Not at fault accident

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Createdbykt, May 2, 2025.

  1. Createdbykt

    Createdbykt Bobtail Member

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    Yesterday in Mississippi I was driving a loaded flatbed truck and an older 70+ year old driver lost control of their vehicle and hit my trailer tires. We pulled over and everyone was fine, their car was not towed and no injuries.

    Their car was damaged but drivable, the DOT officer took our statements, I showed him the dash cam video of me maintaining my lane and driving under the speed limit due to wet conditions. He didn’t issue a citation or do an inspection, he simply gave me a case number to give to my company and we all drove off.


    I was a week away from getting a different job, I have no tickets. I only have this accident, warning for a missed weigh station 10 months ago, and a backing incident at a shipper that damaged my light.

    Am I screwed? I wanted to go local and a hazmat gig finally opened up in my area. I have 1.6 years of experience. What should I do?
     
    D.Tibbitt Thanks this.
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  3. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

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    No you aren't screwed . I have 3 not at fault accidents on my record. 2 of them being the exact scenario you described.. one of them happened to me last year on my birthday. have never had a problem getting hired... it's trucking #### happens. Most any hiring manager that has been around the industry for a couple years understands that. They may ask what happened in an interview , just tell them the truth. Not a huge deal
     
  4. Iamoverit

    Iamoverit Road Train Member

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    I seriously doubt it'll stop you from getting a local job. Insurance for local carriers is a lot more lenient vs interstate transportation.
     
  5. ducnut

    ducnut Road Train Member

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    What should you do? Keep moving forward, pursue that local job, get paid for all your time, and get your life back.
     
  6. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    You should be ok, but don't lie if an application asks "have you had an accident?" The answer is "Yes, I was hit by another driver and it was classified as not at fault." Keep a copy of that report for YOU for the rest of your career.
     
  7. Brandonpdx

    Brandonpdx Road Train Member

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    This just happened to me a week ago on Saturday morning in Ohio. You know what caused it? She didn't even see the empty lowboy trailer when she went to do a panic lane change to go diving for the exit off-ramp. I could tell that by how hard she bounced her SUV off the driver side of the trailer. I've been driving since 2011 and nothing like that had ever happened while minding my own business in the slow lane so I was like WTF...are you kidding me? She was a moron with either a meth or fentanyl habit I could tell immediately, so there you go...sometimes some loser comes along and ruins your day. She was found at fault and cited but I still get to explain this for the next 3-5 years to anybody who asks, so not real happy about that. But those empty low profile trailers...people wont see them sometimes as hard as that is to believe.
     
  8. Brandonpdx

    Brandonpdx Road Train Member

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    I'd say you've managed to keep you nose pretty clean for a new guy. The only one that really suggests a lack of spatial awareness or judgement (get out and look?) would be the backing incident. Everybody has a couple of those in the first year or two. Sometimes guy's have their ego get in the way also. All the other super truckers will be laughing if they see me getting out to look.
     
  9. Createdbykt

    Createdbykt Bobtail Member

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    Yea I failed to GOAL, I was in a rush stressing after finding out my girl was cheating on me. No excuse but my mind wasn’t clear, that’s my mistake and now I know never drive like that ever. And thanks for the help brother.
     
    hope not dumb twucker Thanks this.
  10. Createdbykt

    Createdbykt Bobtail Member

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    Okay driver, will do thanks for the clarification.
     
    tscottme Thanks this.
  11. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

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    Seems like ever since covid people's driving has gone to the toilet. Even worse than it already was. Don't know what happened . Must've been something in those vaccines that has long term effects on motor skills.
     
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