[Cal]

Moderators, I posted this exact message on another Titan website. I thought folks here would be interested in my experience and how well our truck held up. Please delete if I've broken any written or unwritten rules.

Life sure works in strange ways! Wed was a pretty normal day for my family that started with my reading/praying and posting a response to a Titan owner's prayer request on another web site. Little did I know that I’d be praying for my family that evening. I live in a rural town about 20 miles outside of Denver CO. Wed evening we were on our way home on a two lane rural highway (between Castlerock and Franktown) that has relatively minor traffic especially in the evening. About 3 miles out of Castlerock we were hit head on (mostly driver’s side) by a car. I remember suddenly seeing the car COMPLETELY in my lane and then trying to swerve to the right. It happened at the last minute and it wasn’t a drift situation.

I remember the impact with both airbags deploying and then incredible pressure on my chest and left side. I never lost consciousness but couldn’t breath/feel anything for what seemed like eternity. I thought we had side curtain air bags but I was obviously wrong. The collision occurred where the sides of the road dropped off at a relatively steep angle. My wife and brother in law were trying to get out of their seatbelts but I was pinned in. It was a pretty horrific crash with the other car catching fire. I could smell smoke and hear screaming. I quickly said a prayer for the people in the other car hoping they were able to get them out. Unfortunately she (single occupant in the other car) died instantly on impact. I keep trying to wiggle my toes and fingers. Eventually I was able to do both. An eyewitness said that she (the other driver) just seemed to suddenly turn into my lane. After impact we came to rest on a relatively steep incline, state troopers were amazed we didn’t roll.

The emergency rescue teams arrived and had to cut the door apart to get me out. Seemed like it took forever to get enough clearance. An EMT guy was holding my head the whole time. Because of the severity of the crash they by passed a lot of local hospitals to take us to the best trauma center. X-rays/MRIs revealed that I had broken 4 bones on my spine. Thankfully they were only the little side flanges that our muscles attach to. My wife had some broken ribs and internal bleeding requiring exploratory surgery. She’s fine now recovering (more from the surgery than the actual accident wounds). My brother in law was in the rear passenger’s side seat and seemed to only have a few bumps and bruises.

The highway patrol officer and was extremely impressed with how well the truck protected us. He couldn’t believe that I hadn’t broken both legs. My son is sure that I was driving with my feet on the dash! I’m convinced my Titan saved our (and especially mine) lives. You wouldn’t believe the grief I got when I traded my 2000 M5 Bimmer in. Both of my kids disowned me for trading the German wundermobile for a truck. My wife who had given me hell about previously driving a Tacoma was just as upset. In fact it was her comments about driving a Toyota death trap that really made me look at the Titan. Oh yea, for those that seem to think our gas mileage is so poor; I was getting about 16-18 with the Bimmer, (5 liter v- and a consistent 15.8 mpg with my Titan. I pretty much drove both vehicles the same. A couple of mpg is nothing when you consider that I felt the ride was more comfortable, it obviously carried a lot more, and I KNOW things would have been different had I been drive my Bimmer. Oh and the first thing out of everyone’s mouth now is; “Thank god you were in the Titan, that Bimmer would have never been able to protect you that way”. I’ve pretty much walked away (albeit very slowly) from a fatal head on accident. Oh yea, for those that feel our rear panel storage compartment is flimsy… mine survived just fine after a pretty serious crash, didn’t pop open or anything. I had it pretty full with tie down cleats, tow ropes etc. The engine was pushed about 1 ½ to 2 feet to the left. I’m still amazed at how few injuries we sustained.

God, luck and great engineering were on our side. We are obviously going to replace the vehicle and even though I intend to give the Trailridge and a couple of other vehicles a look, I’m pretty sure we’ll be getting another Titan. I can’t wait to see what my wife thinks we should get now. I've got more pics but couldn't figure out how to attach more than one at a time.

Cal