs on his road.

 

[Wesley Leytham]

I am in the process of finding an attorney. The guy who hit me had Progressive insurance and they are doing their best to screw me. I am also thinking that the county should have put up better warnings than a second stop sign since multiple people have been killed at that intersection. The locals who helped me find my dog were asking me to do something to prevent future deaths.

 

[Robert Poole]

You have to be mindful of progressive insurance. A couple of years ago I loaned my 85 tempo to a friend and it got wrecked, another person pulled out in front of her and she *t-boned* him. totalled out both vehicles, the 1985 tempo and a 2001 silverado. the other person was cited by the police and got the ticket. Progressive was going to offer me about $1000 for the tempo, I wasn't thrilled by the amount but it was a realistic offer so I was cool with it. then they called my back a couple of days later and said that *their* investigators determined that my friend was 20% at fault for the accident so they were going to reduce the amount of my check from $1000 to $800. I was livid and immediately stated that their investigators are not finders of fact in a court of law and is therefore their judgement is meaningless(it helps when my dad is a policeman, and he had explained that to me in case the insurance company was going to be cute). I also stated that if they didn't restore the origional amount that I WOULD contact the insurance commissioners John Oxindine(I'm from Georgia) and file a formal complaint against them for false business practices. I further mentioned that I would start looking for an ambulace chasing lawyer. They told me that they would contact me back. next day they called me and told me that the amount was restored to the origional amount.



Just sonething to think about.



Have a good one



Bob

 

[Tom Schindler]

Darin,



I hope you never have to prove that theory. I will take my chances with something big. Getting hit by 6000+ LB SUV is nothing the scoff at. Maybe the shiney side might have stayed up, but the Nissan drove over you.





Tom

 

[Mike Wilson]

Wes,

I use to deal with insurance companies in Michigan years ago. I know the

laws are different from state to state, but yes... they will try to take advantage

of you, even your own company, most times!

Good Advice:

Admit nothing to no one, even though you know that this wasn't your

fault ( don't even say " I'm Sorry" to the other driver!);

Don't talk to the press (I say this not to be dramatic, but if there was a

past history of accidents at this intersection, and local people were trying to

"solicit" you, you never know when a reporter may call you or show up

unexpectedly), I've seen this before!;

Seek and retain a good attorney, one who may take this case on "contingency",

or no money down, if he feels that he (you) have a good case;

And don't even talk about it too much with your family or friends, as, if it

really gets deep and nasty, their lawyers can construe this as you were trying

to "come up with a good story", or "get your story straight"!

Be careful in what you say and do in this situation, and document everything

you can.

Give you another example I've seen;

Lawyer/Insurance Rep from the other guy's insurance calls you to make a

"friendly" settlement, offers you a (seemingly) large amount of cash, and you

say that you will "think about it", just to keep it out of court, and a long battle.

Next thing you know your getting legal papers from the local court that has

jurisdiction, saying that you made a "tentative" agreement, and that you must

not feel that you suffered too much damage, since you were "thinking" about

taking the preliminary offer that the other guy's insurance company was

offering you. This could severely taint your case if and when it does go to

court.

If anyone you are not intimately familiar with in this situation calls you, hang

up IMMEDIATELY, do not pass go, etc...

Sorry to go too far off on this, but this could be crucial information that

could save you heartache down the road!

Let us know what happens...

 

[Thomas Rogers]

WestFL, do your best to try to get the county to add additional controls, such as stop sign ahead, rumble strips, whatever.



At the same time, I can't understand why that particular interesection is so bad because it is double-signed with large stop signs and there is good visibility to the signs; and the day in question was clear and dry.



It might be an issue of fatique. Possibly if there are no other signs nearby and there is a long stretch of straight, uninterrupted road to travel the driver simply gets fatiqued and doesn't acknowledge the stop signs. That's where additional signage warning of the stop ahead and a rumble strip or two might help.



We have an intersection similar near us... Two fatalities in as many years, and three or four accidents during that time. The most tragic was a 2yo girl killed in her carseat when the vehicle her mother was driving was t-boned as someone talking on a cellphone blew through the intersection.



Keep up the fight. My Dad was killed on a busy 4 lane county road in OK that had no center divider. There was an accident just the day before his. The day he died a State of OK Highway DOT truck blew a tire, crossed the line and hit him head on. I wrote a letter to the local assemblyman, and a year later dividing guardrail was installed...or so I was told. I never want to go back and look at that road (I live in PA). My letter was published in all the local papers.



TJR

 

[Erik Larson]

Progressive screwed me on a stolen vehicle. They waited nearly 4 months before talking about cutting a check for it. (The truck was found 3.5 months after being stolen) then cut a check for 1/2 what i paid in full coverage ins that year. For a truck I had 3 riders on totalling over $4k in 'additional parts' Well they valued the 'pretty much new' (new motor, tans, rear, pipes, interior, stereo, paint) at $1800. Because 'that is what you can buy one for'. I couldn't find on in the trader for less than $4500 stock, stripped. Needless to say the $3800 check they cut really pissed me off. I had paid nealy that much in 1 year of insurance with them though I had insured the truck for 3 years. Put $8k into in the last 6 months and got 1/2 of it back 4 months after it was taken. I'll never insure with Progressive again. But that's just my experiance. :wacko:

 

[Wesley Leytham]

Thanks for all the advice.....I did make a mistake when I called Progressive to get a rental car and let them record me while I gave them my information and a brief summary of the accident. Luckily all I said was that their client ran a stop sign and caused me to roll over 3 times. I'm sure they will still try to twist that around. My complaint with the county is that there is a golf resort 1/2 mile from that intersection where the family that hit me was probably coming from since it's about the only thing on the road. Knowing that tourists from a golf resort unfamiliar with the area are causing these accidents, regardless of a stop sign, they could have installed speed bumps and/or a flashing light to help prevents deaths. What is the value of a life compared to installing a couple of speed bumps to grab someone's attention? It's another case of beaurocracy incompetance!

 

[Deleted deleted]

I hate to say it, but in most states it takes a certain number of fatalities (or a congressman's relative getting killed) before traffic controls are added to an intersection.



There was a 2 way stop sign at a nearby intersection by my home... it took 3 people getting killed within 6 months of each other before the county finally put in a traffic light.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

>> There was a 2 way stop sign at a nearby intersection by my home... it took 3 people getting killed within 6 months of each other before the county finally put in a traffic light.



Accident rates and fatalities are just part of the equation. Line-of-site visibility, grade, speed, average traffic volume are the others.



For every person that might complain about the seeming danger of an intersection and the need to change from a Stop sign to a traffic light, there are just as many that don't want the extra delay of a traffic light.



TJR

 

[Tom Schindler]

I actually love traffic lights...only when they are green.



Actually, traffic lights don't bother me. The only gripe I have with them is timing. Too many municipalities do not time the traffic lights. Many comunities use traffic lights to control speed. That causes people to run an "orange" light. (almost red) Well thought out lights set at the speed limit can let traffic flow without a problem, but still keep everyone safe.





Tom

 

[Mike Wilson]

Here is one here in Spring Hill, TN., that recently happened to a friend

of mine.



Keep the pressure on!!!