Hello, This is my first post so I apologize if I'm not doing something properly. Anyway here it goes:
About 20 months ago, I was Driving in Wisconsin in a 1 ton Dually truck, pulling a small goose neck trailer with a tractor and a couple of engines on it. I had 2 other passengers. It was just after dark and I had just loaded the tractor on the trailer with a local farmer. I turned from a gravel road on to a paved 2 lane highway. I know that I had trailer lights because I looked at them to see where the tail end of my trailer was when i was turning. I then was accelerating up to the speed limit and at about 35mph I noticed a set of headlights in my mirror coming up really fast. The next thing I know my truck gets slammed into from behind and my steering wheel didn't operate the wheels anymore so i was pushed partially into the oncoming traffic lane. Everyone was in shock and I yelled for my passengers to get out as fast as possible as I was worried that we might be struck by another vehicle from either direction. I got out and the person who hit me was out running around on his phone, I called 911 and tried to get the other driver to lay down so he wouldn't possibly injure himself anymore if he had internal injuries. He refused and put me on the phone with his father, I told his father what happened and he couldn't believe that his son had rear ended me and not the other way around. The ambulance showed up and the sheriffs department and they immediately started drilling me with questions, one of them was demanding that I explain how my lights were working when there was no wire in the plug anymore because it had been ripped out when the trailer was actually separated from the goose neck ball from the impact. He took the plug apart, Then made me start filling out a statement and several times told me that they can tell if the bulb was lit when it broke. One of the emt's told me that this isn't how they normally treated people and she thought that was strange. My passengers also filled out statements and were checked over by the emt's. Several minutes later I found out that the person who hit me was one of the sheriff's deputies son's. They were still asking me tons of questions in a pretty harsh way and then the state patrol showed up because of conflict of interest, but he knew them all well and then all of them were drilling me telling me I didn't have any lights. Was I on drugs? etc. I gave the state officer the number of the farmer who had just loaded the tractor and confirmed that my lights were on. I then noticed that my passengers were missing and inquired about them. They told me that they had been taken to the nearest town and were dropped off at a hotel there. I informed them that they had no money or anything. They said it wasn't their problem. They brought portable lights and a crash reconstruction specialist out and made me stand there and would come ask me questions every 5 minutes or so. They were not nice when they were doing this either. about 4-5 hours after the accident they made me get in to the back of a sqad car and took me 30 minutes the opposite direction from my passengers and made me take a blood test at the hospital. after the test I sat in a room for about 40 minutes and I saw the person who hit me and his family walk out of the hospital and they were all glaring at me when they went by. Then the state officer came in and asked me more questions and recorded me this time. Finally after that (now about 3 am in the morning) He said I was free to go. I asked him how I was supposed to get to my passengers and he talked with another officer there and told me it was out of their way but they would take me there. I asked when I could get my belongings and my truck and stuff and I was told that all that was police evidence and I wouldn't be able to get any of it back until he decided. I asked him for a time frame and he said it could be a week or a month or a year. I also asked him for the other drivers insurance information and he told me he would call me the next day with the info and also how many tickets I would be issued. I got back into the squad car and rode for an hour or so to the hotel. Luckily the hotel had allowed them to get a room ahead of time of me being there to pay for it. I paid for the room and went to sleep. The next day I tried to find a rental car to get home with and tried to call the state officer multiple times to no avail. The nearest town with a rental car was over an hour away and they told me that they wouldn't be able to bring it to me until later. I kept calling them and they kept saying later. At about 6pm I called them again, worried that they would be closing soon and I would be stuck in this town another day. They brought me a car at about 7pm finally and we drove home. I had to call into work and I was starting to have some pain in my neck. So were my passengers. We didn't get home until late that night and the next day we all went to the doctors office to get checked out. I still was trying to get a hold of the state officer again and again but he would not return my calls. After a week or so I get a call from a towing place wanting to know when I was going to come get my stuff, I said that no one had informed me that i could I asked how much it would cost to get my stuff and They told me 1500! So I had to get some friends and 2 more trucks and 2 trailers and drive up there and get all my stuff. Spent over 600 in fuel. I kept calling and calling this state officer for months I called him everyday. I still have not talked to that officer since that night. I then found a random attorney and they tried to find out what was going on. I received 2 tickets in the mail, one for a clearance light not being on the front of my trailer, and one for the trailer brakes not functioning completely. They talked to the state police and were told that the state was still completing an accident reconstruction report and when it was done they would be able to get it and the police report. So nothing happened at all for almost 8 months when I randomly got a call from American family about the accident, asking me all these questions. I got the guys number and name and hung up and gave it to my attorney. They talked or something and American family said they would not do anything until they had the results of the accident reconstruction report. Over a year went by until we were told that the report was done and based on the results they would only pay for 50% of the cost of the trailer and that was it. I said no and I wanted to see the accident reconstruction report and police report. When I finally got them i noticed that the other driver had been given 2 tickets also, one for not wearing a seat belt and one for texting on his phone and driving. In the report the other driver admitted that he wasn't paying attention to the road. I looked at the accident reconstruction report and the first page said something about due to the fact that they did not believe there was any criminal intent they have decided not to do a reconstruction. Then I am wondering what American family is even basing their decision off of. So I try to contact my attorney and I have been bumped through 2 or 3 different attorneys at this firm now. I can't get my attorney to call me back either so I keep calling until I get him. He tells me that they aren't really interested in this case because they have bigger fish to fry and this case is just pocket change. So here I am still out a truck, The trailer was my godfathers and he keeps having to rent trailers to haul his equipment around, Still out all the medical bills because I didn't have any health insurance at the time, still out the towing and storage fees, hotel, rental car, fuel, etc. Not to mention the stress that I have been dealing with on this for almost 2 years now. I am worried about the statue of limitations and I have no Idea what to do now. I'm so sick about how unfair this is. I am sorry for how long the story is and I hate reliving the experience, but there has to be someone who can help me or something I can do. Thank you for your time, I really appreciate it.
About 20 months ago, I was Driving in Wisconsin in a 1 ton Dually truck, pulling a small goose neck trailer with a tractor and a couple of engines on it. I had 2 other passengers. It was just after dark and I had just loaded the tractor on the trailer with a local farmer. I turned from a gravel road on to a paved 2 lane highway. I know that I had trailer lights because I looked at them to see where the tail end of my trailer was when i was turning. I then was accelerating up to the speed limit and at about 35mph I noticed a set of headlights in my mirror coming up really fast. The next thing I know my truck gets slammed into from behind and my steering wheel didn't operate the wheels anymore so i was pushed partially into the oncoming traffic lane. Everyone was in shock and I yelled for my passengers to get out as fast as possible as I was worried that we might be struck by another vehicle from either direction. I got out and the person who hit me was out running around on his phone, I called 911 and tried to get the other driver to lay down so he wouldn't possibly injure himself anymore if he had internal injuries. He refused and put me on the phone with his father, I told his father what happened and he couldn't believe that his son had rear ended me and not the other way around. The ambulance showed up and the sheriffs department and they immediately started drilling me with questions, one of them was demanding that I explain how my lights were working when there was no wire in the plug anymore because it had been ripped out when the trailer was actually separated from the goose neck ball from the impact. He took the plug apart, Then made me start filling out a statement and several times told me that they can tell if the bulb was lit when it broke. One of the emt's told me that this isn't how they normally treated people and she thought that was strange. My passengers also filled out statements and were checked over by the emt's. Several minutes later I found out that the person who hit me was one of the sheriff's deputies son's. They were still asking me tons of questions in a pretty harsh way and then the state patrol showed up because of conflict of interest, but he knew them all well and then all of them were drilling me telling me I didn't have any lights. Was I on drugs? etc. I gave the state officer the number of the farmer who had just loaded the tractor and confirmed that my lights were on. I then noticed that my passengers were missing and inquired about them. They told me that they had been taken to the nearest town and were dropped off at a hotel there. I informed them that they had no money or anything. They said it wasn't their problem. They brought portable lights and a crash reconstruction specialist out and made me stand there and would come ask me questions every 5 minutes or so. They were not nice when they were doing this either. about 4-5 hours after the accident they made me get in to the back of a sqad car and took me 30 minutes the opposite direction from my passengers and made me take a blood test at the hospital. after the test I sat in a room for about 40 minutes and I saw the person who hit me and his family walk out of the hospital and they were all glaring at me when they went by. Then the state officer came in and asked me more questions and recorded me this time. Finally after that (now about 3 am in the morning) He said I was free to go. I asked him how I was supposed to get to my passengers and he talked with another officer there and told me it was out of their way but they would take me there. I asked when I could get my belongings and my truck and stuff and I was told that all that was police evidence and I wouldn't be able to get any of it back until he decided. I asked him for a time frame and he said it could be a week or a month or a year. I also asked him for the other drivers insurance information and he told me he would call me the next day with the info and also how many tickets I would be issued. I got back into the squad car and rode for an hour or so to the hotel. Luckily the hotel had allowed them to get a room ahead of time of me being there to pay for it. I paid for the room and went to sleep. The next day I tried to find a rental car to get home with and tried to call the state officer multiple times to no avail. The nearest town with a rental car was over an hour away and they told me that they wouldn't be able to bring it to me until later. I kept calling them and they kept saying later. At about 6pm I called them again, worried that they would be closing soon and I would be stuck in this town another day. They brought me a car at about 7pm finally and we drove home. I had to call into work and I was starting to have some pain in my neck. So were my passengers. We didn't get home until late that night and the next day we all went to the doctors office to get checked out. I still was trying to get a hold of the state officer again and again but he would not return my calls. After a week or so I get a call from a towing place wanting to know when I was going to come get my stuff, I said that no one had informed me that i could I asked how much it would cost to get my stuff and They told me 1500! So I had to get some friends and 2 more trucks and 2 trailers and drive up there and get all my stuff. Spent over 600 in fuel. I kept calling and calling this state officer for months I called him everyday. I still have not talked to that officer since that night. I then found a random attorney and they tried to find out what was going on. I received 2 tickets in the mail, one for a clearance light not being on the front of my trailer, and one for the trailer brakes not functioning completely. They talked to the state police and were told that the state was still completing an accident reconstruction report and when it was done they would be able to get it and the police report. So nothing happened at all for almost 8 months when I randomly got a call from American family about the accident, asking me all these questions. I got the guys number and name and hung up and gave it to my attorney. They talked or something and American family said they would not do anything until they had the results of the accident reconstruction report. Over a year went by until we were told that the report was done and based on the results they would only pay for 50% of the cost of the trailer and that was it. I said no and I wanted to see the accident reconstruction report and police report. When I finally got them i noticed that the other driver had been given 2 tickets also, one for not wearing a seat belt and one for texting on his phone and driving. In the report the other driver admitted that he wasn't paying attention to the road. I looked at the accident reconstruction report and the first page said something about due to the fact that they did not believe there was any criminal intent they have decided not to do a reconstruction. Then I am wondering what American family is even basing their decision off of. So I try to contact my attorney and I have been bumped through 2 or 3 different attorneys at this firm now. I can't get my attorney to call me back either so I keep calling until I get him. He tells me that they aren't really interested in this case because they have bigger fish to fry and this case is just pocket change. So here I am still out a truck, The trailer was my godfathers and he keeps having to rent trailers to haul his equipment around, Still out all the medical bills because I didn't have any health insurance at the time, still out the towing and storage fees, hotel, rental car, fuel, etc. Not to mention the stress that I have been dealing with on this for almost 2 years now. I am worried about the statue of limitations and I have no Idea what to do now. I'm so sick about how unfair this is. I am sorry for how long the story is and I hate reliving the experience, but there has to be someone who can help me or something I can do. Thank you for your time, I really appreciate it.
