Hey Everyone, I'm pretty devastated. I was driving my 81 on i-76 in Philadelphia and a dump truck changed lanes into me. The guy didn't pull over so it looks like I'm on the hook for the damage. He definitely knew he hit me because he swerved back the other way. I snapped a few photos but none of them are clear enough to show the plate. If anyone knows dump truck companies in Philadelphia, would greatly appreciate any leads.

The whole driver side of the car is pretty messed up. None of it seems catastrophic but definitely a fair amount of fiberglass work that I don't have the expertise to do myself and probably not enough money to pay someone to fix. The damage stretches from the drivers front side all across and to the rear. It's crazy, the car was finally sorted and then this happens. Stay safe out there.

 

First off, sorry to hear of your misfortune.

Second ...at first blush, the damage seems cosmetic. Take a deep breath that you are ok, and the damage could have been a lot worse. I know it's always a bummer. I'm bummed for you too. Visibility out of truck mirrors on low cars isn't good. He's probably used to looking for pickups & SUV's...a black car could be easy to overlook. The guy should have stopped if he knew. I've mistakenly pulled into another car's lane (didn't see) ...didn't result in a wreck, but you know, could have ...life is imperfect.

Moving on, what I will say, is SMC is incredibly STRONG! I have pieces left over from some repair work and it flexes like no tomorrow, but I could NOT break it w/o being incredibly mean...and using a vise and like a hammer. It's *that* strong. You almost can't break it with your hands. That durability factor hopefully works in your favor. So, do you just have liability on it? You might spend an afternoon and just google trucking and contractors in your area. They often proudly show off their trucks in their sites. IDK if you can get traffic cam video or not? Might be worth a call to your city's traffic dept. You have to weigh the time you might spend looking for the trucking company, how you could prove it was THEM specifically. What's it take to go to court, etc.... against the cost of just paying the repairs and getting it behind you.

What color is your car (black?)? My advice having worked at body shops over the years when I was in college, take it to a couple shops. Talk to the owner, or owner's wife. The decision-maker. A smaller family shop would be where I would focus. Express your frustration of the situation, your pickle, present insurance situation, etc. Tell them how angry you are at yourself for not have full coverage (beat yourself down a little so they can bring you up). Ask them if they can work you a very reasonable cash price? Guys, especially fellow car guys, might be rather sympathetic and give you a dynamite price. Esp b/c it looks like fairly simple work ...even if there is a few hidden things or two. It's probably less than 8hrs of work. If it's black, that's an easy color to re-do. Keep your chin up, and try not to let it get you down, as hard as it can sometimes be. Pinch yourself, you still own a CORVETTE, dude!! Now it's a Corvette with a story!

Best of luck, let us know what you come up with

 

Hey Benny, so sorry this happened for sure. I'm going to ask a question that first came to my mind - and I mean no ill will at all.....why didn't you stay on the road and follow enough to get a clear shot at the plate, or a shot of the door which likely had the company name? No road rage or anything like that, just taking a bit of time to get the info and call 911 while you're doing it so the HP patrol could help if possible. Hopefully your insurance will help you now, but it's a good lesson to all of us to keep our heads and make certain we serve knuckleheads like this the consequences they deserve. I wish you the best as you deal with this. Paul

 

Why did you not go after him?

Jebby

 

I thought I had a clear plate shot, couldn't verify while driving a 4-speed in heavy traffic. There's no where to pull over, it looked like he was gonna pull off at the exit but then skipped the exit.

 

Damn,... sorry for your misfortune.

 

In that traffic on the "The Schuylkill Expressway" aka " SURE KILL " you couldn't catch up with him ??? Maybe someone reported it on your behalf that had a dash cam running ? Check with local police in the town you were passing through - you never know ??? LQQKS like it could possibly be a JERSEY plate / appears TAN in color - similar to yours in your avatar !

 

So sorry to hear that, and glad you are okay. I’m not familiar with that area, but it sounds like good advice to check the freeway cameras if you can. You may also want to post it on Facebook if there’s a local crime watch type site. People locally post hit and run photos all of the time.

 

Even if you ID the truck via traffic cams, it's going to be an uphill battle to prove it was **that** truck which hit your car, unless there's a lot of black paint on the rims. Even that doesn't mean anything. But if it just takes a few phone calls, cant hurt to try. The owner of the trucking outfit might be a real nice, understanding person. And there's always the chance the driver will say he wanted to pull over but wasn't possible in that traffic. Or maybe the driver never knew he *actually* damaged your car. Maybe in his mirrors it looked like a 'close call' and that was it?? Since you didn't pursue him very long. It might have been a loud Pop to you, but he might not have heard a thing way up there in the noisy cab with the radio on. Just thinking out loud here....

Cheers

 

Sorry to hear about the accident. I drive route 87 60 miles each way for work every day, and let me tell you, they must hand out CDL's with a $100 bill these days. Just this morning I ran over a 4x4 piece of lumber on my drive in because someone didn't know how to secure their load. And if I had a dollar for every time a truck drifted into the shoulder or into the fast lane, I'd have enough cash for an L88.

Thankfully, from your picture it seems like there weren't any seams or bonds that were popped from this accident. The door gap looks great! Better than mine at least

 

Can the plate be enhanced? I think there is software out there.

 

Hard to tell but looks to me by the photos it's beyond cosmetic damage... looks like there is structural fiberglass damage which will require you to get to the back side of the fiberglass panel to repair correctly, if not it will contour back later (especially black) and there are differences between "fiberglass" and "SMC" and repairs may vary.
again only going by the single photo of the door but if I were doing the repair I would replace the door over repair.

 

Diid you report it to PA State Police? If it is a Jersey tag, he must have come over one of the bridges. EZ-pass records may help. Plus all the bridges have cameras. Depends on how much the Trooper digs but it may be possible.
Also, filing an H&R report may do something regarding insurance liability, not sure there.
Glad you are ok. Easier to fix cars than bodies. Stay safe, AJ.

 

Those are just minor tire and rim marks. It's an easy repair I bet. Go get 3-4 estimates...

If someone backed into you at a parking lot or you 'tapped' another car, front or rear damage would be a lot more expensive to repair.

Call NCM or Hagerty, and get full coverage insurance on it in the future. One of my cars is only $200/yr ...probably what you're paying for liability.

 

Just be careful with thinking this is tire marks and an easy repair, it appears there is a vertical structural fiberglass crack towards the front of the door and a horizontal structural fiberglass crack toward the rear of the door... again hard to tell by the pics but when I blow them up i can see them. If that's the case make sure someone knows how to get to the back side for a correct repair, if it's just repaired from the outside it will imprint back in short time.

if I'm wrong and the pics are deceiving my apologies and happy for an easy repair and paint... again looks like structural fiberglass damage but again just going by a single photo

 

Cheapest insurance policy you can purchase. $59 dashcam.

 

I'm not seeing the cracks with my eye. But I agree ...like you say, the pic isn't very defined, and there are a lot of reflections.

I usually like to look at do-different's when I goof up, or people I know get into a mishap. Some possible take-away lessons might be (and I'm not making any accusations here) is: 1) make a coordinated effort to avoid lingering in other car/suv & truck's blind spots any longer than possible. 2) Take alternate low-traffic low-risk routes if/when you can (I know it's not always possible), 3) Try not to let insurance coverage be the place to cut back costs. Of course if a person is in a high-risk category, that can be a challenge too. 4) And of course, try to park in 'safe' spots (again, that's not always possible either)...

I'm sure one way or the other, the OP will get it resolved. Hopefully in a quick and reasonably priced maner

 

Great advice here, I just watched this happen a few weeks ago, i was behind a truck and 5th wheel trailer and the driver went to changed lanes right into a car, damaged the side of the car and ripped off the mirror, moved back into his lane and kept going, the driver that got hit then followed, I pulled beside the truck/trailer driver and yelled to him that he just hit another car and he just kept saying "no I didn't) cops eventually followed and pulled him over.
As a Harley rider I I follow #1 and #2 religiously and find I do the same when driving my cars... as someone who's been teaching in the automotive collision industry since 1995 couldn't agree with #3 more

 

Sorry to hear about this...
There are a few clues in your picture to at least help identify the truck...
May be useless info, but...
The truck looks like an International or Navistar tandem axle dump truck...Probably a late '90's but could be earlier or later....Model 2574...
The reason why I think this is the squared off shape of the front fender and it's short skirt...


This is a 1999 International Model 2574. Notice the squared off top of fender and the height of the rear fender skirt...

International (Navistar)

These small gates are called "Inspection Gates, Creep Gates, Coal Door, Grain Door... What is unusual is that it has 3 gates.... Most dump trucks have none or maybe 1... Tan dust on the the spreader blade is probably rock dust. The truck is not used for asphalt.

 

now that's some CSI detective work 👍