Sad loss of my son's truck...BUT my boy is ALIVE!

My son bought his truck a few years ago (March 2020) from my best friend. The truck was a 2002 Tacoma TRD Off Road 4x4, standard transmission V6. My best friend bought it new and my son bought it for a great deal. It was my son's first car and he took great care of it!

It had a lot done to it in the past 12 months...including Timing Belt. Water Pump, drive shaft, steering rack, clutch, all belts and hoses, and a BUNCH more. It was in like new shape and looked great.

A few days ago a girl was driving the wrong way on the highway - and my son was in the wrong place at the wrong time (words of the Highway Patrolman). It was at night and he was leaving campus and delivering a prosthetic to a friend. There were 3 cars involved - including the girl going the wrong direction - all 3 were airlifted.

My son broke his leg in 3 places (compound fractures) and had 3 surgeries (one plastic surgery to his ear from flying glass). The doctors say my son should be 100% in 4-6 months. I do know the other 2 folks are alive but do not know any other info.

I'm not usually in this forum - as I have a 3rd Gen...but I am very grateful that my son walked away from this accident. I will say the other cars involved (newer model Nisan Rogue and VW Golf) did not fair as well. There are a lot of variables that could account for the other cars looking worse; but the speed limit of the highway was 70MPH, and I am aware of how this could have turned out. My son is unhappy about all the money he recently put into his truck and losing his first truck, but he understands what could have happened.

I do have full coverage on his vehicle (USAA) and they have asked for all receipts over the past year and for videos/pics of his truck. We will see what happens.

 

Glad he’s ok.. Best wishes on his recovery!

 

Sorry to hear all this. Glad he is alive and will recover. We had one near us not too long ago and there were three fatalities. Looks like his truck did its job.

 

The truck is replaceable, life is not! Prayers for everyone involved.

 

Thank you!

 

Thanks - I am thrilled - If I knew a Toyota engineer I'd buy him/her a cup of coffee!

 

Amen to that - thank you. My son and our entire family is praying for everyone too.

 

My dad is a Navy veteran and I have USAA. They are awesome!

 

Wow! Glad your son is going to be OK. That is unbelievable.
I live in Ohio and it seems like every week someone is going the wrong way on the highway and creating mayhem like your son experienced. Almost without exception alcohol or drugs were involved.
I wish him a quick recovery and hopefully his next Tacoma will be even nicier.

 

I'm glad your kid is alright man that's the most important thing out of everything. I know how messed up it can be and the mindset he's probably in, I lost 2 cars myself in pretty bad accidents last year within 5 months to distracted driver. let him know that the process and insurance will handle all that and let him just focus on getting better.

 

Very happy to hear your son will recover.

 

Good to hear your son will be ok... could have been a lot worse. Your a lucky Father.

 

Bummer about the truck, glad your kid will recover. Crazy that he walked away given he had a broken leg.

 

X2

 

Most the time they are drunk!

 

Glad to hear your son is alive and well.

Hurts my heart to see what happened to that beautiful truck, but after all it is a machine that can be replaced, and it did its job keeping your son alive.

Best wishes!

 

Very impressive that your son walked away with 3 compound fractures in his leg.

But seriously, it's amazing that he's ok. I've seen people die from a lot less. Thank you for sharing this, I've been feeling more and more uneasy over the years watching crash test videos of new vs old vehicles, but this puts my mind at ease some even if it is a singular data point. I wish your son a speedy recovery and the best of luck with his next vehicle!

 

Good to hear your son will be OK, glad the truck did its job. Good luck to your son on his recovery.

In my experience, USAA does a great job at taking care of its customers, sounds like you’re approaching them correctly.

 

Tell you son to focus on rehab and therapy for his leg. Let the insurance company deal with the wreck. Another Tacoma can always be found, and he'll have plenty of time to look for one while he's rehabbing. He' a very fortunate young man to survive a wreck like that with a broken leg. As other have stated, people have died in wrecks with less damage than your sons truck. God Bless.