So in addition to the pandemic and murder hornet joy of 2020, in the past month, I have had my refrigerator break twice, my father-in-law pass away suddenly, and yesterday I totaled my minivan in a freak accident.

We had been really good about quarantining, but my son's 16th bday fell the day after his grandfather passed so we basically did nothing to celebrate. He really really wanted this very specific guitar and I found one for sale in CT - the guy agreed to meet us at a gas station in New Jersey and we were all set to do the transaction in a quarantine-approved way (both of us drive straight there, meet outside, stay 6 feet apart, wear masks and gloves, etc.) I was willing to bend the rules a bit to give my son some semblance of something pleasant to remember his birthday by. And yesterday was the first truly nice springlike day we've had this year, so my son and I were enjoying the drive.

Apparently Karma does not approve of breaking quarantine. We were driving down I 78 and a freaking semi-truck gas/fuel tank fell off an 18 wheeler and landed in front of my car - I never saw it coming or realized it was there until the guy in front of me swerved and he never even hit his brakes so I don't think he saw it coming either. I tried to swerve but didn't quite make it. We aren't hurt and the damage to the front end of the van is minimal but the airbags went off so I suspect the van is done for (>100K miles so probably not worth fixing). The whole thing shut down the interstate for like 2 hours- gasoline was everywhere. The trucker whose fuel tank it was says he was sideswiped by a pickup truck and it knocked his tank loose and drove off without stopping. Mr. Lisa is skeptical that a pickup could bump a semi hard enough to knock the fuel tank off and still be able to drive off so I think he thinks the trucker is lying but who knows - he seemed like a nice guy. Anyhow, apparently,after I hit the tank, I knocked it into the lane next to me and another trucker hit it so my insurance is telling me that that guy could try to come after me. What a mess. Anyhow, I think I'll be not leaving the house again like ever.

On the other hand, I did hit a 125 gallon metal tank full of gasoline at like 60mph so I guess it could have been so much worse.

This is the truck and its one remaining fuel tank. Seems like a tank like this should be held on with more than just a couple straps???



Some more photos:





The only damage to my car other than the airbags deploying. I was able to start it up and drive it to the other side of the road (they wanted me farther away from the gasoline that was leaking all over the place.)

Holy ****, you're right that could have been a lot worse!

Hope insurances and stuff sort everything out as reasonably as possible--but wow--I'd have trouble keeping "what could have been" out of my mind.

Yikes!

I'm so glad you guys are OK.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Yikes!

I'm so glad you guys are OK.

+1

And you weren't really breaking quarantine.

I hope you can still figure out a way to get the guitar. (And a new minivan.)

quote:

Originally posted by QuirtEvans:

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Yikes!

I'm so glad you guys are OK.

+1

And you weren't really breaking quarantine.

I hope you can still figure out a way to get the guitar. (And a new minivan.)

+1

Yeah, this will be a mess for insurance, but that's what it's there for.

Just glad everyone is OK. That could have been MUCH worse.

Wow.

I'm glad you guys are OK!

Glad all are ok.

I think you are right about the sideswipe story. If you look at the shadows it is clear the tank is 6" or so in from the tires and the step up to the cab. So the pickup would have had to angle in, hit the tank hard enough to break or dislodge the strap(s) and then angle back out again without hitting the step. It wouldn't happen without both drivers knowing about it and stopping. Pretty unlikely.

I’m glad you both are okay.

But what about the guitar?

OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!! I am soooo glad you are all ok. Jeez.

Wow. Ugh. I am so so so sorry this happened. But again, thank heavens you are all ok!

YIKES! I’m so glad you’re ok, but holy mother forking shirtballs, that is quite ENOUGH!

I hope you can get the guitar, to salvage something from this year...

Omg. No words. So glad you are ok!

Thanks guys.

Mik- the trucker is claiming the guy knew he hit him but just drove off - that he was texting and just drove off. I dunno. I was kind of shellshocked and not thinking clearly so I didn't do all the investigation I probably should have (I'm surprised I managed to get the photos I did). I didn't walk around to that side of the truck to see if there was any damage and after the tank got hit twice, I'm sure you wouldn't be able to sort out any damage from the initial hit with damage from me or the 2nd semi. He also said the truck was black, which is also my paint color. So who knows....

The guitar! After all this, we were actually able to get the guitar. The accident occurred maybe 50 yards before an off ramp that had a Pilot truck stop. The guy offered to reschedule, but if I never see New Jersey again it will be too soon, so we worked it out that he drove the extra distance to come to where I was and waited for me at the Pilot. Once the accident site was cleaned up and reopened (they wouldn't tow me away til all the gas was cleaned up, so it took forever) I had the tow truck driver drop us off at the Pilot where my son was able to test the guitar in the parking lot and then Mr. Lisa came and picked us up. The timing all worked out rather well, I suppose - the guitar guy only had to wait maybe 10-15 minutes for us to get there, we bought the guitar, and my husband showed up like 5 minutes later (we were maybe an hour-ish from home). Not exactly the contactless transaction I wanted (tow truck guy had no mask and we had to sit the cab with him!) and not sure how many happy memories are tied up in the guitar now, but it's his and I don't have to go back to New Jersey so that's a plus.

Holy cow! I'm so glad you weren't injured. It seems like it could have easily been so much worse.

I agree with Mik--when you look at that fuel tank, it's so high off the ground that only a BIG truck could have hit it, and even then I'm dubious. I'm thinking figure the odds of a big truck approaching and hitting the other truck at just enough of an angle that both vehicles are able to continue driving but the fuel tank is somehow dislodged and comes off... vs the tank was improperly attached or the attachments were old and, in the vibration of driving, finally gave way.... the most reasonable explanation in my mind is the latter.

Good luck with the insurance! And the guitar now has a "history" that he can tell all his friends whenever he plays it. He can name it something like The Jersey Shake-Up! It will be awesome!

If the pickup driver was texting he would have been too startled to avoid plowing into the step on the driver's side which would have been quite obvious. Like Nina, it doesn't wash.