RIP Adira Tal: My F-150 Lightning Saved Me

[Aminorjourney]

Short post as I’m recovering but holy heck am I lucky to be alive.

I hit some ice underneath fresh snowpack on a gravel road yesterday at 20 mph going down a hill. The truck couldn’t stop and while I was able to move it slightly toward the direction I wanted to go in, the truck said no.

I hit a guy line for a power pole that then filleted the passenger side. It then pulled the line on top of the truck, which smashed the roof and rear window while falling to the ground.

I survived… somehow. I have a bad back and stuff muscles and although no airbags went off, I may have broken a bone in my hand (pending orthopedic ref).

The truck is written off. Even with good winter tires the ice was too much.

Now I need to find a replacement.

Oh and always wear a seatbelt!

 

[AmandaB]

Wow glad your okay.

 

[Chriseberle]

Hoping for a speedy recovery, so sorry to hear about your accident.

 

[Mcfly]

Glad your okay! Sorry about your truck I'm sure that was really scary from the way you described it.

 

[ryun]

Glad you're safe! Sorry about your truck. Had to be a rare blue one too.

 

[Jhalkias]

Glad to see you could walk away from that. Trucks can be replaced. Hope you have a speedy recovery!

 

[Maquis]

Love the name you gave your former truck. LLAP!

 

[TaxmanHog]

Speedy recovery, glad nothing worse happened to you!!!!

 

[Prime8]

Glad you were not more seriously injured. Speedy recovery!

 

[TomB985]

I'm sorry to hear about that. Glad it wasn't worse, and hopefully your insurance company treats you right. Are you planning another Lightning?

 

[PreservedSwine]

That’s terrifying- glad u walked away from that

 

[JPro]

Very sorry to hear about your accident, I hope your wrist is ok. I saw your video last night after coming home from Mount Hood after skiing. I'd grown a little over confident in my driving in winter conditions and got put in my place after almost sliding into a barrier on a curve while I thought I had great traction. Lesson learned the easy way in my case...

 

[River Rat]

Wow, any landing you walk away from is good. Nice to see the lights still work. Its ok I'll let my self out.

 

[HaroldCal]

I know it's probably a distant thought right now, but if the insurance company is totaling it, it's worth determining if the battery pack is intact. Maybe you want to buy it back and convert the battery into a powerwall? From what I've seen, y'all have the aptitude (and contacts) to make it happen. A permanent 130KWh powerwall would be great for keeping that server closet up and running.

When my '05 F350 was stolen a few years ago, it was recovered 2 weeks later. The actual damage was fairly minor, but it was going to need to be painted, and some minor body work to make me whole. This was during Covid, and it was near impossible to get a call back from an adjuster. Because of its age, the InsCo ultimately totaled it, and offered me $15k for it. Of course that wouldn't be enough to begin to replace it, and because I have a 40ft toy hauler, I must have a Super-Duty truck to tow it (at least for now). And I really didn't want to buy anything else. Hopefully we will see some heavy duty EV haulers come along before too long, but this was in 2020, so it was still a long way out in any event.

I asked about keeping the remains of it, and they said it's scrap value was $1k. The motor alone was worth more than that, so I was definitely getting it back. They wrote me a check for $14k, and I got my perfectly well running (but now ugly) truck back. And since I have a client that owns a body shop, I knew he would take good care of me, get it looking as good as new. And that's exactly what happened. I got a high quality fresh paint job, all the dents out, etc. The truck still runs like a champ for the handful of times per year that I use it. In the end, I came out net positive on the insurance settlement. Prior to my Lightning purchase, this F350 was the only new vehicle I had ever purchased. And I suspect I will be handing it down to my kids in the will.

 

[Willebrew]

Wow, I’m so sorry that happened to you, thank goodness you’re okay. Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do when you hit a patch of ice and lose all traction. Trucks can be replaced, lives can’t. Wishing you the best and a speedy recovery!

Short post as I’m recovering but holy heck am I lucky to be alive.

I hit some ice underneath fresh snowpack on a gravel road yesterday at 20 mph going down a hill. The truck couldn’t stop and while I was able to move it slightly toward the direction I wanted to go in, the truck said no.

I hit a guy line for a power pole that then filleted the passenger side. It then pulled the line on top of the truck, which smashed the roof and rear window while falling to the ground.

I survived… somehow. I have a bad back and stuff muscles and although no airbags went off, I may have broken a bone in my hand (pending orthopedic ref).

The truck is written off. Even with good winter tires the ice was too much.

Now I need to find a replacement.

Oh and always wear a seatbelt!