Air bags did not deploy

What happened?

 

Ouch, hope you and everyone else inside are ok.

"Stock for ... a little longer"

 

Yikes ; hoping everyone is ok.

 

Whoa! Everyone OK?

 

I was headed home from work at midnight. It's about a 30 minute drive to get home. Town of Brutus stopped plow/salt trucks around 10pm. The truck said 34°F when I left work. I had been traveling approximately 15 minutes and the roads were fine. I had my low beams on due to oncoming traffic. I was coming up on a gentle left curve in the road. I didn't see the snow drift til I was right upon it. I took my foot off the gas and never touched the brake. I tried to coast around the mild curve. The truck wasn't having it and went straight. I wasn't speeding. I hit a small shed and then rolled about 30 feet backwards.
Severe pain in my lower back and I was wearing a seat belt. A case of oil in the rear seat behind me landed in the front passenger seat. Called 911. Some guy showed up at my door and asked if I could open my door. I did but closed it because it was cold and wanted to conserve heat. State Trooper showed up next but he stayed by the road with his lights on. Ambulance showed up next. Two EMTs came down the hill. They asked if I could open the door which I did. They asked if I could pivot which I did. They asked if I could stand up, I tried and I was able to. Then I walked with a middle aged woman on my left and a young guy on my right. In great pain I walked up hill, through snow to the Ambulance. They asked me if I can get into the side door which is low to the ground. I grabbed webbed netting with my left hand and a yellow pipe with my right and pulled myself into the Ambulance. It was me, the two EMTs and the State Trooper. It was then that I found out that the plow/salt trucks stopped approximately two hours prior. I also found out that another vehicle went off the road that night in almost the same area. The tow truck driver later confirmed the 2nd vehicle sliding off the road in the same area. I was asked which hospital I wanted to go to. I said the smaller one because it would be easier for my wife to drive to. I went to the small hospital, they took pics/scans of my insides. An older doctor came and saw me. He said I was one strong individual. I asked where do I go from here. He said we are sending you to the bigger hospital. So I took a 40minute ride in an Ambulance to the bigger hospital. After 8 or so hours in a hallway they found me a room where I found out I had bad breaks in my L5 and L3 vertebrae.

 

About two weeks later I met a guy from work who lives near the area. He said about 10 vehicles have gone off the road in that area.

 

Seems you have some healing ahead. Crazy that not even one airbag fired. Certainly could have been worse of course. Situation definitely sucks. Hang in there and heal up!

 

Heal up!

 

I'm so sorry about your accident, and I hope you heal up quickly.

Don't forget about 4Hi, fellas. It makes a big difference on ice.

 

Sorry for the loss of your truck, but glad you made it out!

 

From what I read and obviously not there, with no airbag deployment and MOI, they should've boarded you to limit any additional vertebrae damage. You shouldn't have been walking.

Heal up and hope you're feeling better soon.

 

Front crash sensor is behind the crash bar. Your looks undamaged.

 

Glad you came out of it in one piece. Wife and I feel that Toyota had to do a better job tweaking its A-TRAC, which is pretty much useless in winter. Wife parked her Sequoia for winter, because it feels less safe than other car she drives now.

 

Damn, that sucks, sorry to hear about your back. Take care of it & healthy up fast. Must have been one crazy snow drift! Another reason to hate snow.

 

Curious to find out if in 4hi? Could have been worse, I hope you heal well my friend.

 

Good grief, are the hoods on our trucks made out of tin foil?

 

Part time in slippery conditions is a nightmare.

 

im so sorry to hear that. I have pinched nerves on both sides of my lower back after my accident and it’s quite unpleasant most days. I wish you the best and hope you continue to live a life pain free.

 

I am getting stronger. At first it was impossible to bend forward. Now I can somewhat.

At first, sitting down was like a 50/50 chance of feeling like a tazer went off in my lower back... now I can sit down without that worry.

I still use an extend a reach device to grab stuff down low or laundry out of the back of the dryer.

Standing or sitting for long periods of time can make a dull pain in the lower back grow louder so I take a rest when that happens.

I'm am getting better. I wear my brace when I go outside anywhere. It's like a turtle shell.

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

 

Glad you have a chance to recover. Baby steps but forward progress. It will take time, but it will happen. You get a chance to start stretching do it. Just do not push into where it hurts. Just slow go.

 

I hope your back heals up well with no long term effects. Sorry about your truck. As far as your airbags not going off is not necessarily a malfunction. The system is triggered by X threshold of sudden G forces and is generally a life saving or severe injury mitigating event. These G forces were apparently not met. Yes you sustained injuries but the vehicle absorbed the bulk of the impact (as it's designed to do) rather than you and you're here to tell the tale. Which in itself is a blessing.

Heal up and get well!!

 

As someone with lifelong lower back issues (although never anything broken) biggest piece of unsolicited advice I can give is once you’re healed, and if you can afford to, seek out a good physical therapist. I’m sure they’ll give you some rehab therapy instructions etc., but a good physical therapist is like a miracle worker (and don’t be afraid to try different ones if the first, second, third etc. isn’t a good fit). I work in healthcare and I see a lot of people brushing off physical therapy as dumb useless little movements, but if you find a good physical therapist, and stick to the daily regimen they prescribe, it’ll give you the best shot of getting back to 100%. Obviously it can’t completely resolve some lasting issues after a break, but it’s your best shot to get everything healed up and back in its proper place.

Glad you’re alive and mostly okay, albeit broken and bruised.