Total Bummer

[Snookster]

Alright, so last night I was involved in a car crash. But, I was the only car involved. Not too sure what the runner looks like, as I could only see part of it. The front end was actually in someones house.
I was driving home from picking sushi up for my wife and there was an animal in the road. It startled me so I attempted to swerve out of the way, in turn losing control of the truck. I then ran into a cable that holds the power poles up and snapped it in half. The officer tells me this is most likely when I hit my head and was rendered uncontious. I then continued to drive about 50 more feet into somones house.
I'm told I put the power out around the scene for a few square miles. I don't really remember alot as I suffered a conconcusion. I was taken to the hospital where they looked me over and sent me packing.
I am curious to see what my runner looks like. The officer told me it was pretty bad and needed to be pulled out by two tow trucks. If the damage is not repairable I will definitely be purchasing another 4runner.
All and all I am ok physically just a few bumps to the head and some back pain. I am more shaken up mentally. As I feel almost as if I should not currently be alive. The hardest thing to deal with was the fact that I have a 5 week old at home and she could be fatherless right now. I have no doubt in my mind that the big guy upstairs was watching over me.

 

[kregg]

Sheesh, sounds intense... Good to hear you're okay though... I think sometimes the big guy needs to get our attention every now and then, it's good to know he still watches out for us though!! And congrats on the little one too!

 

[JustAnotherT4R]

hope everything will be fine n heal up.

 

[4rnr4me]

wow, I think bummer is an understatement!

Glad you're ok, and the 4runner is probably not real important to you at the moment, as you said your daughter could be fatherless...BUT I hope the runner is repairable!!!

Did you have good insurance coverage? hope everything goes well, and keep us informed!

 

[4rnr4me]

wow, I think bummer is an understatement!

Glad you're ok, and the 4runner is probably not real important to you at the moment, as you said your daughter could be fatherless...BUT I hope the runner is repairable!!!

Did you have good insurance coverage? hope everything goes well, and keep us informed!

 

[4rnr4me]

wow, I think bummer is an understatement!

Glad you're ok, and the 4runner is probably not real important to you at the moment, as you said your daughter could be fatherless...BUT I hope the runner is repairable!!!

Did you have good insurance coverage? hope everything goes well, and keep us informed!

 

[Mr. Dabadina]

I'm glad you and the house's family are ok. As you said, things could have been alot different. This is why we must cherish every moment, as we never know whats around the next corner.

 

[gapboi210]

My buddy owns a body shop and we see this a lot. People swerve to miss an animal and it creates tons more damage. Saw a case where a lady swerved to miss a dog, hit a tree and messed her face up pretty bad from the car catching on fire. Unfortuneatly in most cases unless you are at a low speed or can SAFELY manuever around you have to brake and hit the animal.

Where the people in the house ok?

 

[RunnerUp]

glad to hear you are okay...

this is exactly why i dont swerve if anything gets in front of me... a cat, a dog... an audi... i would rather hit them than swerve trying to save them and kill/seriously hurt myself.

now post up some pics so we can see what it looks like when you run a 4runner into a house!!

 

[pat161]

Couple years ago a 17 year old girl got killed because she swerved to avoid a chicken and ended up rolling into a tree. It is good advice to not swerve, I love animals and all but... Of course I would imagine it is easier said than done, if something darts in front of you your first reaction will be to move out of the way.


Glad you came out of this ok, plenty of Runners out there and only one you.

 

[BTLFED]

Holy crap! That is crazy. I can't imagine getting knocked out and waking up parked in the side of a house. I'm glad to hear that you are okay. Unfortunately most peoples first instinct is to swerve to avoid whatever it is. It's hard to just stay straight.

Hope you heal up soon!

 

[Ron Helmuth]

snookster-less

glad to hear you are okay snookster

give that small one an extra long hug and then do it every day. You just never know.

yep next time take out the small animals. Let's get you an ARB bumper with the insurance money and you will not care what ends up impaled on the front end.

I have had a deer hurdle my hood before but never touched it as I drove about 10 mph near Moab a couple of years back. I was head butted by a cow(not a bull) near Eagle CO about 4 years back in my 2nd gen. but never have hit one head on. And hope to never have that occur....

 

[josh220]

It could have been way worse though. Not only could your daughter have become fatherless, but what if you put her in a car seat to go somewhere, or your wife was holding her, and you all got hurt?

Just make sure next time you flatten the animal so none of you get hurt.

 

[Runnin in MT]

Glad to hear you are ok! I am sure most of us have been involved in a vehicle/animal "meeting", and it will leave you shaken up. Just remember that you are ok, your still here for your little one, there are plenty of 4runners to choose from for your next rig and you have an incredible story about running into a house

 

[Snookster]

so i went to the body shop to look at the runner today. OUCH! It is pretty much totalled. Luckily i have good insurance. The steel braided cable that I snapped did a lot of damage to the roof and undercarriage. As the runner is a unibody they will have to replace the whole body, if its not totalled. I unfortuneately don't have any pictures of the runner in the house. I did snap a few shots at the body shop with my cell, now i just have to figure out how to load them. So as sad as it may be, I'm kinda hopin they write it off, as I don't really want to drive a vehicle around that has has this much damage done. I will keep everyone posted.

ps. I found out that the house is a seasonal home, so no one was home.

 

[Mr. Dabadina]

Just to throw this out there, the number of off road (not trail riding) single car accidents (such as this one) has increased a lot due to ABS being standard on vehicles. I'm not slamming ABS, its better to have control in a evasive manuever, than not. I'm just repeating the facts.

 

[josh220]

How does ABS create more accidents? I thought it was supposed to stabilize your vehicle by braking the necessary wheels so you don't skid out of control.....

 

[gapboi210]

I don't think ABS creates more accidents. It may give unskilled drivers a false sense of security. Some people think because they have ABS their braking is just as effective even if it is snowy, wet, muddy etc.

 

[Mr. Dabadina]

Say a car/something pops out in front of you. Your natural reaction is OH $#!% while you slam on the brakes and swerve. Without ABS the person would lock up the brakes and turn the wheel only to continue sliding forward (no control) and hit the car/object. With ABS on all the vehicles if a car/something pulls out in front of you and you slam on the brakes and swerve, you still have control of the vehicle and turn off the road and hit any number of roadside structures. So with ABS the amt. of off road single car accidents is a lot higher than it use to be (*this is a very specific category). The ABS pros greatly outway the cons, its just some of the cons are like Snookster here, but with tragic outcomes. If it were a van full of people he swerved to miss, than the ABS is wonderful. If its a squirrel, than its a "Total Bummer" (obvious understatement).

 

[Snookster]

heres a few pics snapped with my cell phone