The Day That Changed My Life


I had just picked Jerielle up from her house. Were on our way to dinner, which has been postponed for 3 weeks because of schedule conflicts, or school. We were about half-way to Macaroni Grill from her house, at the intersection of Tualatin-Sherwood Road, and Martinazzi Avenue, driving with the windows down. I heard my GPS say "Turn Left on Martinazzi Avenue" So, instinctively, I started making the turn. The last light I had seen was Green, but that was for the center lane, not the left turn lane. I glanced at my GPS for a split second, and ran the Red light in the left turn lane. Jerielle said "YOU HAVE A RED LIGHT!!!!" but by this time, I was past the point of no return, I saw the Toyota coming towards me with his wheels locked up, skidding, and all I could think to do is push the gas pedal through the floor and hope for the best.

If I had not hit the gas, the Toyota would have hit Jerielles door, but because I stepped on the pedal, the Toyota hit the bed right behind the passenger side suicide door. It snapped my right rear axle-shaft, and spun me sideways.

This part I'm not sure of. I know that at some point, I hit a Mercedes, and at some point I rolled. But I am not sure what order.

After we got sideways, I turned my steering wheel to try to get back straight, but nothing happened. I remember being at an angle, then on my side, then upside down. Jerielle had her hands on the roof holding herself up in the seat. I let my seatbelt hold me up and reached over and touched her leg and said

"Are you ok? don't un-buckle yourself! Is your neck ok?"

She said "I'm fine, I'm holding myself up right now."

"Ok, be careful when you un-buckle yourself, there is Glass everywhere. I am so sorry!" I replied.

I carefully unbuckled my seatbelt, and carefully laid with my back against the roof of the cab. I started to pull myself out, but didn't want to cut myself on the glass or sharp metal. Someone had run over and asked if we were ok. I said "We are both fine, help me out of here." I reached up and grabbed his hand and he pulled me up. I ran around to the other side of the truck and embraced Jerielle, and thanked the person that helped her out. I went over to the sidewalk and sat down.

Nobody was seriously injured in this wreck, just sore, and a couple bruises.



Now on to the damaged property:

Toyota: crushed front right nose, not sure if the P/S IFS system is messed up.

Mercedes: Damaged left front nose, hood crushed down, radiator or radiator hose damaged.

2001 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4: Flipped. Damage on all panels, passenger side axle shaft snapped off, leaf springs twisted up, shocks destroyed, rear axle 45* from what it should be, driveshaft pulled apart, toolbox fell off, stuff dumped everywhere, windshield broken, not sure what else.

Just to prove that I did everything right when I modded it, all of my mods stayed in place, secured where they were supposed to be. The speaker that I had mounted next to my head for my Ham radio acted as a cushion for my head keeping it from bending too far (and probably why I don't have whiplash), and kept me from slamming my head into the door-jam. the speaker face has a nice head shaped dent in it though... but that's OK, cause it saved me.


I must also say, that having that seatbelt hit my shoulder, and tighten down on my lap, has NEVER felt better. I'm glad we were both wearing them.

So, that one is done. Time to start saving the pennies again, and eventually, get an FX4 Level II. I am definitely buying another Ranger, because "These things are TANKS" and I know that between the engineering, and my driving skill, it saved Jerielle and my life.

There will be pictures online after I get them.

 

Holy ***** man. I'm glad you guys are alright, that could have been so much worse.

Is that the only pic you have?

 

Glad to read you are both ok.

 

at this point, yes. there will be more tho as soon as I can get them from the PD.

"how did you guys walk away from that... i thought you were dead." - someone who has seen a few rollovers

 

I don't think these trucks get enough credit for safety, I knew a couple a guys over the years that have had really bad wrecks in Rangers and were able to walk away.

 

ik how that feels man. thank god i was by myself when it happened. i fell asleep at the wheel a few years ago and crossed the center lane on a country road, went into a ditch and hit a big tree. my seatbelt broke, airbag didnt go off, i hit the windshield and the steering wheel broke my ribs. if some guy driving towards me up the road hadnt seen it happen and pull me out id be dead. when he was pullin me out the truck caught fire and burned up the whole front end and cab of my truck. only thing left of the engine was the block and my seat was completely burned up. glad to hear you all are ok. kinda scared me bc you said it was the day the changed your life then you started talkin bout your gf.. thought she had been killed or somethin

 

Damn man. Glad you are all ok! Trucks are always replaceable, but we only get one life.

 

already commented on trf but good thing you guys are ok, screw the truck you can get another right :P

 

thank god count your lucky stars thank your angle cross your t's and dot your i's and let it be a hard lesson learned, hopefully no one involved will sue and you can get back to normal

 

Wow dude that looks like a bad crash. Glad everyone is ok

 

damn dude im glad your ok.


i know the feeling of being out with the girl you want to be with and ****ing up. i clipped the rear of a suv last week with the new brush guard and neither of us had out seat belts on. just happend to be everyone slamming on brakes in front of me. sam almost hit her face off the dash. but everything was ok and the guy didnt make me pay for the 2 small marks i left in his bumper.

the thing that scared me most was knowing if sam was ok.

but again dude glad you ok. keep your head up. things will get better

 

Wow dude good to see you typing this. Yeah couldve been much worse.

 

wow....it is amazing you just walked out of it. And its good to hear that your instincts helped save ur girl's life too...or atleast from further injury. I hope you dont get too screwed over for being the cause of the accident and i hope you get yourself back on some wheels soon!

 

glad your ok...they put seatbelts in cars for a reason

 

Wait, what changed your life? Did I miss something? All I saw was something about looking at a GPS, running a redlight, and rolling the truck.

 

Glad your ok!

 

Damn man that sucks. Glad everyone is okay. Hope everything works out

 

I'm gunna send the story to Ford when I figure out how to contact them


nope! everythings ok. (well, except my dignity and truck lol) sorry to hear about your wreck.

Someone came up to me and said... "i saw you roll and thought for sure you were dead..."

i feel terrible cause I know that if things hadn't lined up just right, she'd be badly hurt if not dead.

and I will never fight wearing them again. sometimes i thought about taking it off cause its annoying, never again.

probably gunna have to settle with a i4 2WD for now till i can afford the one that I really want... my insurance is going to skyrocket tho. i lose all discounts, plus it goes up.

 

looks like your not getting your cherry popped ahha

sorry about the truck

 

Here are some that my dad took... still waiting for the ones from the PD

 

damn dude

 

yes, that last pic is me on the phone with shane "dude, my ****s all kinds of ****ed up"

 

Glad your ok. Makes me feel good about our trucks. That should buff right out.

 

Wow

 

Glad your ok, but, if your GPS said "turn right" why did you make a left turn?
and how come you made a left turn in front of an oncoming vehicle? you said you thought the light was green, but anytime it's NOT a green arrow and you are making a left turn, you need to yield to oncoming traffic.
I know i sound like some parent yelling at a kid, but you or your G/F could have been killed.