So... a brick hit my car today.

[Lilac]

So I woke up this morning already nervous because I had my last (extremely difficult) final this afternoon. I decided to leave a little early to be able to study before the test in school. I was driving on the highway in the right lane and there was a truck about 10 feet in front of me in the middle lane. Suddenly I saw something gray flying in the air and I thought it was coming at me, but it hit the side of the back of my car instead (right behind the driver''s side backseat window). I heard a really loud noise when it hit and I got really scared, but didn''t hear any shattered glass so I knew it must not have gone through the window. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a gray brick sitting on the ground behind where I was! I looked at the truck and saw it was one of those construction-type trucks that carry things in the back - and the whole back of the truck was filled with hundreds of gray bricks strapped down. I guess one must have gotten loose and fell off and hit my car!

I don''t think I handled it so well though - there was no shoulder on the highway where I was so I couldn''t pull over at the time and I was already really shaken up and not thinking so clearly. I called DH and he told me to pull over (which I couldn''t because there was no shoulder and I was afraid of missing my final) so I read him the license plate number of the truck and I kept going to school. Once I got to school I called the police and they sent a car. The cops basically did nothing - they said I should have pulled over and now they can''t file the police report and if I want anything done I have to go to the local precinct and fill out a report there myself. Then they drove away.

Can''t imagine I did very well on the final... And now my car has a dent and scratches (clearly from a brick - it looks like it hit my car and scraped it before falling). And tonight DH is coming with me after work to the precinct to see what they can do.

I guess I just needed to vent a little from being shaken up and then the police did nothing and told me to go do it myself later. But I''m thankful the brick didn''t come through the windshield - if I had been about 5 feet further back I think it would have. I''ve always been scared of that when I''m behind construction trucks.

Anyone have any similar experiences?

 

[asscherisme]

Never had something like that happen. I''m sorry though that you had such a scary experience. Wow, I can imagine the adrenaline must have been pumping.

I hope you have a nice relaxing uneventful evening and that your car is not too expensive to fix.

I''m so glad you are OK. Thats the main thing. Lesson learned on the police report thing but YOU are OK.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Glad you're okay. What a scary experience.

The only similar type of experience was a rock flying off a construction-type truck and cracking my windshield. After that happened, I immediately sped up and wrote down the company, truck ID number, and licence plate, plus made note of the time and location (it was on an interstate). Then I contacted the company, told them what happened, and they replaced my windshield. The police were never involved in the incident.

You need to have the police find out which company owns the truck and then attempt to deal with them directly!

Take pictures and be sure to write down time and date to be sure you do not forget!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Thank goodness it did not hit your windshield!! It is terrible that the brick hit your car, but you are so lucky it hit your car where it did and didn''t go through the windshield!

I am glad you''re ok. I hope the police do something about tracking down the truck so the driver is made aware they need to secure the contents of their truck. I always worry about getting hit by something flying off a truck.

 

[purrfectpear]

Yep, and it wouldn''t have mattered if you did pull over. This type of damage is considered hazard of the road per the cop I spoke with. He told me to turn it into MY insurance as they were NOT going to pursue the truck driver, period.

I had a broken windshield from debris falling off the truck and bouncing up into my glass (I had the full license plate of the truck too).

 

[AmberGretchen]

So glad you are OK! I''m so sorry you had such a scary experience! I really hope you and DH can get some kind of help from the local precinct - I''d be so upset and scared too.

I''ve had a couple of similar experiences, although one really stands out. I was actually rear-ended by a giant Mack truck in high school - he actually hit me twice, and I sped up after the first time to try to get away, so I know he did it deliberately, which is super scary

I only got part of the license plate, and there really wasn''t anything they could do with it, but I am so glad I hit my accelerator after the first hit - as the cop who came and took the info said, I probably wouldn''t have made it if I''d hit my brakes and he hit me again

 

[SparklyLibra]

Dang, Lilac, you must''ve been pretty shook up. Sorry this happened to you.

I hope you make your evening as relaxing and stress free as possible!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 5/19/2009 5:34:13 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Yep, and it wouldn''t have mattered if you did pull over. This type of damage is considered hazard of the road per the cop I spoke with. He told me to turn it into MY insurance as they were NOT going to pursue the truck driver, period.

I had a broken windshield from debris falling off the truck and bouncing up into my glass (I had the full license plate of the truck too).

I guess I was lucky that one company replaced my windshield.

Recently, I''ve seen trucks with warnings printed on back saying they will not be responsible for broken windshields!

 

[rainwood]

A couple of years ago, the legislature in my state passed a law that makes it a crime (either a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, I can''t remember which) to have something fly out of the back of a vehicle and strike another vehicle. It''s possible that Lilac''s state may have a similar law which would make the brick incident something more than a private matter to be handled by her insurance.

 

[bee*]

Thankfully you''re ok. That must have been so scary! I hope that there is something that you can do to resolve it and I hope that your final went ok.

 

[tlh]

I am sooo glad you are okay, and that no one was hurt. THat can be scary, and I''m not sure how much YOU on your own can do, but I WOULD go to the precinct tonight to file an official report.

Date: 5/19/2009 5:34:13 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Yep, and it wouldn''t have mattered if you did pull over. This type of damage is considered hazard of the road per the cop I spoke with. He told me to turn it into MY insurance as they were NOT going to pursue the truck driver, period.

I had a broken windshield from debris falling off the truck and bouncing up into my glass (I had the full license plate of the truck too).

Rules of the road depend on the state... but this is pretty par for the course, once it hits the ground it is your job to maneuver around it. In this case since it didn''t hit the ground, but came directly off the truck into her lane, she may be able to have her insurance company collect through the commercial truck''s insurance. But you''d still be filing a claim on your insurance, and they''d take to arbitration and file a claim - though they''d need a police report to have any sort of success.

 

[Lilac]

Thanks so much everyone, I''m feeling a little better now and less shaken up. DH is almost home and we''re going to go to the precinct, but I''m really not looking forward to it. I feel so stupid for not pulling over at the time and I feel like I made this so much harder than it had to be.

The more I think about it, the more thankful I am that it was just a dent and I''m realizing it''s SO not a big deal compared to what it COULD have been.

 

[brooklyngirl]

Lilac, thank goodness you''re OK, and the damage to your car was relatively minor.

Don''t blame yourself for not pulling over. If the road you were traveling didn''t have an area where you could stop, then you cannot stop without injuring yourself and others at worst, and causing a traffic jam at best.

I wonder if you could find out the name and contact info of the owner based on the license plate. I''m sure they would like to know that debris was flying off their truck.

 

[LGK]

Dang that''s scary. I hate trucks with uncovered loads!

About five years ago, we were driving on the freeway at 60 MPH & a similar truck lost a rock the size of a grapefruit out the back. It bounced once and was inches from hitting our windshield. DH had two choices- crash the car into the side bridge we were on, or let it hit the windshield. He chose the side of the bridge. It totaled the car, but we were OK. I still remember how freaking big that rock looked as it was headed right at us.

The police were just like "eh, your license plate holder is illegal." As our car was in many pieces next to us and I was having mild hysterics. Erm, thanks, we''ll get right on that.

Even if you''d pulled right over, the police wouldn''t have done anything probably. We were able to file a report but I suspect it was "round filed".

 

[doodle]

Yikes! Glad to hear you''re okay, and I hope you get things worked out! My stepmom got in a wreck a few years ago because a steel beam somehow came loose on the back of a truck while she was on the highway, and it came straight through the windshield and through the middle of her car. Had she been a mere 6 inches to the right in the lane, it would''ve killed her! There really should be stricter policies about falling hazards on trucks!

 

[sparkly_stars]

I work in the transportation industry (operations) and I get calls like this every once in a while. I don''t handle most of them- they get sent to head office to our safety/compliance department. (usually because they are false claims, or they are rocks from our crazy streets here in Alberta)
There is a difference, if the truck was hauling bricks, and it wasn''t properly secured, then you could file through the companies insurance (I see this done). "road hazard" would come into play if a rock flew from a tire, or debris from the deck, etc. But you said it came from a load...right? Which means they are at fault.
Find out the company (motor vehicle branch/police or whatever), and file a complaint!
You did nothing wrong, you should not be penalized!

Irregardless, transportation companies deal with these kind of claims often, I would definitely follow through (I''m stubborn like that) haha
AND like it was previously mentioned, I doubt the police would have done more had you called from the "imaginary" shoulder they expected you to pull over on!

 

[D&T]

aww, so sorry lilac, at least you''re ok... hope you can get it worked out...It doesn''t hurt to contact your insurance company to see what can be done but probably either your deductible may cost more than actually to fix, or if your insurance will fix your rates may go up. We had some problem with the bumper of DH car, and our deductible was pretty high, also we didn''t want our insurance premium to go up any, so we will be fixing it ourselves. uggg.

 

[Bia]

I missed this thread before. How scary.

I''m glad you''re okay.

 

[Lilac]

Thanks everyone. I went to the police station and they basically said there''s nothing they can do and they handed me an "action report" printed off the DMV website and said to fill it out myself and mail it to the address on the back. Very unhelpful. But I''m going to California in the morning so hopefully I can forget about it for a couple days and just deal with it next week!