The Shoulder
The Shoulder
63
clear-fox-473

Two years ago today a farm trailer almost killed me on a back road. Still processing it.

I don't really know why I'm posting this today except that anniversaries do something weird to your brain and I needed to put it somewhere.

Two years ago tonight I was driving home from my cousin's going-away party, completely sober, good mood, nothing unusual. It was a rural two-lane road I'd driven probably a thousand times. Cloudy, no moon.

Out of nowhere — and I mean nowhere — there's this massive flatbed trailer parked halfway into my lane. No reflectors I could see, no hazard lights, nothing. I was doing the speed limit. By the time my headlights actually caught it I had maybe a second, maybe less. I yanked the wheel, clipped the rear corner of the trailer, and my car went sideways into the drainage ditch along the road.

I remember the airbag. I remember silence. I remember unbuckling myself and just... sitting there in the tilted car trying to figure out if I was dead.

I wasn't dead. Fractured two ribs, tore something in my shoulder, and had a concussion that made the next three weeks genuinely miserable. The shoulder took almost eight months of PT before I felt close to normal, and honestly some mornings it still reminds me.

The trailer belonged to a farm operation and had apparently been left there while somebody went to get a different vehicle. No ticket was ever issued that I know of. That part still makes me angry.

Insurance stuff dragged on for over a year. I felt like I was constantly fighting to be believed.

Anyone else get hit by something that shouldn't have been there? How did you handle the liability side when it wasn't another driver?

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13 replies

  • 13
    tidy-fox-074

    The anniversary thing is so real. My chest gets tight every time the season rolls around and it's been three years for me. You're not alone in that.

    And yes — I was hit by a situation where the fault wasn't a traditional 'other driver' either. It's so much harder to navigate because people keep asking 'well who was the driver' and the answer is complicated. Took forever to get anyone to take responsibility.

    • 0
      mellow-road-soul393

      Saving this whole thread. Really appreciate the honesty here.

    • 1
      patient-traveler746

      Curious whether you did this on your own or had help with it.

  • 21
    curious-sparrow-261

    Not legal advice, but I'll say this much — 'vehicle or equipment left in a roadway' cases can absolutely involve liability on the owner of that equipment even if no one was actively driving it at the time. The key is usually negligence in how it was positioned and whether proper warnings were in place. If you haven't already talked to someone who handles this, the anniversary might actually be a good nudge to revisit where things stand. Statutes of limitations vary a lot by state.

  • 17
    swift-swan-853

    The fact that no ticket was issued is going to be something the farm's insurer leans on HARD. They will use that to argue there was no finding of fault. Don't let that be the end of the story — a citation (or lack of one) isn't the same as actual legal liability. Adjusters know most people don't know that distinction.

  • 12
    mellow-marten-206

    I used to work claims and I'll be honest with you — unlit equipment in a roadway cases were ones we took seriously internally even when we were pushing back externally. The exposure for the equipment owner is real. The reason we pushed back was because a lot of claimants just... gave up. Knowing that might be useful to you.

    • 1
      careful-passenger374

      Did you have to escalate, or did they come around after the first ask?

  • 20
    patient-elk-865

    Rib fractures and a concussion together are genuinely brutal, people underestimate that combination. The shoulder tear on top of it — your body went through a lot. Eight months of PT sounds about right honestly, sometimes longer. How's your sleep been? Trauma anniversaries can mess with that even years later and it's worth mentioning to someone if it is.

  • 9
    gentle-crow-995

    I'm so sorry. Reading this I just kept thinking about how different it could have gone and I don't even know you. I'm glad you're here to post this. Seriously.

  • 9
    steady-elk-852

    Two things: get a copy of every document from that incident if you don't already have them — accident report, any photos, medical records, the works. Keep them somewhere you can find them. Second, if the liability question was never fully resolved, go talk to a PI attorney. Most do free consults. The anger you feel about no ticket being issued is valid and it might actually matter legally.

    • 2
      careful-wanderer328

      Did you have to escalate, or did they come around after the first ask?

  • 7
    bold-seal-493

    Did you ever find out for sure who owned the trailer and whether they had any kind of insurance coverage? I'm curious how that piece got sorted out — or didn't. That seems like it would be the whole ballgame for getting any resolution.

    • 4
      grounded-sidewalk277

      Took me three tries but they finally budged. Don't give up.