What St Patrick’s Day means to me, Or Today is my 15 year anniversary.

Not my wedding anniversary but 15 years ago today St Patrick’s Day 1999 was the day that my 1982 perfect condition, custom painted Chevy C30 6.2 Diesel was totaled and I begin looking for my Dodge D-350.

I had just finished a long day at work and as I left for the trip home I was stopped at the stop light in front of Kaiser Hospital, I had 2 cars in front of me, I was sitting with my foot on the brake and just happened to look in the mirror as I saw something closing fast, the next thing I saw was a bright flash and glass flying everywhere.

Still dazed I realized I had just been hit, at first I thought I had been hit by a UPS truck because I was in front of UPS.

The bright flash were the stars from when my head went backward and smashed out the back window and I hit the metal shelves in the back of the truck with my head.

I must have made a big scene, there were red lights flashing everywhere, Fire Trucks, Paramedics, Ambulance, CHP and local police everywhere.

I was able to get out and was checked out and I then found a late model ½ ton Chevy Pick Up embedded in the back side of my truck, I had parts from the back of my truck on his hood and inside his truck.

The driver behind me was not moving much but was moaning, the engine was shoved into the passenger’s compartment and pinned him in, he had to be extricated using the jaws.

In all of the commotion I already had a bystander taking pictures of the scene, there were NO skid marks behind his tires, front or rear.

He told CHP he was only going 5 MPH when I stopped abruptly and he hit me, a witness at the scene said he was going 40 MPH when the truck came around him going at least 65 and never braked when he hit me.

He hit me at least 65 MPH square in the back of my truck and I was stopped with my foot planted on the brakes, my military pintle hitch was driven deep into his engine compartment, during the impact my truck moved forward only 4 feet and struck the small car in front of me rebounding it into the other small car at the stop light.

My truck stopped his truck from 65 MPH in 4 feet saving the occupants from sure destruction.

My 1 ton Chevy was also my work truck, it had a Leer Shell and in the back I had it set up with metal shelves on the driver’s side, fully loaded it was almost 9,000lbs.

The guy that hit me was drunk, and flopped around his truck like a bean bag, he had started celebrating St Patrick’s Day early.

I went to the hospital and was checked out; the smack to my head caused me to have serious balance problems and migraine headaches even today.

I had been trying to sell my truck for the last year, everybody wanted it but didn’t want to give the money I was asking, the insurance company gave me twice what I was asking, even though the truck was totaled, it still drove fine even though the frame was bent up in the middle.

It took about a month of searching to find the truck I have today, lots of Fords and Chevy’s, I knew what I wanted, it had to have a Cummins and it had ad to be in perfect condition.

So this is what St Patrick’s Day means to me.

Not a good memory.

Jim

 

Wow, glad you walked away man. Sounds like a horrible scene. I hope the idiot got what was coming to him.

 

Wow not good. Lucky for the people in the cars though.

 

And here I am thinking there was a story about green beer, pizza or bagels.....


Sheesh....!


Similar thing happened to me and my wife one night (not St. Paddys day) when we were sitting at a light waiting for it to change. I turned my head to talk to her, when we were slammed from behind by a 85 year old woman who was on her way home. It was about 11:00pm, clear skies and not a soul around. She must have fallen asleep or daydreaming or whatever, but her daughter was in a minivan behind her following her home to make sure she got home safely.

The old lady never touched her brakes. Her 4 door buick hit us at about 55 mph and catapulted my toyota Sequoia across the highway onto a grass knoll. Her car was totaled, and she was locked in the car as the battery had fallen out of the vehicle upon impact. The white powder coated the insides of all the windows from the air bags deploying. She was so hysterical that no matter how much her daughter tried to get her to open the doors, she couldn't get it through her head to unlock the door manually, considering there was no more working power lock buttons in the car. Eventually they smashed the windows to get her old *** out.....

Glad you weren't killed, Jim. I don't know where I'd be with my dodge if I didn't have you around for brain pickins........

 

Wow and I thought it was just me. I had a similar incident in 1981. Sitting with my foot on the brake and blinker on waiting to make a left turn when a drunk rear ended me at what the police estimated to be 45mph. My head also broke out the rear glass on my 74 Chevy truck. His engine was relocated to his front seat. It totaled my truck as well. I have since been hit two other times while sitting at red lights all by drunks. Fortunately the other two were really just hard taps not without damage but nothing real serious. One of them fled the scene but got him tracked down by some on the ball bystanders.

 

yup, common day appearantly......

hubby had a immaculate ramcharger , I used it to go to a doctor's appointment and stopped up a hill to let kids playing in the snow get out of the road. snowstorm had limited traffic in the county, no unnecessary traffic.

on a open area after a bridge I hit ice at 30 mph and spun toward the other lane. I was hit from behind by a chevy pickup with a deputy sheriff in it, late for work. my neighbor was behind him with her baby. I tried to protect my neck by laying sideways in the seat with my seatbelt still on. back window blew out then front window with the big crash. thought I hit the hill off the shoulder. chevy guy screamed and stuck his left foot flat on the brake, no seatbelt. boom. appearantly both driver fenders hit. flattened his truck, leg trapped on passenger side, and broken. out. I was fine but impaled on a radio bracket through my kneecap. still I calmed my neighbor, made her take care of her baby and had her call 9-1-1 and not look at other driver.
(get help coming first). half of the ramcharger was undented but frame split, every nut and bolt sheared. sheriff investigator there within three minutes.
DA there in five minutes. state farm insurance adjusters said sheriff dept was not playing nice, told state police to stand down. no measurements or pics taken. would not give us back the vehicle. big hassle by sheriff 'investigators' coming to the house, stopping you on the road, ect.

happy for the truck, sorry for me wrecking it on hubby, and when story changed that deputy was going to see his mother, not working....well, I know what that meant for me...lost 100K, truck and trust. lending of the green, me boy? happy saint paddy's day

 

You guys are makin' me consider putting 4 way video in my first gen, just to protect my wallet. (It's near my ***)

 

I have mine sitting right here waiting to be installed, I got it last year for my birthday.
I am going to use a spare Lorex 4 channel DVR to record it.

This is the camera system that I have.

http://www.rearviewsafety.com/produc...d-back-up.html

I will have front camera, rear camera and a side camera on the passengers side for the blind spot.

Also a seperate video channel looking at me and the side window.

I am going to mount the DVR behind the seat in a lockable strong box so it cannot be turned off by anyone including the Popo.

The system will also be powered by its self contained AGM battery in the event the battery is disconnected.

I want to set up a wifi so I can download the data once I am in my driveway.

Home.
http://www.rearviewsafety.com/

Jim

 

Here's a new meaning for St. Patricks Day..... at least for me, anyway..


This hottie hiding under the glass desk she's sitting in front of, with her co-star. He better get back to the gym and grow some pelotas....



Glass desk is a GREAT place to hide from an earthquake...

 

Im from a Scott`s back ground so it means to me Irish whiskey and black and tan beer, cheer`s

 

Got to love our California earthquakes,
Can't understand why everybody is so afraid of them.
I would rather be in an earthquake than in a riot.
We have them too.

Jim