Wife ran over a ladder that fell off a guys truck.

While heading to work today my wife was driving on the highway and she ran over a ladder that fell out of a guys truck and luckily she kept control and did not wreck. She could not swerve to miss it. She and the guy pulled over and he confronted her saying she was at fault for hitting his ladder. She promptly put him in his place and called the police. The police arrive and they quickly look for damage and at a quick glance there appears to be none. The police told my wife that if there is damage to her vehicle then she will need to take him to court as this is only a civil matter and its not between her and his insurance. They let the guy go without writing him a ticket and the ladder in the back of his truck unstrapped again. Before letting the guy go, my wife demanded a report to get the guys information and the cops specifically denied her any of his info. She insisted again and was denied again. How the hell can an officer expect a woman to assess damage on the underside of a vehicle on the side of a highway she asked. Upon my inspection the front underside black plastic valance has a gouge in it and the exhaust bracket got bent a little bit. A call to our state farm agent says the officer handled the incident wrong and we do need to deal with the guys insurance. Im thinking the valance is could cost over $500. Not a big deal and we keep our vehicles a long time but at this point it is principal. So we need to go demand the police report and file a complaint against the officer? Need advice here please. Oh and the guys truck was a Toyota Tundra!!

 

Talk to his sgt

You also need the information to the truck that was involved.

But call and speak with the Sgt that is on duty

May have been the cops friend or brother

When you get a chance buy a dash cam for yourself and your wife

 

How can that guy blame your wife after clearly he’s fault for not strapping he’s ladder, he’s an idiot.
Cop is an idiot too for not giving him an unsecured load ticket and for not giving your wife a report

Sorry to hear that happen to her glad she kept control and is ok.

 

Did your wife get his license plate # ? Photos of damage would help. An accident report can be filed after the fact even though all you have , hopefully, is a license #. I just went thru something similar. File the report and give your insurance whatever info you have.

 

As a former adjuster here in California that officer is 100% wrong. It is between you and your carrier and he and his carrier, and he is 100% liable for not securing his load. The officer should have written an incident report so you would a record of the incident. Looks like a lazy cop who did not want to be bothered with the issue.
I would have the vehicle inspected up on a rack for a full inspection

 

Screw that. I'd go after him just out of spite for trying to blame your wife.

 

We need police but this is why their called pigs and what not! All it takes is one bad apple! The world is full of incompetence and that cop needs to be fired, as he did not protect the public from it happening again and did a disservice to your wife. What an asshole!

 

I'd go after the driver too, and run my complaints up the PD hierarchy. Sounds like your wife kept her composure, so hopefully she got the truck's license # and the cop's name or badge #.

I had a similar incident happen to me years ago. I was a just a kid, and didn't fully understand what recourse I had (or have a cool forum to ask questions ), so I ended up eating the cost to repair my car. Hopefully, you make out better.

 

I can only guess why the LEO did not issue a ticket for unsecured load and fill out a report. As others have said, it was wrong for him to refuse writing the report and you should contact his superior. I hope you have enough information to identify the driver, but if not, the LEO should be able to do that.

 

Not sure in your state but in Iowa when there is less than 1500 in damage no report is needed. At the very least the officer should have made sure information was exchanged if no ticket was issued.

 

Years ago I had a boat seat fly out of the back of my truck on the highway hit another vehicle we both pulled over did not call the police but exchanged insurance and the insurance company handled it

 

Happened to my mom in Arizona recently, begged the officer to simply write a report for some teenager with no license/insurance that t-boned her 2019 Camry. Cop lied, said he did when he didn’t, she’s escalated it up to the chief last I heard.

 

I hope she got his insurance info, identification and license number. I got rear ended in a parking lot by a real jerk of a retired colonel once. I had my foot on the brake and was shifting to drive when he hit me. I was clearly all the way out of my parking spot before he even moved. He even admitted that he had a hard time seeing out of the rear of his car. I was like "how do you miss a big red F150 4x4 with oversize tires?" I went to the police station and filled out a report. They did not want to take one because it was in a parking lot. I insisted. His insurance company ended up paying.

 

Uninsured motorist claim got plate#. My bro in insurance claim said when u hit something on the hwy say it was coming at u. If u say it wasnt coming at u theyll say u where going to fast. Also something in middle of road run over it. If u dodge loose control or cause accident ur at fault. So dog runs out middle of road better to just run over it. Also w uninsured claim just give any plate# u see nearby. They follow up say u r disoriented from crash thats the 1st # u saw. Other party deny mostly ull be covered vs no plate#

 

I forgot to mention that when the cop showed up, him and the guy driving the truck shook hands. Wife did get the plate number, case number and business card of the cop. She called the station yesterday after we noticed the damage. The officer finally called back just a while ago and said that he did know the guy and he is a nice guy but i disagree! We said we were just getting ready to go to the station to file a complaint against him and he says no don't do that. Officer said he will now make a report and that he did check the guys info and he did have valid insurance. So the officer just now came over to fill out the report and gave us the guys information and took pics of the damage. He said he now understands how we thought we were getting screwed and he is now here to help us after we threatened to file a complaint on him. So this is a big relief to us and we will definitely be getting the damage repaired under his insurance.That guy needs to learn a lesson! That ladder was mangled and my wife's skid marks are heavy on the highway. I'm very proud of her for handling it so well. Thanks for all the replies guys and i wouldn't have posted if i didn't really think we were being screwed over.

 

Good luck with the situation and pray all goes well for y'all!

 

This right here! Washington tickets unsecured loads even if stuff didnt fall out. Inexcusable on that guys part. And the audacity to blame her...wow. complain to PD, have a claim through your insurance(its why you pay it, maybe 500 deductible, but when they find him at fault and get money from his insurance you'll be reimbursed), and nail this asshole.

 

audacity

just found this in my back pocket. might be the word you were looking for lol. used in the right context, however!

 

Thanks...I was drawing a blank

 

Now I would go straight to the office and call his Sargent and have his ass explain everything to him. See how that goes for him. He was trying to cover his buddy’s ass

 

like a caped superhero, I fly about the various Tundra threads rescuing unwitting members from the grasp of brain farts and spelling snafus.

 

Yes exactly here too! That ladder could of caused a bad accident.

Secure loads are for the safety of other drivers on the road.

 

Exactly

 

This sounds very similar to my wife who also ran over a ladder on the highway.

Good luck, because we (and our insurance) ended up footing the bill for repairs

 

Context?
“I have such a bad episode of audacity, I’m unable to get more than 12’ from the toilet.”

 

@Tacogrande, first off this Asshat is not representing the Tundra community with his BS. Unfortunately that's the way things are with accidents. Unless you have considerable damage, there's no ticket written, and the officer basically is saying hey fight it out with your insurance company. And when there's no ticket given to the person at fault, it's gonna be a Pia trying to get there insurance to pay you anything. I wouldn't waste my time, and just be thankful your wife made it out ok. Good luck if you do go after them

 

My wife told the cop on the side of the road just because she cant see any damage that does not mean there isnt any. I asked if they have body cams and he said yes so i will call the sgt. and tell him i want the video reviewed because we do believe there to be corruption in how the incident was handled . The officer is just playing super nice guy now because he knows he was wrong.

 

That sucks! This almost happened to me the other week, a guy in his Chevy truck didn't secure his load, had ladders and bunch of stuff.. Sure enough later down the road his ladder fell out! I was driving my family in my wife Subaru Ascent.

Luckily I was smart enough to not follow him and had a feeling his stuff would fall out. I kept a good 1/4 mile distance once we got out into the open road from the city lights. I caught it on my dash cam, the other cars behind us on the left lane had to dodge it, including a big semi truck. Not cool at all. At least the guy realized he lost something and pulled over (hopefully to remove it out of the road).

if it was in WA it's a law to secure your load. Back in 2004 or so, some lady got pierced by a 2x4 into her face and so the legislation passed a law that all trucks must secure their load.

 

Just pressure your insurance company to deal with the bs. This is their job and what they get paid to do. Let them handle it as its all going to be a back room deal at this point between your insurance co. and the other party co.

 

Glad your wife didn't wreck her vehicle and it sounds like it came thru pretty well unscathed.

I try to never follow a truck with ladders on their pickup trucks. I also love the guys with crap in their bed and no tailgate. Real men of genius.