[JohnC602]

I was on my way to work this morning and a semi truck came into my lane so I laid on the horn. He kept coming over so I either had to let him hit me or hit the curb. My passenger wheels are now ground up pretty bad, and will most likely need to be replaced. I attempted to get the truck to stop, but he didn't. I didn't have time to stop and get a cop to show up to file a hit and run, but I do have the name, phone number, and truck number of the guy who ran me off the road. Is there anything I can do? I also called the police and filed a "wreckless driving" report. I thought about calling my attorney and having him call the company and threaten suit if they dont fix my wheels. what do you guys think? I'll post pics when I get home from work.

Thanks,

JohnC

[Zeeman]

Giving the billing rates of lawyers these days, I think it would cost you more $$ to get your lawyers involved than to just get the wheels fixed. I would call the company on your own and see if they are willing to pony up.

There are a couple shops where I live that will to wheel repairs for about $200 per wheel. I had one repair a wheel on my e46. They did a great job - it looked like new.

[JohnC602]

Fortunately, I have access to a great attorney for free. So, I was thinking that I would let him give it a shot rather than me call and try. But I definitely agree, I wouldn't even try to pay for an attorney if I didn't have access to one.

[PMP]

You really have X options:

- pursue a claim against your insurance company. In Florida this would probably be a pretty bad idea (I'm in Florida, that's why I use this example) because you might be popped with a single car accident. However, they would pay for damages > your deductible.

- Ask the trucking company to pay for the damages. Most likely, they will need to have both a sense of responsibility and some evidence that you were actually run off the road. Since you noted down the time of the accident and some identifiable information about the truck, you might be able to demonstrate that the truck was actually where you claim it was and they could be reasonable.

- You could file a lawsuit against the trucking company and the driver for negligence. Actually providing sufficient evidence could be difficult. You have the aforementioned information about time/place/truck and that is pretty compelling. Did you happen to have an eye witness? Probably not, since you evidently followed the truck. Also, did the truck at any point hit you and leave some damage? That would be ideal - and it would probably help a lot with #2 since the trucking company wouldn't want to have any part in a hit and run.

Hope I helped -- I'm not a lawyer but I have been around a bunch of civil cases over the years so I think this covers the very low level basics.

[Revlis]

Next time Take the hit!

Hard to deny fault when there is a 3 foot high rubber circle scrubbed into the drivers side door.

[JohnC602]

I know that's what they say you are supposed to do if you want to get your car repaired, but i hate having to deal with paint fading/matching etc. on a metallic car. It just never looks right. I figured wheels are easier to repair/replace than to try to have panels repainted and faded etc.

[STE92VE]

Originally Posted by JohnC602

I was on my way to work this morning and a semi truck came into my lane so I laid on the horn. He kept coming over so I either had to let him hit me or hit the curb.

You omitted option #3.
Instead of hitting your horn, you should have hit your brakes. At that point you still had an escape and you should not have assumed that he was going to yield to your horn. Your ego might have been a bit bruised but then again your wheels would have escaped damage. If your ego is more fragile than your wheels, you did the right thing.

[Revlis]

Originally Posted by STE92VE

You omitted option #3.
Instead of hitting your horn, you should have hit your brakes. At that point you still had an escape and you should not have assumed that he was going to yield to your horn. Your ego might have been a bit bruised but then again your wheels would have escaped damage. If your ego is more fragile than your wheels, you did the right thing.

Good point, or even hit the gas... I've seen a lot of folks out in the world on bikes and in cars take a hit or get into a worse situation because they hit the brakes instead of using a little throttle. Seems that the Brakes are just more instinctual...

Good point though Brakes prolly would have solved the problem...

OP, You have pictures of your wheels?

[Zeeman]

Originally Posted by JohnC602

Fortunately, I have access to a great attorney for free. So, I was thinking that I would let him give it a shot rather than me call and try. But I definitely agree, I wouldn't even try to pay for an attorney if I didn't have access to one.

That's great... then definitely go fort it! And make sure your lawyer includes reference to the overwhelming emotional trauma you've suffered!

[Potty_Pants]

my buddy got his 1,000 mile new car windshield cracked due to a truck hauling rocks... he wrote down the info called the company... and they reimbursed him the $500 or so... no aggrivation , we're sorry, where do we mail the check.

ppp