[SWM]

So I'm on the way to school this morning, first day back since friday I got the flu, and I come around a turn and the school bus is coming the other direction. No big deal, well this particular driver has a tendency to speed and crossing the lines bad.

Well I'm on a little backroad but it has fully painted lines on it but no shoulder, as I come around the turn the school bus is about 2 ft over into my lane and i dont know if you have driven on back country roads before, but needless to say they are tight. She always is in my lane anytime I see her and I always have to get off the road to avoid her but never much and never at this spot.

So as I come around we are both doing somewhere around 40mph and she is completely over in my lane like I said and so i scoot over into the ditch to avoid hitting something that would demolish anything smaller than it. well she doesnt scoot back into her lane, instead she comes over farther. So my whole back end slides into the ditch because its wet outside as well. So I correct the turn like your supposed to. Well my back endall of a sudden rockets back on to the road and basically pulls me across to the other side and even tho i tried turning again to gget out of it I couldnt stop the slide. So I lock up my brakes and shoot into a ditch then fence row taking out about 30 ft of fence as I slide. Well I am super pissed off but I am hanging in the middle of the road so I put in in 4 lo and get out of the ditch and just pull off on the side of the road dragging half the fence behind me.

When I get out, my truck got *** raped. My mirror got ripped off, my door handle got ripped off completely, my drivers door has some crunches in it from the posts, my king cab door got crunched in (I went through 3 Solid round wooden posts the big anchoring kind and bout 4 T posts) then both drivers side fender flares are jacked up, my bed has dents all over the side, and the corner of my bumper got crushed in oh and my wheels got a little chunk taken out of them. And on top of all those dents and stuff I have scratches ALL the way from the drivers door to the end of my tail lights. Lets just say it was old barbwire and it was DEEP.


The bus driver of course never stopped. the cops came and all and filed the report but turns out they didnt right down the name of the driver or any of the stuff I knew and told them multiple times. I took it and got an estimate today and it is going to be $3956.40 to fix it all. So I am very very pissed. The cop that came said I cant do anything about it since i didnt hit the bus, he said you should of just hit it, but he didnt consider the whole death factor I guess and the fact that this happens every day so im used to it and dont worry about it until she literally runs me completely into the ditch. I had 4 cops i have connections with however say that I need to do everything in my power to make the bus system pay for it since they caused it.

Insurance said I need to try my best to make the school pay for it, but if they wont then they said to file the claim through insurance and they will use their lawyers and go after them and make them pay.

But anyways just wanted to vent and let you know how my T got jacked up BAD.


Sean

 

[helomech]

Never leave you lane, always try to trade at least a little paint. Or get a camera in you vehicle like I have.

 

[Kiloms]

Dude...best of luck to you. I hope it all works out. That is pretty messed up on the buses part..

I know how back roads are, and it does get pretty tight with even two full size trucks...a bus is just.....yea bro.

Good luck.

 

[Warp09]

Sorry to hear man. I would have just stayed in my lane, and slowed down or stopped if I thought there wasn't enough room. Hope it works out for you.

 

[IronHide]

I would argue wreckless driving. She essentially ran you off of the road because she is too afraid of getting close to her shoulder, so she hogs the road. You could probably go after the county or city as well for not making the road wide enough in that section. It all depends on you though and how much energy you want to dump into this.

 

[MSrockyblue]

Nail her @ss! I've known drivers like her. They just expect everyone to get out of the way, even though, they're driving like a douche nozzle. I would sue for the damage, loss of transportation, and anything else you can think of.

 

[SWM]

Yea we are more than likely going to go after her on our own so that insurance doesnt have to get involved and make our rates go up even more. Being 17 and driving can be expensive on insurance lol. If it does all work out well I wish all my tires would have popped on the fence so i could go ahead and get 37's lol but not a single one went low...at least they are good

 

[SWM]

Oh and the bus does have a camera facing the rear so if you can tell through the back window it was over the line then that could be used as evidence especially if she was speeding it records speed too.

 

[TechTITAN08]

Buy a [email protected] train horn and blast the everloving $hit out of her the next time she pulls into your lane. Sorry for the damage, country back roads are the worst for anything bigger 2 full size trucks. Hope everything works out ok

 

[SWM]

I really looked into getting one of those awhile back but didnt know how mounting the compressor and tank would work out lol but I kinda wish I had thats a good thought but too late now

 

[54warrior]

like a douche nozzle.

hahaha, never heard that one before.

 

[layer1]

I would sit out there every morning for a week and video tape her coming down each morning. If this happens daily where she goes over the center line then you can get 3-4 days in a row and show that to your insurance company and letting them know she does this all the time... Then, I would take the videos and show the school district.

If I was parent of a child on that bus, I would want to know that the bus driver is endangering my child's life daily..

 

[Steelyeyedone]

Maybe trade a little paint, but give the lane to the bus. Even though it wouldn't be your fault, if you have the ability to avoid crashing into a bus at a combined speed of 70-80 MPH, hit the ditch. If nothing else, think of the kids on the bus before anything. At that speed, there will be injuries.

 

[54warrior]

I would sit out there every morning for a week and video tape her coming down each morning. If this happens daily where she goes over the center line then you can get 3-4 days in a row and show that to your insurance company and letting them know she does this all the time... Then, I would take the videos and show the school district.

If I was parent of a child on that bus, I would want to know that the bus driver is endangering my child's life daily..

Excellent Idea.

 

[Jfree]

School bus drivers do that period, for some reason they believe that b/c they are driving the bus they can make wide turns, hog lanes and cut people off. As mentioned video tape the bus failing to maintain its lane, get a lawyer so you can get a copy of that tape asap!!!

I'm sorry that you had such a mediocre officer do the report that way, it pisses me off as an officer when they tell you stuff like that "just hit the bus". At the least he could do was make a supplemental report with the bus drivers information on it for investigative purposes.

 

[DeadRiver]

the first time i noticed her over the line i would have called the bus company.

i would have called every time there after.

by now you'd have a case against her.

for now, try to get the bus company to pay, were there any students on the bus? if so you have some witnesses (albeit children)

let your insurance fight the bus companies insurance, it's why you pay insurance in the first place. the burden of proof is on you however.

 

[DeadRiver]

also, you're buying a fence for someone........ the bus company should foot that tab as well.

 

[Shane06fl]

You do know that unless a witness steps up to agree with your statement you have very little to go on. Try the video tape idea for a few days before you even go to the school system. If you go to early and they mention something to her she will probably drive properly for a while. Build your case then go and see them.

I know it sucks but if everyone could walk into a business and say ''your driver ran me off the road but I have no witnesses" and then get paid, we would pay 100 times more insurance than we all ready pay. Good luck!!

 

[DisturbedR6]

iv complained tot he schools a few times for buses doing the same thing on small roads...

they ahve always thanked me for my info and hope the driver gets in trouble.. id def try hard for the school to help out

 

[tiller87]

I feel for you man, it's easy for folks on here to "monday night quarterback" here in the comfort of their computer chair instead of in the situation, don't feel bad about the decisions you made.. Hope everything works out well for you.