Luck runs out for Hudsonkid....

Unknown

So I had a first time experience last night on the way to work. I had a head on collision with a barrier wall, in my 98 Tahoe. The weather here in PA turned crappy yesterday, and I was on my way to work, and I guess the roads were worse than I thought.



I was actually (for once...) driving responsibly, with my seat belt on, and trying to be cautious. I even had the Tahoe in 4WD. I must have over compensated for what the guy in front of me was doing, which looked like the start of a spin, but he didn't, I did...



I tried to avoid, then correct, and lost control. From what I remember, I was following the dude in what looked to be a Honda Accord, and he seemed to be traveling a t a speed well in line, and consistent with the weather.



Weird, I remember trying to stop, the ABS tripping, and it just seemed to start sliding across the road. I crossed the roadway, and ended up heading towards the barrier. I figured what seemed like a reasonable speed, I thought the impact would be minor, man was I wrong. OUCH.



Both airbags, looks like a front clip, hoping nothing major, mechanical. Someone going by stopped, and helped me out, I was pretty messed up, mainly, choking on the "dust" from the airbags, banged up, bruised up, and sore.



What worries me is that when we tried to back it off the road, it did not want to go into reverse. I' hoping it was the loss of fluid that caused the problem. The guy that stopped, helped pick up the parts, waited until the police arrived, and really was a kind gesture.



So after the officer arrived on the scene, we got all of the pertinent detail written down, and I got my first ambulance ride, to the ER, a ton of x-rays, and a load of Vicadin.



So, today, I'm sore, weak, tired, my throat hurts, chest hurts, and kind of bummed out about my Tahoe. I've been trying to figure out why it felt like I hit that wall like I was traveling NASCAR style, almost like I gained speed. If I would have paid more attention in Physics, I might have been able to figure it out, but reasin the close to 3 tons of mass coming to an abrupt stop, must have facilitated the air bags, and my injuries.



I'll tell you guys what, I am not a religious seat belt wearer, but last night, I felt that it seemed like a better idea, than not, and kind of glad I did.



So I guess my message to you guys is this, wear those seatbelts, If you see someone out there involved in something, take the time, give them a hand. I was ever so thankful that a good samaritan stopped to see if I needed any help. Also, thanks should go out to my brother-in-law, since he was so willing to come out and help me out.



I think that last night I was able to think about several thing that I want to change about my driving routine. I feel I was lucky, up to this point, because, I'm sure I was way overdue for some turn of luck, behind the wheel.



Oh well, I hope to be feeling better in a few days. I feel like I got run over by a semi, right now, and even with the Vicadin, I still hurt. I hope you guys had some enjoyment reading this, sometimes, with the spare time, it helps to get the chain of events off your chest, by telling others about your bad luck.



I just hope they don't total my Tahoe, I was starting to like it. and it was a few payments from being paid off. I was looking forward to a few years without car payments.

Unknown

Hate to hear about that Hudsonkid. I'm probably not that far from you in age and I've had my share of mishaps, including riding shotgun while an 88 Chevy PU went headfirst down a concrete drainage ditch through the woods at 70mph, so although I didn't sustain as many of the injuries you mention (Thank God), I can relate to the experience. I've also had a couple of Tahoes. Good decision with the seatbelts. You're in one piece, be thankful for that. If they total your truck out, pick up a nice used one and you'll still be free of payments. Best of luck to you.

rambos_ride

Sorry to hear about your accident...75% of the estimated value is all it takes to total a rig..the older the rig the easier it gets to total....Sounds like the Tahoe is going to be a total...Air bags and sensors alone are 2k+

Of course you know if you had been driving a Hudson none of this would have happened...thats why they didn't put seatbelts in them!

Unknown

glad your " mostly " OK , seat belts are a life saver in most accidents !! have a qwik recovery !

Hudsy Wudsy

I used to make my sole living (for a number of years, actually) buying and selling low-buck cars. As a result, I spent lots of time doing what I enjoyed anyway - scrounging junk yards. Even though the emplyees of the large salvage pool companies do a very thorough job of cleaning up the carnage from the wrecks before they are auctioned of the yards, it was still common to find bits of scalp, blood and hair around rear view mirriors, window and door frames, etc. That's why I've used seat belts from the very begining and have laughed at buddies who didn't. Also, take it from a lifelong Minnesotan, all that your four-wheel drive does is get you going and even if you're proficient at using your gears to slow you, there just isn't enough time for that to be much help in a panic braking situation. Those big tires on the SUVs all distribute the weight across a very big surface thus, in many ways, diminishing, not improving braking on ice. It takes prescence of mind, but the very first thing I recomend that a person do in such a situation is that you get the right tires out of the driving lane. Move over to the right if your in the right lane (to the left if your in the left lane) just far enough to get one pair of tires onto the snow/salt/sand that lies immediately next to the path that peoples tires have glazed. There you find a rough enough surface to be of great use in braking. Just don't slam on the brakes! You are still going to have one pair of tires out on the slickest part of the road and a skid could happen. What's the best winter car (of the over one hundred twenty some) this Minnesotan has ever owned? A Saab 99 with that odd, old Borg-Warner automatic transmission. I've owned three of them. The standard tire sixe was 5.50 x 15. (Volkswagon beetle tires). We used to drive them into snow banks on purpose just to see if we could get one so stuck that it wouldn't come out on it's own. It was nearly impossible. But the point that I'd like to make about them most was how great their braking was. Later, I owned a number of Saab 900s with the much wider and more conventional looking 185LR65 (If my memory seves me) tire size. The Saab 900s had the same basic body as the 99s with a longer front end. Also, they both shared the same engine and transmission for a long time. Even with all of those common factors, the 900s were a substantially different handling car in the winter. Unlike the 99s that would dig in to snow and ice, the 900s would float over it, much like any other vehicle that has overly wide tires for appearance sake. I also had a rugged and dependable Subaru Turbo wagon for many years as a winter car. It had a set of 175LR60s which would make it take off like a jack rabbit in snow and ice, but it didn't brake anywhere near as well as the old Saab99s

Unknown

hudsonkid wrote: »

If I would have paid more attention in Physics, I might have been able to figure it out, but reasin the close to 3 tons of mass coming to an abrupt stop, must have facilitated the air bags, and my injuries.



So sorry to hear about your mishap. Although accidents are never pleasant events, things could have been worse. Better the vehicle giving up its life rather than the obverse. You can thank the vehicle's safety equipment for that. That brings up a good point. Always wear your seat belt/shoulder harness and install belts in your Hudsons.



Now to lighten things up. Since the Tahoe weighs 2 tons, are you telling us you put on approximately 700 pounds. Man, you really overdid the holidays!

Unknown

Hudsonkid, sorry to hear about your mishap. I'm sure you feel bad, but not as bad as the Memphis Driver, that lost control of their SUV on the ice this past Friday, hit a woman pedestrian,, pinning her between the SUV, and a guard rail, severing both her legs, then dragging her down into a ditch, trapping the woman under the SUV. She died on the way to the hospital. I've been a Truckdriver for over 15 years, and have seen a lot of the aftermath. I've got 2 teenaged drivers in the family, and have told them more times than they want to hear, "In icy weather, it's not how fast you can go, and stay in your lane, it how fast can you STOP!" Glad you, or someone else wasn't seriously injured.

Unknown

Sounds like you were lucky to not get hurt seriously, but I bet you had to change your skivees after that.

Unknown

well, first off, surprisingly no, my pants were clean....



I was thinking that soon after I got out from the wreck.



Anyway, I hope they don't total it, I was checking on parts online, and as far as I'm concerned, if they get used parts, they shouldn't total this thing. I figured probably $2000 in parts, and probably $2000 in paint and body. Figuring the thing is likley worth around $8500, depending on how they want to value it, and some leeway, it will be close.



Airbags seem to be all over the place, for this bad boy. There's a set on eBay right now, that's I think BIN for $150. used they were from $2000 down to $40 each from the online yards. I don't particularly care if used sheetmetal and bags are used, as long as they check out fine. I mean the thing is almost 10 years old.



The worst thing about it is that I was going to put tires on it for winter, but figured heck, they passed in December, why put new tires on it, only to have a winter accident, then have them total it, and be out the cost of the tires. They still had good tread, but would have needed replaced by next inspection.



Ah well. such is life.

Unknown

Hudsonkid, the only thing in this case you need to know about physics is that objects in motion tend to stay in motion. I have a set of airbags out of a '98 S-10 and I think at least the passenger side one is the same as Tahoe, if you end up needing them. The last wreck I had I took the check from the insurance company (the other guy's liability), went and bought the parts myself, installed them myself and put 60% of the money in my pocket. Not sure that's something you want to fool with given the severity of the accident, but for instance if you are in good with a body shop guy, you could get him to quote it with you supplying parts, and you've got an idea of what parts cost - if the insurance company's estimate is a good deal higher than that you've got $ leftover.

rambos_ride

hudsonkid wrote:

well, first off, surprisingly no, my pants were clean....

I was thinking that soon after I got out from the wreck.

Anyway, I hope they don't total it, I was checking on parts online, and as far as I'm concerned, if they get used parts, they shouldn't total this thing. I figured probably $2000 in parts, and probably $2000 in paint and body. Figuring the thing is likley worth around $8500, depending on how they want to value it, and some leeway, it will be close.

Airbags seem to be all over the place, for this bad boy. There's a set on eBay right now, that's I think BIN for $150. used they were from $2000 down to $40 each from the online yards. I don't particularly care if used sheetmetal and bags are used, as long as they check out fine. I mean the thing is almost 10 years old.

The worst thing about it is that I was going to put tires on it for winter, but figured heck, they passed in December, why put new tires on it, only to have a winter accident, then have them total it, and be out the cost of the tires. They still had good tread, but would have needed replaced by next inspection.

Ah well. such is life.

Boy, I don't know what wrecking yards are like where you live but here honestly...unless you just bolt the used parts on...it takes more labor and time to clean things up, fix and dents and scratches and repaint the used parts than buying new.

And unless you do get a full clip...you or your bodyshop will be spending hours sourcing clips and retainers that got destroyed...

Also you don't know what you are going to get - the aftermarket parts don't fit and you'd be surprised that even the structural integrity of the metal is worse leaving you even more vulnerable in an accident as these panels crumple too easily.

My personal advice...without seeing pictures...push to have the thing totalled and buy something a little older. used but in good shape and get rid of car payments to put money into your family (or Hudson)

faustmb

Sorry to hear about your badluck, glad to hear you're OK. If the truck is totalled, you might be able to buy it back cheap. My brother had a $7K jetta totalled a few years back. He bought it from the insurance co for $150.00 and parted it out. In your case, you could repair it if you chose...



I've been in Brooklyn the last few days, the roads were horrible today. Thank god for traction control:)

Huddy42

Seat belts.



Sorry to hear of your mishap, and hope you recover quickly. Vehicles can be replaced.



Here in our state of New South Wales Australia, it is compulsory to wear seat belts at ALL times. We have 12 point on our licence, if caught not wearing your belt on holiday weekend's you lose half the points, if you have a passenger in your car not wearing their belt you lose half your points, so, if you and your passenger are not wearing belts, there goes your licence. So we use belts at all times. At other times the fines are not as severe, but you still lose points off your licence.



Also to note is that our club cars are not required to be fitted with belts, if the vehicle was manufactured prior to the introduction of seat belts, it is not necessary to have them fitted.

Unknown

Huddy42 wrote:

Seat belts.



Also to note is that our club cars are not required to be fitted with belts, if the vehicle was manufactured prior to the introduction of seat belts, it is not necessary to have them fitted.

Doesn't that kill you? It's like they're saying, "We don't care about your safety in a vintage car."

[Deleted User]

Huddy42 wrote:

Also to note is that our club cars are not required to be fitted with belts, if the vehicle was manufactured prior to the introduction of seat belts, it is not necessary to have them fitted.

Huddy, I believe the rules are the same here in Arizona, if the car did not originally have seatbelts, you are not required to have them now. My Coupe had them in the front seat added, so I'm going to keep them and add ones for the back seat, especially with a toddler riding along.

hudsonkid, sorry, dude, but glad you're not banged up worse! I've been in 12 auto and 2 motorcycle accidents in my day, and 3 of the autos were totalled. I never had nothing more than a scratch, and only the most recent (in 1997) wore seatbelts and had airbags. Glad though, t-boned an Expedition with a Ranger P/U (teenage girl pulled right out in front of me on a major road). A large seatbelt bruise across the stomach and powder burns on my hands were all that happened. After that I just paid cash for an older 4x4 Truck. Figured it was much bigger than that Ranger!

Get healthy man!

Jay

faustmb

Dave53-7C wrote:

Doesn't that kill you? It's like they're saying, "We don't care about your safety in a vintage car."

NY state is the same about sealbelts not being required if the car was built before they were required, I think most states are. It's not that they don't want to require it, but it just isn't practical to require older cars to meet current standards, noone could afford to update them. If seatbelts became mandatory, where would the upgrade requirement stop? This is a case where the only practical thing that can be done is to grandfather cars based on the standards that existed at the time of manufacture and encourage owners to do things like make sense, like add seat belts.

Unknown

faustmb wrote:

Sorry to hear about your badluck, glad to hear you're OK. If the truck is totalled, you might be able to buy it back cheap. My brother had a $7K jetta totalled a few years back. He bought it from the insurance co for $150.00 and parted it out. In your case, you could repair it if you chose...



I've been in Brooklyn the last few days, the roads were horrible today. Thank god for traction control:)

Hey Kid, Glad your ok. The above suggestion might be a good idea, you could put that SBC power (and seat belts) in your Hudson and drive it year round!

Unknown

My left collar bone/shouldere/neck area hurts from the seatbelt. I guess my waist/belly area had more padding.



As far as getting a check, and fixing it myself, I would, but as sore as I am right now, and as cold as it is, and being without a second vehicle, I think my options are slim. I found another Tahoe in MD that looks clean, and cheap, with less miles than mine, so perhaps it will all come together either way.



I guess my only arguing point is to fight for how much they give me if they decide to total it. I would like to see pictures, and I think my brother in law took some last night. Maybe it isn't as bad as I think.



Around here, the junkyards seem to have a good supply of parts that are decent, and not hammered. The clip should basically be the same from 88-99, with some exception. The grilles are generic, and with a few other things, heck, it sounds like it might fall into place.



If they would total it, I probably might consider buying it back, if it costs so little, It might be worth it to part it out, save stuff, and find another one. Mne was a high option vehicle, so I hate to lose it.



Here's one tahoe i found, looking quick...



http://www.carsdirect.com/used_cars/listings/vehicle_detail_basic?zipcode=17522&listing_id=15758906&search=c964ec9c31da11ab864b8ae2868f7a68-270454403-15758906-dealer_referral_vehicle

[Deleted User]

Sounds like you didn't get the full force of the airbag. With my "airbag" accident, it felt like I got hit in the face by .....well, someone my size (280lbs). I had a huge scrape and bruise on my chin for days from that stupid airbag. It was by far my worst injury - that car had around $11K in repairs before I got it back.

Unknown

yeah, I never even hit the bag with my face or nothing, I'm starting to think my left forearm is bruised and burned from the bag, but I can't remember it inflating or nothing.



Actually, with exception to the bruise on my left shin, the bruise/burn on my left forearm is the worst injury.



I'm a big guy as well shy of 300lbs, and 6'7" so I bang myself up getting in it often enough... let alone having an accident in it.



Oh well, off to Vicodin land...

Unknown

faustmb wrote:

NY state is the same about sealbelts not being required if the car was built before they were required, I think most states are. It's not that they don't want to require it, but it just isn't practical to require older cars to meet current standards, noone could afford to update them. If seatbelts became mandatory, where would the upgrade requirement stop? This is a case where the only practical thing that can be done is to grandfather cars based on the standards that existed at the time of manufacture and encourage owners to do things like make sense, like add seat belts.

Although I see your point, it just makes sense to install seat belts. My state is the same, no seat belt requirements for cars not originally equipped with them. Unfortunately, there are many people who are just too cheap or stupid when it comes to their own safety and wellbeing. If enough people are hurt or killed, like the family riding in a Duesenberg that were killed when it was hit and everyone was ejected, seat belts will become mandatory. As for me, there's nothing more precious than my life and that of my wife or those who may be passangers.

rambos_ride

HudsonKid will be proud to know his accident is causing a lively discussion on the use of seatbelts on the forum...if only he was still posting here to read it...;)

I don't have any problem with the government telling us to have safety belts in cars...the problem I have is that in Taxington State that is now enough of a probable cause to be pulled over and ticketed for any offense...

So when I was driving my 76 CJ5 it only had lapbelts..and the top was on there was no way to see you have a seatbelt on...since the way most police can "tell" if you are wearing is because of the shldr restraint (a few cars you can disconnect the shldr belt - I bet they have the same problem)...anyway I was pulled over 3 seperate times and had to spend my personal time telling young officers that I was in fact wearing my belt and if you ever drove a CJ5 without wearing one you wouldn't be driving it long!

I bill my customers hourly...do you think I can bill the police for "detaining" me without cause because of their lack of knowledge on the model car?

And this may sound cynical...but I don't have any misconceptions...

"The government doesn't care about myself past anything other than my paying taxes" ~ which my dead butt couldn't pay :eek:

Mandatory seat belt laws are an invasion of privacy...mandate the equipment on the vehicles, inspect the vehicles during emissions testing for safety equipment too...that's fine but don't make it a reason to pull me over.

There was a time in this country the goverment spent its time running the country and not trying to protect me from myself...:D

BTW - I always wear my seatbelt, even before it was "the law"

super651

Should have been TAHOE-LUCK-RUNS-OUT.

You are still here even with the bang-ups,and we all are glade and thankfull for that.

(did you and Dad recieve the HUD decals ? )

Thanks Rudy.

Unknown

Rick,



you raise some good points, but let's look at this Tahoe for a second...



-it has anti lock brakes

-it was engaged in 4WD, sounds like a better alternative to traction control

-obviously it had airbags.



not sure how the side airbags would have helped, actually, the front airbags made it worse for me. They didn't affect my outcome, except for the worse, Since it was engaged in 4WD, it was no different than having front wheel drive, obviously going was not the problem here, it seems stopping was.



The ABS seems to be the failing point in my opinion. Perhaps dragging 265/75's on the snow an ice would have caused some resistance, but that grinding of the ABS unit didn't seem to do much for my overall stopping effort.



I honestly don't think that the brakes did much of anything to make me slow down or stop.



I like my Tahoe, I think tha if it gets totaled, I will just buy another one, find one with slightly better mileage, try to buy mine back, fix it over time, etc... I don't want to give up the hauling capacity of my tahoe. I really enjoy the vehicle, and they're not bad to work on. I complain about the MPG, but sitting here, and now, I still would think about another one.



As far as seatbelts, I guess once you see that they really do work first hand, I think that I might consider putting them in my hudson. I never thought I would say that but after this whole experience, I'm just surprised at how fast things can happen, even at what seemed to be a low speed impact. I doubt I woul have fared as well in my hudson or even my PT cruiser, as I did in my Tahoe.

Unknown

super651 wrote:

Should have been TAHOE-LUCK-RUNS-OUT.

You are still here even with the bang-ups,and we all are glade and thankfull for that.

(did you and Dad recieve the HUD decals ? )

Thanks Rudy.

yup, got the decals, I still have to give my dad his. I appreciate them!



I hope the Tahoe has one more trick up it's sleeve. I hate to see it get totalled over this whole deal. It's been a good vehicle, just a water pump, intake manifold gaskets, tranny electronics, a tune-up, and a few u-joints... it's been going good for 35,000 miles.

mrsbojigger

Hi Hudsonkid,
Glad to see you are OK!
Looks like you may have an excellent donor vehicle on your hands that can be used on your next pet project. These new engines are good for well over 200,000 miles.
Peace,
Chaz
P.S. Wear those seat belts. I know from experience they work.

faustmb

Dave53-7C wrote:

Although I see your point, it just makes sense to install seat belts. As for me, there's nothing more precious than my life and that of my wife or those who may be passangers.

Agreed 100%. I haven't installed any in my Hudson yet, but that's also why it sees very limited good weather only driving. I plan to retrofit some late model shoulder belts into the front and lap belts in the rear. Our family rule is also that seat belts need to be on before the car moves, the kids have never known anything else.



Traffic is especially bad in the Tampa area, there are fatalities all of the time involving families that weren't using seat belts. Florida is also the one of the states that doesn't require motorcyclist to wear helmets or have insurance:eek:

Unknown

faustmb wrote:

Agreed 100%. I haven't installed any in my Hudson yet, but that's also why it sees very limited good weather only driving. I plan to retrofit some late model shoulder belts into the front and lap belts in the rear. Our family rule is also that seat belts need to be on before the car moves, the kids have never known anything else.



Traffic is especially bad in the Tampa area, there are fatalities all of the time involving families that weren't using seat belts. Florida is also the one of the states that doesn't require motorcyclist to wear helmets or have insurance:eek:

Although some believe that Big Brother is forcing safety down their throats, it is a proven fact that seat and shoulder belts do help to save lives. You've got the right approach with your kids. Start them out early with the seat belts. When they're older, they feel naked without them. In my state it's the same, motorcycles drivers aren't require to use helmets. Hey, it's their brains that will be on the road, not mine. I've witnessed two accidents where cycle drivers flew off their bikes and struck their head. Believe me, the sight of their limbs twitching as the result of massive brain trauma was enough to make grown men sick.

Unknown

Well, I saw the Tahoe today, and it looks bad, but not terrible. I think it's gonna get totaled, just because of the bags. They pretty much told me that, and I guess that's what I got to live with. I'm just hoping now to get enough to pay off the vehicle, cover the deductible, and get another Tahoe. I looked at three tonight, well, one actually, the other two were sold already.



I guess we'll see how the next couple of days go.

hudsontech

Glad to hear the Good Shephard was looking out for you Hudsonkid - good people are scarce these days (there ARE somewhere around 3600 in the HET club and we need all we can get).

A couple observations on

-it has anti lock brakes

-it was engaged in 4WD, sounds like a better alternative to traction control

-obviously it had airbags.



"It has anti-lock brakes" - IMHO anti-lock brakes are almost useless on wet and slippery roads, no matter what the engineers say. I say "useless" because the tendency when you start sliding is to try to drive the brake pedal thru the floor - and all that does is lock up everything on ice and wet roads. In short people don't know how to use them - basically the same way you use non anti-lock brakes. Tap the brake pedal gently and sparingly - if you have standard shift, down shift, if you have time. Even dropping an automatic into a lower gear, while not quite as good as a standard, will help.

"4WD" - Another device that is rarely used the way it should be. People beleive the Jeep commercials that show Jeeps buried to the top of the radio antenna and can climb a rock pile into your driveway. Here in Maine most tow truck operators will tell you they pull at least 2, maybe 3, 4 WD cars out of ditches for every 2WD. EVERYBODY who contemplates buying a 4WD vehicle should be required to watch AT LEAST 8 hours of those off-road competition shows on TV!!!

Ok, I'll give airbags a thumbs up - even tho they do need to figure a way to keep the things from beating you to death everytime they go off. By the way I love the ad I saw - a little old lady creeping across the street, guy honks his horn at her to hurry her up, she swings her pocket book against his bumper and trips his air bags. Hilarious.



Take care Hudsonkid - and stay safe.



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Unknown

If the insurance company doesn't make a satisfactory settlement offer, remind them of all the recent service work and upgrades that were performed on your vehicle. They add value. If that still doesn't net a favorable response, select option B and ask them to replace the vehicle with one which is of the same age, condition, mileage and maintenance level as yours. I suggest this since I've been there, done that. Years ago, my wife's car was stolen and was found stripped. So, after getting low balled by my insurance company, I said here are copies of all the recent work done to the car. Then, I rejected their offer and demanded that they replace the vehicle with one exactly like it, in all regards. I can assure you, their next cash offer was much better.