On Friday, January 7th, at 7:54PM CST, I had an accident in Rolla, Missouri, while traveling westbound on I-44 (exit 184) toward Mt. Vernon, Missouri. We were traveling in whiteout and icy conditions, trying to find an offramp to pull onto to get into a town and out of the weather.
We found the Rolla offramp, had planned to get off there, but due to traffic and weather, couldn't get through to the offramp. We continued to head westbound on I-44, until the car hit black ice, spun twice, and slid into the ditch, pointing eastbound. The car had slid rather gently into the ditch, and at the time we had one tire that was off the rim, and the front fender was bent from coming in contact with the ground. Everyone in the car was ok, and the running gear and suspension was intact.
My 1990 Dodge Caravan had somehow fared very well, and would have been driveable if It hadn't been axle deep in mud. Before the highway patrolman arrived, the car was indeed moveable, but its back tire on the driver side (the one that was flat) was keeping the car from moving very much. I managed to pull it forward some so that I would be able to get out of the car without stepping into a mud puddle.
The highway patrol arrived shortly thereafter, and contacted Dishman's Texaco, who arrived about fifteen minutes later with a standard tow truck. The gentleman running the tow truck, named "Roy", decided to winch the van out. My passengers then got out and sat in the patrol car as I steered the van back up to the road.
The towtruck driver asked me then to put the car in reverse and try to back it up as much as possible as he was winching. I did so. As the van got closer to the roadway, it began to bottom out on the raised dirt, and then finally scraped on the pavement, doing damage to the underside of the car.
The towtruck driver, however, didn't seem to care. He continued winching for a while, but when it became clear to him that the van was hung up, he stopped, let it roll forward a bit, and offered to go get a flatbed tow truck, saying that I had already for less than fifteen minutes of work ran up a bill of 80 dollars, and that just getting the flatbed alone would riase the price to $150.
At this point, I pointed out to the man that towtrucks have the ability to lift a vehicle, and that I wasn't so stupid as he was suggesting, and he should lift the car some so that it wouldn't scrape and then pull it out. He, seeming reluctant, got out the appropriate equipment, and lifted the rear of the car and I proceeded to try backing out as he winched. Just as my drivers side front tire reached the roadway, something the tow truck driver did caused the van to lurch, and the roadway grabbed the side of my front tire and pulled it off the rim, contorting it into a strange shape and damaging the steel wheel.
But, the van was finally up on the roadway. However, that wasn't the end of things. I was informed that I now had to drive the van on the rims the approx 2/10 of a mile to the next onramp. I argued with the man, but after he told me that the highway patrolman supposedly asked him to tell me to do it, I reluctantly did, knowing that it would damage my vehicles wheels, if not the suspension as well.
Once the van was moved, my passengers and I were taken to the local Best Western Coachlight hotel, where we were lodged for the evening. The next morning, with some help from the hotel staff, we were helped to take the wheels off of the van and to a local tire shop to have the tires replaced or repaired so that we could make it back to Aurora (Near Mt. Vernon). When the wheels were inspected, the person who looked at them informed us that the front wheel was warped and contorted, but would make it home. From my own inspection of the wheel, it looked as tho it had been damaged from being driven flat.
Once the wheels had been re-mounted on the van, my helper and I inspected my vans front-end suspension and drive shafts... All was well and tight, and we concluded it would make it the 150 miles home. I picked up my guests at the hotel, and we left for home.
All was not well though, something was and is still wrong with my van. We were forced to drive home at 55 miles per hour, due to severe problems with the vans rear end (the end from which it was pulled). It was shimmying violently and the van was almost losing control.
As for the front end, even tho all seemed well suspension wise, we had to stop constantly to air up the front tire, as the rim was bent and it was having difficulty holding air. The front of the car also shook violently due to the bent rim, causing steering to be difficult and dangerous.
In the end, I am broke after tire repairs, rooming costs, and a $75 towing bill, and I was told by the locals I was overcharged for the amount of work done, and I would have done better to have had the owner of Dishman's do the work. I don't know, and don't really care. I am a student, and I need that van to make it back and forth to school, and now its not safe to drive anywhere, thanks to Dishman's.
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