Truck Update–07/22/11

So, here is an update on my truck.

Today, I took it to the shop just to have them check it out, get the list of parts they needed to order and be on my way.
Fat Chance..
Once I got there and the guy looked at it, he said it was unsafe to drive since the airbag had been deployed. I’ve been driving the thing since the accident and I guess he doesn’t remember BEFORE there were airbags in vehicles.

Anyway, he said the other person’s insurance would pay for my rental and all I had to do is go pick it up at Enterprise.
At first, I was just going to let him look at it and then leave, but decided to leave me truck with them. I had my wife come pick me up and take me just up the road to get the paperwork started at Enterprise and then went and got something to eat while State Farm fax over the paperwork for my rental.

I got a call while we were at lunch telling me I could come by and pick up my rental truck. I need a truck or an SUV with enough space to haul the things I need to take with me to other offices.

I left my truck around 10:30 to 11:00 am. Got to the first Enterprise place just after 11:00 (I took time to get a lot of stuff out of my truck and put in my wife’s Explorer – I had already taken a lot out of my truck (valuables) before I went.

After leaving the restaurant, we went to another Enterprise location just down the road from our house.
I don’t know if you have ever had any dealing with Enterprise Rent A Car, but I can assure you they are NOT the fastest company to deal with. The last time I dealt with them, all I had to do was to just drop off a vehicle and it took an hour and a half. I went at lunch (the time MOST people go to pick up a rental) and 1 person was there to handle everyone. the other 2 were at lunch. I know this because the person that started my paperwork left to go to lunch in the middle of it.

This time wasn’t TOO bad. I was there probably just over 30 minutes.

State Farm agreed to pay for my rental (they had to because their insured person was at fault) and I require a full size pickup.
The only thing I requested was NOT to be put in a Chevrolet. I ended up in a Dodge Ram 1500 SLT2 with unlimited mileage. Good, because at any given day, I’m just as likely to drive from Columbus, GA to Tallahassee, FL to Dothan, AL to Albany, GA to Panama City, FL.
Those are the offices I cover.

Automatic transmission, 4 doors, power windows, power back sliding glass, power everything V8 Flex Fuel, and a folding bench seat in the front and a full bench seat in the back, power door locks and that funny rubber non-key.
One thing I don’t care for on this truck is the chrome and it doesn’t have side step bars to get into it.

It’s not MY Ford F-150, but I’ll make do.. :)

Technorati Tags: wreck,troy alabama,state farm,enterprise rent a car,dodge ram 1500 slt2

Wreck In Troy Alabama

I had gotten off work in Dothan, AL and decided to do a little geocaching before going home. After the last geocache, I started home. I made my way to Troy, AL and from there I was going to hit highway 82 and go through Eufaula, AL and on up hwy 431 to home.
I got to Troy and stopped for gas so I wouldn’t have to worry about gas once I got on the back roads to Eufaula.

I pulled out and and started back up hwy 231 – one of the (if not the) main throughway of Troy. Troy, by the way, is home for Troy University – The Troy Trojans, stopped at the next traffic light and then maybe 300 yards from the traffic light, the next thing I know I see a small Toyota pickup – I think it was a Toyota – pull right out in front of me. She was so close I didn’t have time to do anything but grab the steering wheel and brace myself.

I was probably pretty close to the speed limit of 50 MPH.
I hit right around here driver’s side rear tire. The airbag deployed and and with the force of the impact, my hand was knocked off the steering wheel and into the windshield (I later learned this is what happened by the abrasions on my arm and the shape of the center “Ford” logo on the steering wheel).
After the impact, I was stunned but was alert enough to guide my truck (2007 F-150 extended cab) in to the nearest parking lot which happened to be a Dairy Queen. I stopped the truck in a parking place and turned off the engine. The only thing I could feel was my arm hurting. I got out of the truck and tried to do a check of my injuries, but the pain in my left forearm kept me from really doing a good check.
I was bent over in the corner of the parking lot holding my arm and seeing how bad that injury was. It looked like it had gone through a meat grinder but wasn’t bleeding that bad.
When a paramedic got to the scene they checked on the other driver first – I guess because my truck really couldn’t be seen from their location in the highway.

A paramedic finally came over to me and started asking questions. I showed him my arm and at the time I thought my wrist was broken.
Up until this moment, I had not notice the windshield that had some pretty bad cracks on it. The only thing I could think that happened was my head hit it and caused the cracks. I felt my head and didn’t feel any bumps or blood – it didn’t even hurt, but hey, the evidence was staring me in the face!
When the paramedic asked me if my head hit the windshield, I said yes. BIG Mistake!! I was immediately put on a board with a neck brace and then on a stretcher and put in the another ambulance that had arrived at the scene and rushed me to Troy Medical Center just down the road.
I think the accident happened around 2:30 or maybe 3:00. A little after 6:00, I was walking out of the hospital and getting into my wife’s Explorer to take me back to where my truck was.

Here are a few pictures of the damage to my truck:




The next few are at the accident site:




The accident was the other person’s fault – at least that’s what the police officer told me in the ER and that there was a witness to the accident.
I learned something though when I went to the ER. With all the excitement and pain from the accident, I couldn’t remember hardly any of my medical information.

I have put an Emergency Medical Information app on my Blackberry and put it at the very top of my listed apps on the home screen of my phone. So, if next time I can’t remember or am unconscious, they can get my information from my phone – at least enough to get started treating me.

I’m waiting to get the police report so I can start getting my truck fixed. I can’t STAND having my truck looking the way it does!!!!