The attached photo is our rig after a senior driver backed his 38 ft. Country Coach into her. His wife was inside his rig trying to guide him. Why she wasn’t outside is beyond me.
While the driver was remorseful and is taking responsibility for the damage (at least that is what he said in our initial conversation) it really hurts. We have four trips planned in the upcoming months and now they are on hold. I hope when in 10 years when I’m 78 I will know it is time to hang up my keys.
You all be safe out there.
Jules
WOW, really sorry to hear that this happened to you, and that it has postponed your upcoming trips. I'm 80 years young and mostly drive alone (no helper available) GOAL is my motto, (Get Out And Look)
Jules,
This is truly a mortifying occurrence. Planning trips and having to postpone them is an unfortunate situation.
Not that there is anything good about your damage, it appears the front end of your coach took the hit. Had it been the house section, it would have been much worse. A qualified auto repair shop should be able to make quick work of the obvious damage. Hopefully there has been no other unseen damage.
Best of luck with a speedy recovery. It could well have been much worse.
Kent
Jules…you’re safe and as Kent said, repairable. At the end of this “mess”, your Rig will have a new front end at no expense to you. And a new front is a decent outcome. Please keep us updated with all of this.
Goodness, this breaks my heart. Glad you are OK and that it is fixable. Bummer on the trips you had planned. Hopefully, it will be repaired ultra fast!
Jules, so sorry to hear about this mishap but glad no one was injured. I suspect you’ll be back on the road again soon!
The attached photo is our rig after a senior driver backed his 38 ft. Country Coach into her. His wife was inside his rig trying to guide him. Why she wasn’t outside is beyond me.
I hope when in 10 years when I’m 78 I will know it is time to hang up my keys.
I'm so sorry that this happened to you, but I'm glad you're OK. The rig can be repaired, but I'm sure it's frustrating.
The accident, IMO wasn't due to age as much as driver error. Why wouldn't you have a back-up camera on such a huge rig? Also, why wouldn't the wife be outside to guide him. I must look pretty silly, but I've hopped in and out of my rig several times when backing up (even with a camera) to make sure I don't hit anything. It take a lot of skill to drive and maneuver such a big RV and obviously this person hasn't learned to do so.
"The accident, IMO wasn't due to age as much as driver error."
---
Agreed. Although I'm pretty sure that most of us - at whatever ages! - have managed over the years to do a few dumb stunts that may have resulted in "dings" of varying degrees of severity, what happened to Jules' LD indicates to me that the driver of the 38' rig is not capable of making appropriate decisions and handling the unit safely.
At 80, I try hard to keep my driving skills sharp and my reactions quick; one does get plenty of road survival practice hauling around in this area! Although it would be a major blow to have to hang up the keys to the car and/or to the rig, I hope I have the sense to realize when I can no longer connect the dots well enough to operate a vehicle safely.
YMMV, as always.
Sorry to have your plans postponed.
At least the damage seems limited to the front and not the coach.
Sorry your rig was run into, stuff happens, at least he missed the hard to repair coach.
Other than repairing the hood, the damage appears to be mostly cosmetic
Your travels could resume quickly by replacing the head light, turn signal and grill, $200-300 in online parts and a hour or two of time.
The hood can be repaired at your convenience.
Backing accidents are common, most LDs, more than a few years old have dented rear bumpers.
Larry
If an adjuster has not yet inspected the damage, I would be hesitant to resume my travels after replacing the obvious damaged parts. It appears that the front bumper may also be tweaked a bit as well as the front sheet metal below the grill. Will the body shop or the insurance company be willing to credit back to you the cost of parts that you’ve already replaced yourself?
Roger
Horrible situation, sorry you had this happen. I won't be hanging up my keys at 78 unless I feel I am unsafe which
means I will have one foot in the grave.
I made my backup mistake when I was 16 and my mother was in her car(the one i was driving) in the passenger seat. I felt so foolish.
I have no idea of your circumstances or if you are at home or on the road.
If this was going to cancel a well-planned upcoming trip, I would seek a quick appraisal, do the quick repair and then get the hood repaired later.
If it is too long a wait, only you can decide what the trip is worth.
A dozen photos can be enough to get the insurance company involved. it was all that was needed to file a claim when my Jeep's hood was hit and dented by some flying object. Within two days, I was at the body shop getting it appraised and making an appointment to get it repaired.
Mercury Insurance quickly came through without any unnecessary delays.
Larry