Move to San Antonio is not going so well

[Wayloncle]

Cruising across I-10 west of Lafayette, LA on a long ass bridge, quite a bit of traffic but moving along pretty good. All of a sudden my wife is slamming on the brakes, she is in front of me pulling my trailer, I hit the brakes and smash into my trailer that smashes in to her Tahoe, it pushes the side of her Tahoe into the jackass that decided to stop on the interstate, then said Jackass leaves. The huge dent on the right side of the Tahoe is from that vehicle that left the scene, the one that caused it all.

I had my 3 year old boy in the truck with me, 8 year old boy was with her. Everyone is fine thank goodness. After taking pics and all a couple truckers helped me and I started the Tahoe and drug the trailer to the side so traffic could go by.
There wound up being 4 wrecks within about a mile of us, it took forever for the tow truck to come and the popo to get it sorted out.

A couple semis had wrecked somewhere behind us and had the whole bridge blocked, so we had no traffic at all going by us, which is good, while we waited for the tow truck.

So now we are stuck in Breaux Bridge Lousiana at some campground in the middle of a swamp, I swear I lost about 1-2 gallon of blood to Mosquitos while trying to get the camper hooked up to power and water!

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Omg! So glad your family is ok.
This sucks.

 

[itsdgm]

That's awfull @Wayloncle. Glad that you guys are ok, but man!!!

 

[Andy S]

That is horrible. Glad no one got hurt. What a crappy way to start your move.

 

[Wayloncle]

Yep, it sucks!
Tahoe will be totaled, of course the trailer is worthless now. My insurance covers a rental vehicle but only an economy car. I could upgrade to a truck and rent a U-haul trailer for my wife to drive but the rental company won't allow you to pull a trailer:-/
So we will probably wind up renting a small u haul truck for my wife to drive the rest of the way to SA. I hate for her to drive one of those that far but she can't pull the camper.
At first they told me my truck wasn't driveable, but I have no other solution to pull my camper the rest of the way, so I ripped the lower bumper crap off and taped my headlight in place for now.

And of course no insurance adjuster is available on weekends so it'll have to wait till Monday.

 

[Wayloncle]

I had my 3 year old out looking at the mess. He said "oh no! mommy's truck all broke LOOK! A Rainbow!"
You can see it in the first pic

 

[ToddW850]

I sure hate that for you @Wayloncle .

 

[Willard Ivins]

@Wayloncle That is a major bummer, man. Nothing like being in transition, without the local support net. There's enough stress & uncertainty without mayhem like this. Main thing is the family is safe, and you have shelter with you. Here's hoping the rest of the trip inflicts no further drama.

 

[Britboater]

Just glad your family's ok, did you get the license plate number of the guy that caused it?

 

[buckbuck]

You have a lot of forum friends that wish they could lend a hand right now. Glad to hear the most precious cargo is all ok.

 

[Big Shasta]

Oh Man Waylon, I hate that for you. I saw the pic in the other thread and I know that LONG section of bridge very well. My first though was "This must have happened right in front of him for him to get this picture. Then I read your post....Ugh, Glad everyone is ok.

The guy leaving the scene is exactly why I have a DVR in my truck (coming soon to all our vehicles) I found one for about 65.00 that has a rear remote lens as well and records both streams. People accept no responsibility these days.

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BXWQTOU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Hang in there man....Prayers for the rest to go smoothly.

 

[Wayloncle]

Just glad your family's ok, did you get the license plate number of the guy that caused it?

Nope they took off as soon as it happened.

 

[Wayloncle]

Oh Man Waylon, I hate that for you. I saw the pic in the other thread and I know that LONG section of bridge very well. My first though was "This must have happened right in front of him for him to get this picture. Then I read your post....Ugh, Glad everyone is ok.

The guy leaving the scene is exactly why I have a DVR in my truck (coming soon to all our vehicles) I found one for about 65.00 that has a rear remote lens as well and records both streams. People accept no responsibility these days.

Hang in there man....Prayers for the rest to go smoothly.

I thought about you and your camera on your truck as soon as I saw those other vehicles were gone. It sure would answer a lot of questions right now. It happens so fast, and when you don't have that other piece to the puzzle at the scene it hard to explain exactly what happened.

My vehicles will definitely have DVR systems on them now. Let me know how you like the one you are talking about please!

 

[eggwhite93]

This sucks dude. I'm happy to see all your people are alright ands it's just "things" that are broken.

 

[jawsf16]

I had my 3 year old out looking at the mess. He said "oh no! mommy's truck all broke LOOK! A Rainbow!"
You can see it in the first pic

This is what's important. Your kids and wife and you. Glad you all are okay. Stuff can be replaced. Moving is stressful enough but just play the hand you are dealt and power through for now. I had a similar experience with my boat trailer in MS while moving from Phoenix to South Carolina. You will prevail. I hope for clear roads and helpful people on the rest of your journey!
When you get to SA, if you need any info or help, let me know. My folks still live there and have a soft spot for military and Yamaha boats!!

 

[Bruce]

Glad everyone is ok. Hope the rest of your move goes more smoothly!

 

[txav8r]

I was cruising the threads and see this...I am so glad all of you are safe and no injuries! The camera thing is a great idea, but it really irks me that I have to spend money on the off chance that something like this happens. Well, what irks me is that those that would flee the scene would flee the scene. Here is to hoping the rest of the move goes off without a hitch @Wayloncle and family! Really sorry that you guys are having to deal with all of this, but that rainbow and what your son said is priceless! Calm seas and following winds to you!

 

[Big Shasta]

I thought about you and your camera on your truck as soon as I saw those other vehicles were gone. It sure would answer a lot of questions right now. It happens so fast, and when you don't have that other piece to the puzzle at the scene it hard to explain exactly what happened.

My vehicles will definitely have DVR systems on them now. Let me know how you like the one you are talking about please!

I had some problems with it at first, it was freezing and not capturing smooth video but I discovered it was because I used too big of a memory stick. When I went back to a 32gb, it works fine and still has plenty of record time. It also locks any video where the g force is high (like in a crash) so it won't be overwritten. It's not the best clarity but you can read any plate that is right in front of you like at a stoplight. There are better options but I didn't want to pay 200+ for one.

Here's the link again:
http://smile.amazon.com/DBPOWER-Das...3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1434810640&sr=1-3

Here's a sample of the video, (me acting like a street punk, LOL) the quality in the front is much better than the rear. This was done when it was freezing the video.

 

[Zeus2013]

As everyone said...glad the family is uninjured and safe. Sorry to hear about the mess..

 

[scokill]

Glad everyone is OK. I've been rear ended 3 times over the past 6 years and this makes me conscious about leaving enough room and watching my speed to stop without rear ending someone.