TeslaCam does its job

[Pommie]

Driving south on I-25 near downtown Denver today. Pretty sure this hook comes off the large truck, bounces under the van and hits me. The truck has the same type of tie downs.

Hood and windshield have lots of damage. And by lots, I mean lots o' dollars.

No comments about the dirt on my car please--it snowed here yesterday.

Any chance the truck is responsible?? How much $$$ do you guess for this repair? Hard to see but the crack goes all the way up. I don't see any damage to the roof or rear trunk.

 

[DSolie]

That hook could have come from the Semi as well. Unless you have numerous stills of that van with the hook where you show on that one photo.

 

[Needsdecaf]

You'll never get any money from that company. Most likey that it did come off the semi. Even with video evidence, unless you can CLEARLY see the source of the hook, then the company will tell you to go pound. As in, literally watch the hook drop off the semi.

I had something similar happen to me, except it was a large rock off a concrete truck. Problem is that the rock, although large, was small enough to where you couldn't see it on video until it was really close. You couldn't see it come off the concrete truck in the lane over to my right. So even though I am 99.9% sure it did, I had no evidence. I tried, but the concrete company said without evidence, it just as easily could have been kicked up off the road by the car in front of me. And they are right.

Sorry man. I'd try, but don't get your hopes up.

See rock in pics below. Note that this is the furthest out I could see it on video.

Actually multiple rocks hit me. Broke windshield on both sides. Lucky it didn't hit hood.

 

[KenC]

Yep, off the semi, but it'll be impossible to prove, unless you find the driver pulled over to the side of the road, looking for one of his hooks. Walk up and ask, is this one of yours? And he says "yes", then you point out all the damage on your car.

 

[Pommie]

Thanks for all the advice and replies. USAA said unless someone died or had major medical damage, they would not pursue the semi. I looked at earlier video from a mile back and it appears there were other items coming off the back--I'm guessing I wasn't the only one hit.

I am happy the hook hit my hood first because I think it would have possibly gone right through the windshield given the depth of the dents it left on the hood. The metal hood deflected it. Should have the estimate today and I will post it so y'all can see how much $$$.

 

[Pommie]

You'll never get any money from that company. Most likey that it did come off the semi. Even with video evidence, unless you can CLEARLY see the source of the hook, then the company will tell you to go pound. As in, literally watch the hook drop off the semi.

I had something similar happen to me, except it was a large rock off a concrete truck. Problem is that the rock, although large, was small enough to where you couldn't see it on video until it was really close. You couldn't see it come off the concrete truck in the lane over to my right. So even though I am 99.9% sure it did, I had no evidence. I tried, but the concrete company said without evidence, it just as easily could have been kicked up off the road by the car in front of me. And they are right.

Sorry man. I'd try, but don't get your hopes up.

See rock in pics below. Note that this is the furthest out I could see it on video.

Actually multiple rocks hit me. Broke windshield on both sides. Lucky it didn't hit hood.

View attachment 607243 View attachment 607244 View attachment 607245 View attachment 607246

That must have been crazy when those rocks started raining down on your windshield!!

 

[tilt]

The rule is if it falls off a vehicle and hits you, the vehicle owner/driver is responsible for the damage. If the object is on the road and the vehicle kicks the object up, it is deemed a road hazard and the owner/driver is not responsible. So as others have said, you'd have to have evidence that the hook fell off the truck.

This is why the signs on the back of trucks that state, "Stay back 300 ft, not responsible for damage" are false. If the thing that damages my vehicle falls off of your truck, you are responsible for the damage no matter what is on your sign.

I worked for a state highway department and had to deal with this all the time.

 

[Pommie]

The rule is if it falls off a vehicle and hits you, the vehicle owner/driver is responsible for the damage. If the object is on the road and the vehicle kicks the object up, it is deemed a road hazard and the owner/driver is not responsible. So as others have said, you'd have to have evidence that the hook fell off the truck.

This is why the signs on the back of trucks that state, "Stay back 300 ft, not responsible for damage" are false. If the thing that damages my vehicle falls off of your truck, you are responsible for the damage no matter what is on your sign.

I worked for a state highway department and had to deal with this all the time.

I agree--If I had been in a convertible or on a motorcycle, I could have been killed. I was not behind him. I was 2 lanes over about to exit. 15 seconds sooner or later, I wouldn't have been hit. It's highly irresponsible and dangerous that the load wasn't properly secured. But we all see this right?? My best guess is that this was an extra hook that was hanging on the side rail of his semi and when he hit a pothole, it popped off and flew across the highway.

 

[Pommie]

$2800 total damages. Not bad....I really thought it would be more. I'll document my experience having a Tesla Model 3 repaired and start a new thread with it.

 

[KenC]

Yep, lucky. A heavy metal hook would have gone straight thru the windshield, if it hadn't deflected first off the hood. Anything that weighs that much while you're going highway speeds, can be lethal with a direct hit. Lucky. $2800 seems cheap. They're going to fix the metal, and touch up all the paint, and replace the windshield?

 

[Pommie]

Yep, lucky. A heavy metal hook would have gone straight thru the windshield, if it hadn't deflected first off the hood. Anything that weighs that much while you're going highway speeds, can be lethal with a direct hit. Lucky. $2800 seems cheap. They're going to fix the metal, and touch up all the paint, and replace the windshield?

The dents in the hood are too deep to fix. They are replacing the hood, the windshield, and the windshield wiper arm. They are painting the front fenders to blend with the new hood.

I was shaking pretty much the rest of the day. It was a really loud BANG when it hit. And I almost lost control of the car.

There was quite a bit of traffic so the speeds were about 55 mph.

 

[Needsdecaf]

That must have been crazy when those rocks started raining down on your windshield!!

Yeah, unfortunately it's not all that uncommon in Houston. The roads here are littered with debris...a large piece of which totaled my first Model 3. There are tons of dump trucks, landscape trucks, concrete trucks, etc. So there are a ton of rocks bouncing around on the roads. Hearing the "snap" of a small stone hitting the windshield is common and I cringe each time.

But yeah, this was a big couple of rocks, and I saw it coming. That was pretty scary.

not as scary as the time I saw a full 8 man crew shell fly off a trailer and flip around in the air in front of me though!

 

[focher]

I had a rock chip my windshield once. There was a truck in front of me tossing off gravel without the required cover. I sued in small claims and won.

 

[KenC]

Yeah, unfortunately it's not all that uncommon in Houston. The roads here are littered with debris...a large piece of which totaled my first Model 3. There are tons of dump trucks, landscape trucks, concrete trucks, etc. So there are a ton of rocks bouncing around on the roads. Hearing the "snap" of a small stone hitting the windshield is common and I cringe each time.

But yeah, this was a big couple of rocks, and I saw it coming. That was pretty scary.

not as scary as the time I saw a full 8 man crew shell fly off a trailer and flip around in the air in front of me though!

Sounds like you'll need a Cybertruck.

 

[Huskyfan]

It would not have gone through your windshield. Working as a firefighter in Seattle we often responded or trained to extricate victims from car collisions. Sometimes we would cut the bottom of the front windshield to enable folding the roof back or removing it entirely. It’s really hard to penetrate a windshield. Using a heavy ax takes multiple strikes to punch a hole (or the pointy end of the halligan tool). I’m not talking gentle raps with the halligan or the ax. Good punches. Then we would cut the remaining bottom portion of the windscreen with a sawsall. Their is a heavy sheet of plastic between the two glass sheets.