Yesterday I had my whole family at home for Sunday dinner. My wife was outside with our 11 year old autistic grandson. She let him sit in my pickup truck for a couple of minutes and he was able to pull my truck out of park without her noticing. I guess he is big enough now to depress the brake pedal and pull the shifter down. Anyhow my wife did not notice the truck was out of park. He climbed down from the drivers seat and walked around to the passenger side and climbed in. My wife was standing next to the passenger seat with him sitting in the passenger seat when the truck started rolling down our steep driveway. She was knocked down by the door and both of her legs were run over by the front tire. Our grandson jumped out through the open door and was also knocked down and one of his legs was run over as well. Thank God it was only their legs. If it had been any other parts of their bodies they would have probably died. My wife did not have any broken bones but has deep bone bruising and bleeding. She has cuts and lacerations from her ankles to the top of her head. Our grandson has a broken leg, but no other injuries. They both were able to come home from the hospital last night, although I believe my wife should still be there. I will take her in the morning to see an orthopedist. I never thought about my truck until they were both safely home. It rolled a couple hundred feet and hit a large oak tree. My truck has enough damage that I fear the insurance company may total it. I hope not I love that old truck. I have a question about the insurance. Which insurance will cover the medical bills and damage to the truck. Will it be a homeowners claim or auto. My homeowners and auto are with different companies so I expect both of them to try to pass the buck to the other one.

Glad they weren't hurt more seriously. Bad things happen really fast. I believe that would be homeowners as the truck was not being driven. Trucks can be replaced.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

Prayers sent and glad it wasnt much worse.

I certainly regret that this accident happened to your family, but I am also very glad that the injuries were not worse, as they certainly could have been. I am not an attorney, but I believe that your automobile insurance coverage will govern - "Collision" for the damages to your truck and "Bodily Injury" or "Medical Payments" for your wife and grandson's injuries. Auto Insurance Terms Explained - Insurance Definitions

__________________
That's what we do!

Both the truck and the injuries will be covered by the Auto policy, at least to the Medical Payments limit, after that medical costs will will be on your medical insurance. Depending on the situation with your Grandson, whether he is a member of your household or not, whether there would be any coverage under Liability. There is no Liability coverage for your wife since she is a named insured on the policy, whether so listed or not. There is no coverage under Bodily Injury as that is a Liability coverage.

From what you describe the Homeowners will not be involved in any way. If your house had been damaged in any way by the runaway truck that would have been covered by the Homeowners policy.

BTW, Insurance is what I have done for a living for the past 23 years!

__________________
Gunsmithing since 1961

OMG, sorry to hear that, prayers for you and your family.

__________________
Sure you did

A similar thing happened to my wife today. She's a home health care aid and one of her clients lives up a dirt road in the mountains. I drove her to work in our 4wd truck today to her clients trailer and nobody was home.
Then they pulled up behind us in an SUV.
My wife's client and his wife don't drive so it was another family member that helped them.
I saw that my wife was set, so I headed on out.
My wife's client has MS, can't walk and has trouble with movement in general.
She told me that after I left and while she was helping to unload the vehicle that it started rolling backwards, down a hill towards the woods with her client in it. My wife managed to jump in the open drivers door and hit the emergency brake with her hand and stop the vehicle.
Everybody's ok but my wife's still shaken by the experience.

Too close a call! I'm glad to hear they are relatively alright.

Glad it wasn't any worse than it was. Hope all recover soon.

__________________
Goose
I'm still standing.

Did he release the parking brake too?

Glad to here there were not very serious injuries. Prayers for you all.

I have a autistic GS also he's older now 16yo, it's hard to believe how strong he was when he was a little tyke, and is good with his hands. He can figure things out very well. One of his problems is he can't display and seems like feel no pain so we have to watch him with pain issues. They call him a happy high and will be able to go out on his own but won't be like others his age and it was surprising with his autism how he eventually figured things out. Gotta keep a eye on them, they can do things you wouldn't think and don't realize some of the things that they do could harm themself. But each are different. My GS would love to play in the bed of the truck all the time, I just made sure the wheels were chocked all the time as mine is a stick shift and knew if the GK's got inside they could knock it out of gear.


Where I live this time of year I don't use a parking break had one freeze on one winter and had to wait until it thawed out before the vehicle would move.

__________________
Psalm 23:4

Wow, sorry to hear about the injuries, but glad to hear it wasn't worse.

Just curious, how old is your truck? It sounds like there may be something wrong with it unless it is pretty old. They started putting the ignition/shifter interlock on them back in the early 70's didn't they? He shouldn't have been able to shift it out of park without a key - unless it is old enough to have been built before the interlock became standard anti-theft equipment....

Oh my Lord---that was a scary read.
Now, if it goes viral, liberals will be pileing up at the goverments door steps to demand a law against this being able to happen again.
Blessings

__________________
TEXAS, by GOD

Glad there were no fatalities.
I found out that the interlock does not work if the ignition switch is turned to accessory. Got back from the store and took some stuff in the house. 18 month old son follows back out, climbs in the open back door and goes to stand in the drivers seat. I head to the garage with more stuff and think, it's ok, he can't reach the brake pedal. Surprise!!! Heard it shift when at the front bumper, steep drive, just enough time to open the driver door. Thank God he just sat straight down in the seat. Took both doors off at the hinges and took the rear bumper and tailgate when it stopped.
Prayers that all heal soon.
Oh, and the vehicle insurance paid.

And when I read the owners manual, it said if the shift lever if stuck, turn key to accessorie to free it

what a scary time for you and your family...I am glad you got to bring them home...I am sure the insurance will be resolved by your agent and you will be able to concentrate on the recovery of your family

__________________
carpe diem
one day at a time

What part of "use the parking brake" doesn't America understand?

To the poster who said he had one freeze up, all I can say is that his vehicle has a design flaw. I've driven lots of different cars, pickups and SUVs in the Europe and the US in all manner of weather and never had such an occurrence.

Back when I was still married,my ex had put her jeep in park when it was still rolling and never mentioned it...Asked me to start her car one morning while I put the trash out.When I was at the bottom of the drive,I heard the snow crunching behind me.It was her jeep!I was able to push off from the hatch and watched it do a nice sweeping turn in the cul de sac and not hit a thing..except for me..

Sorry to hear this. Hope for a quick and full recovery.

__________________
Jorge