I'm back!

First, I want to thank the admins for helping me back to my old Username!

Since the last time I was on, it just seems a lot has happened. Why it took me so long to get back on.

I have been driving my poor 2016 Tacoma Limited like crazy. I started out with 14,500+ miles when I bought it, and now it has close to 60,000, in just three short years...good thing the years weren't longer!

Since moving to Utah in January 2021, I have had to make multiple trips back to CA.

This last December, just 11 days after my mom turned 90, she passed away. So, including being there for her birthday, I have had to make multiple trips to her house in Elk Grove (CA) to help my brother and sisters clean out her house (one BIG closet).

On our way back from the first trip after her passing, my wife and I were driving north on US93, just 5 miles south of Caliente, NV @ around 11:00PM, when a wild horse stepped out in front of us. I had very little time to react, and nailed him in his/hers hind quarter with the left front end of my Tacoma. It made a heck of a mess of the truck, and I have no idea what happened to the horse, since I had to drive another 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile down the road before I could pull off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_r4uSztiN8

Once I got pulled over, I had a hard time opening my door, but the front left fender was about a foot out and smashed back towards the front left door.

A guy from BLM just happened to stop and when he saw the damage, followed us into Caliente where we could fill up and call the Nevada Highway Patrol. Once the officer created the report and gave me the report number for my insurance, he took off to check on the horse.

The BLM guy then followed us to the next town, Panaca, and then we headed east to Cedar City. All in all, we had to drive the truck 100 miles. The battery was busted front and back, the left door was sprung out of it's frame, so the cold wind was coming in. (it was around 27F at the time).

But we managed to get home, I called my insurance co. and they told me to take it to a body shop. I checked around with some Cedar City folks and they recommended a couple different places, so after I pulled the broken battery out through where the headlight used to be and replaced the battery with a cheap Walmart one, I took it to one of the body shops.

The first estimate was for $13K. So insurance gave them the okay to fix it. But, they found that the front wiring harness was toast, + $3,100. Then the truck wouldn't start, so they had it towed to St George Toyota to figure out why... The ECM, Tire Monitor controller and the Airbag controller were all shorted out. (Another $2K) No idea when that happened, but I was sure lucky that I was able to get it to them.

The adjusted total was for over $21K. The day after I picked it up from the body shop, I got a call from my insurance company, talking about totaling it! When I told the guy I had picked it up from the shop the day before, he said, okay, I guess that pretty much takes care of that!

I've still got a few minor issues, but for now I have to prepare for yet another trip back to NorCA. I'll be leaving on Sunday. Only this time, I'll be watching for horses!

Again, a big thank you to the Admins for helping me get back to my old Username!

BTW, I'm no longer having to Lane Split all those SoCal freeways, now that I'm retired!

 

Wow, you don't see that every day....thankfully. Glad you are OK and got the truck back. Looking at the body lines, it looks like your body shop did a pretty good job.

 

dang that is crazy.

seems that the animal was not phased by you at all. just took its sweet time crossing the road.

"edit" jealous of you as well. i live in Sacramento and want to move to Utah so badly. it is a gorgeous state.

 

Hey Paul, they are building a house just across the street from me. But, just like CA, prices here have gone up too. We were lucky to get in when we did!

 

P.S. sorry to hear about your mom.

 

Geez! crazy! Gotta watch out for those wild horses man. They will fu#$ your shit up everytime! sorry to see that, glad it didn't go through the glass but if you are gonna jack your truck up ill take that over a basic ass accident!

 

Glad you were okay!

Seeing in your picture you were also towing a trailer, I really tip my hat to you that you kept control of the vehicle having to drive through the obstacle. I’ve towed trailers with my truck and know that it makes sudden movements all the harder, let alone avoiding a large wild animal in the road. Watching your video made me feel really glad that I just installed a Garmin Mini in my truck. This situation is my absolute worst nightmare with how many deer are wandering around here getting pushed by all the suburban growth.

Its good to see how the truck disperses the damage with the crumple zones, but sadly yes all the electronics are all on that side of the engine bay.

Thank you for sharing your story.

 

15k a year isn't that bad lol. Not bad at all.

Also, I've seen much worse damage from much smaller animals. Super lucky and glad you are okay. Very lucky that big of an animal didn't make it through the windshield.

That's a lot of money for insurance to shell out, so hopefully no issues pop up in the future. Good luck man! Be safe.

 

It's well past time we open up hunting season on those non-native invasive species.

That's a bad accident that could have been much worse; the deer vs. vehicles accidents in CA are bad enough. You were very lucky you didn't hit it a bit sooner and have it come through the windshield, but I'll bet you've already thought of that dire possibility.
Your YouTube clip seems to have something attached to the mouth area of the horse, any idea what that might be? Possibly a bag stuck on the horse's head? Maybe it truly did not see you.

 

Sorry it took so long to get back, but I'm back home, after spending 5 weeks in NorCal! Sure is nice to be home.

The only thing we can tell that is in the horses mouth, is probably his last meal of some sort of food.

On my return trip, I drove over the same sections of roads, but did it during the day, so no night time surprises!