I was minding my own business, driving SB I-15 near Willard, Utah a when strips of vinyl siding from a tiny house flew off and collided with my brand new 2017 Chevy Volt Premier! And I caught the whole thing on video!
Video
Stuff I put to good use
Synopsis
My wife and I try to go out on “date night” every week. We don’t always hit that goal, but we try. Such was the case this bright and sunny Friday evening.
We had arranged to meet with my wife’s Sorority Sister and her husband in Ogden (about 60 miles from our home). We opted to drive my brand new 2017 Chevy Volt Premier – a plug-in electric vehicle with gasoline range-extender which is so far netting me about 70mpg!
As we crossed the overpass at Willard Bay (Exit 357), my wife and I both saw sudden breaking from the cars ahead of us and large white strips on the road which turned out to be strips of vinyl house siding – a few of which became airborne.
A quick situational assessment revealed that swerving to avoid was unsafe due to traffic conditions. One of the strips impacted the car.
House siding flying toward me at 75MPH.
I drive with Waze for Android Auto and after a few taps on the screen, I had reported “Object on road”, in the meantime, my wife dialed 9-1-1 to report the hazard to Utah Highway Patrol.
As soon as it was safe to pull over, I did so. As luck would have it, that was behind a pickup truck hauling a Tiny Home. I turned on my hazard lights and approached the individuals standing behind the Tiny House.
Picture showing the siding from the passenger side of the tiny house missing; additional siding from the front was also missing (not pictured).
“Is everyone okay?” I asked. After getting answers in the affirmative I asked, “So, who’s driving the house?”
A man said “That would be me. You got any damage?”
“Yeah, some,” I replied. I looked and saw a large section of siding missing on the “passenger” side of the tiny house and another section missing from its front. I returned and inspected the damage to my car. A chunk of the bumper was missing, and there were scratches and vinyl transfer on the bumper, hood, roof, and both the front and rear doors on the driver’s side. The windshield (apparently) only had vinyl smudges on it – no chips or cracks that I’ve been able to identify at this time. I took pictures to document the incident and was very glad to have a dash cam with footage to review later.
Damage to front bumper, grill, and hood on the passenger side of the license plate.
My wife and one of the individuals driving the hose exchanged phone numbers and insurance. Another car pulled in behind us. I approached it and (noting that the license plate was askew) asked the driver if she had received any damage. She said she had not, she was in the party transporting the tiny house.
After several minutes, the driver of the tiny house said, well, let’s get back on the road. Everyone loaded up and headed out. I was surprised since I had expected them to wait for Troopers to arrive. We called UHP back and advised that the tiny home was leaving the scene. Since there weren’t any apparent injuries and insurance had been exchanged, they told us we could leave, too. My wife followed up that they still needed to get someone out there to clear the siding from traffic.
Damage to the front bumper, grill, hood, and windshield.
Once we were back on the road we called our insurance company to report the incident. Here’s essentially how the call went:
“Hi, I’d like to report a new claim. I was driving on the freeway when I got hit by a house.”
“You ran into a house?”
“No. I was driving on the interstate when a house hit me – well, parts of a house.”
From there comments were exchanged about Ruby Slippers, whether or not their auto insurance or homeowner insurance would cover the damage, and the parting advice to keep an eye out for any flying monkeys.
Pictures
Record of Events
| Date | Event | Duration | Miles | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07/29/2017 | Incident | 0.29 hr | – | I-15 SB, ~Exit 357; Willard, Utah | Siding from a tiny home being towed on an Oversize Load trailer detached and became airborn, striking my vehicle. 9-1-1 was called, checks for injuries and damages were made, pictures were taken, and insurance information exchanged. Vehicle towing tiny house left the scene before UHP responded; we relayed this information to dispatch who advised we could also leave. |
| 07/29/2017 | Call | 0.39 hr | – | – | Reported incident to my auto insurance. |
| 07/31/2017 | Call | 0.25 hr | – | – | Our insurance company called asking for details about the incident; Requested we email the other party’s insurance card and provide them with the dash cam video of the incident. |
| 07/31/2017 | 0.25 hr | – | – | Sent email with other party’s insurance card attached; provided information about dash cam video. | |
| 08/01/2017 | Calls | 1.0 hr | – | – | Telephone correspondence between with my Insurance Representative. |
| 08/01/2017 | Emails | 1.0 hr | – | – | Email correspondence between with my Insurance Representative. |
| 08/01/2017 | Estimate | 0.75 hr | 3.6 mi | Perk’s | Requested/obtained written estimate. |
| 08/01/2017 | Geico Website | 0.50 hr | – | – | Geico had the wrong phone number, DOB, and vehicle information on file. Sent two messages through portal providing the corrected information and requsting the incorrect information be changed. Waiting on Geico rep to contact me to schedule a time to inspect damage. |
| 08/02/2017 | Calls & Inspection | 1.0 | – | – | Insurance company sent an inspector to document the damages to my Volt. He took pictures of the chunk taken out of the bumper, the scratches and transfer on the bumper, hood, roof, pillar, and rear driver-side door; he spent extra time looking at and documenting the dents in the roof. |
| 08/02/2017 | Calls | 0.25 | – | – | Geico rep called trying to get me to go to their location for a repair inspection. I let them know what had been previously agreed to about having a “Field Inspector” come to my location (my home or place of employment), had to argue the point, but eventually arranged for him to “try” to come to my place of employment Friday (08/04/2017). |
| 08/03/2017 | Calls | 0.50 | – | – | Geico called and left a voice mail. I returned the call and left a voice message. Got a call back and arranged (again) for their inspection my place of employment Friday (08/04/2017). |
| 08/04/2017 | Calls, Inspection | 0.75 | – | – | Received call from Geico that inspector/adjustor had arrived at my place of employment. Met with him while he documented the damage, prepared a quote, talked about options, and advised on next steps. I will coordinate with my insurance agent on how they would prefer that I proceeed. |
| … | … | … | … | … | … |
| Totals: | 6.93+ hr | 3.6+ mi | … | ||
