An ethereal DUI

[Denise]

Hi, peoples.  Ca fait un bail, but I had to come back and ask this question because I know someone will have a comment.

I was involved in a wreck with that gawdawful 2004 F*rd Marquis that I had, and it just suddenly went out of control.   It took out two mailboxes and slammed in to a (fortunately) unoccupied car.  The air bags did a nice fob of protecting the rear view mirror from my face, but it was like getting hit between the eyes with a sledgehammer.  By the time I came back to consciousness, the police were there, trying to give me a DUI, even though there was no alcohol smell and I blew a 0.00.  Instead of getting me help for my head injury, they then tried to gather evidence for a "drug DUI" because I had a card of 6 tablets of Immodium in my purse, and a Lidocaine patch on my shoulder.  I actually spent two days in jail, and I didn't "dry out", because I wasn't on drugs.  I had a head injury.  It took about 6 weeks for me to be able to have a reasonably intelligent conversation.

The head injury explains why I was groggy after the crash, but not why it happened.  I finally found it today.  The left tie rod slipped out of the knuckle.  You can see that the tie rod has not been impacted, it's just lying peacefully on the ground next to the wheel.  The tire on the wheel shows violent horizontal drag marks, and the rim is cracked, even though the car wasn't hit on that side.  It's obvious to me what happened, but just in case they find one of 4000 different chemicals that they look for in a blood sample and I have to defend this in court, what should I do to prove that the tie rod end popped?  So far I've done some research, and it seems to have happened many times.

Has anyone had to go through something like this?

[blue68deville]

A family friend had a similar problem with their FoMoCo SUV, but it was at slow speed and there was no major damage.
Sounds like lawyer time to me.
Maybe contact the shop foreman at a reputable Ford dealer. Our foreman has had to testify in court over stuff like that before.

[The Tassie Devil (Bruce Reynolds)]

Welcome back Densie,

Sorry you had to go through all the problems associated with crashing, but thankfully the air bag protected your sweet face.   And yes, they do knock the living daylights out of you when they go off.

I can understand the coppers not believing that you weren't on drugs or drinking, as they have most probably been reading your past history of things you have done. 

But, good to see that you are still alive, as I had wondered what you were doing.

Take care, and see a Lawyer, for all the reasons you mentioned.  Unlawful detention, etc. etc.

Bruce.

[Denise]

 
  Well, thanks, Brucie, but they need to show some evidence that I've been drinking or using drugs, and so far they've got nothing.  I've got a decent lawyer who is probably going to get this thrown out, but if it goes to trial, I'm wondering how to handle the evidence, which makes it really obvious that the tie rod popped, and that caused the colllision.

[The Tassie Devil (Bruce Reynolds)]

Save ALL parts, take pictures, and document everything, and don't let the car out of your sight, as that is evidence in itself.

Make notes while they are fresh in your mind, take statements from the Police Officers that attended the scene, and requisition all video footage that may be in existence whilst you were at the scene, in the Police Vehicles, at the Station, and in the Lock-up.

Plus, get statements from those people that you had contact with, until the crash, plus any other witnesses.

I realise that the vehicle was out of your possession whilst you were in custody, but get statements from the Tow Truck Driver, and Storeage Yard Manager to prove that the vehicle wasn't interfered with till you got it back under your control.

Bruce.

[Denise]

  Ah, good ideas, Brucie.  The car went to a private towing company for impound.  I guess somebody could say that it broke while being towed, but the horizontal gouging on the tire says otherwise.  I'm just wondering if a jury will understand that or not.  The car is in my carport now, and what first caught my attention was that the left wheel is pointed out, and the right one is straight, but the steering wheel is centered.  The left tire was pulled off of the rim when the tie rod came out, so it's flat, and I don't think it's possible to remove the tie rod end, the way the car is sitting.  That's the main thing I want to document, although there is probably also a reason why it popped out.  Did they quit using castle nuts at some point, or do the joints pop out with 48k miles?  Sheesh!  What a POS.

  Guess I should wait for my lawyer to call back before I touch it, but I would really like to know why it popped out.  From the reports I'm reading, it seems to be a common problem over a range of year models.

  As for the drugs, I don't use any anymore, not even for pain.  That's why I'm so boring now, I guess, but the really sad part is that it doesn't seem to be keeping me out of trouble.

[silentpoet]

I had a concussion from the airbags when I had my wreck in 2005.  Took several months for the headache to go away. 

[Carnut]

I cannot tell you why yours came out, but I saw a Ford a few years ago that had the lower ball joint pop out. The ball joint had a straight sided shaft that went into the steering knuckle and it was never installed correctly. That is, it wasn't pushed all the way "in" so when the pinch bolt went through it would engage the notch in the ball joint stud. The pinch bolt was in place. I guess if the Police and DA are going to pursue charges against you I would hire an expert (mechanical) witness to inspect the car. He (or she) should be prepared to testify that the tie rod end came out making the car impossible to control and also why he or she believes it came out before the accident as opposed to you taking it out later.

I had a 1956 Ford that the strut locating the left control arm pulled through the front crossmember (due to rust). I tapped the brake and all h*ll broke loose.

I am guessing that your tie rod stud will show signs of mechanical damage as well as the hole in the knuckle.

Make sure that the maker of the lidocaine patch does not recommend no driving while using it.

[Denise]

  Yeah, I was unconscious from the hit on the head, for several minutes.  Then I kept acting goofy, losing things and running into furniture for a few weeks.  I can understand how they could suspect that I was drunk or on drugs, but that wasn't the case.  Cops didn't even look at the car.  They said that I wasn't wearing my glasses, but they were right there on the floor, in pieces.  I wonder how many thousands of dollars this is going to end up costing.

The tie rod end on the Mercury is a tiny thing that goes up into a hole in the knuckle and has some sort of jap nut on it, no castle, no cotter pin to lock it.  I don't know where it broke, or just fell out, because it's kind of wedged under the wheel and I don't want to move the car yet.  I have always known there was something wrong with the front end on that car, took it back to the dealer three times, and they never fixed it.  I should probably get the maint history on that car as evidence.  Hope to talk to the lawyer Monday and see what else I need to do, besides pictures, and see if he knows an expert witness (more $$$).  Those billboards that say "DUI: you can't afford it" are right...if you count the value of the car, this is all going to cost close to $20k even if I get the charges dismissed.

Oh, and to anyone who might think that they're nicer to you in women's jail, I spent two nights on the floor, naked, tied on a tether cable, on a hard and very cold floor, no blankets, not even a bare bunk.  It's illegal in this state to treat a dog that way!  They also beat the hell out of my ribs with their batons while I was handcuffed.  we took pictures, but our civil lawyer wouldn't sue them because he said that sometimes they need cops to get on the stand and say certain things, so they can't sue them.  Might be time for a second opinion on that, although I may have had enough of courts and lawyers.

The only good thing that came out of this is that the Mercury was destroyed.  I plan on cutting it up for scrap, maybe selling the powertrain if it's still OK, but it will never be driven again.

It's impossible to get Lidocaine into your CNS from a patch, but it can make children and pets sick if they chew one up.  Instructions say you can wear up to three of them, and I only had one on.  No cautions at all about driving.  As for the Immodium, I've read about people taking massive amounts of it and trying to get high, without much success.  Most of them just got a bad case of constipation.  All I had was a card of six pills, something I learned to carry around when I drove a truck.  When the next restroom is 100 miles away and you feel that rumbling start, you want to pop two Immodiums right away, then two more about ten minutes later.  A case of the runs in a truck is bad news.

[The Tassie Devil (Bruce Reynolds)]

Plus, you have to be careful what goes into print, especially over the internet, as anything printed can, and will be used against anyone.

Bruce.

[Carnut]

If your lawyer won't file suit against the Police for your mistreatment I would be inclined to get another attorney. That could be used as a bargaining chip to get them to dismiss the charge(s) against you. Especially if the DA feels the case is weak and yours is not.

[Denise]

  Good point.  There is a website where complaints are taken seriously.  I may send them a complaint, but I'm waiting for my lawyer to call me back, because I double-check anything I do with him.  I was beaten around the ribs with batons, and they can't hide it because Tony rushed me to the ER after I got out of jail, and that doctor agreed that it was a physical attack, and couldn't have happened in the accident.  They took a bunch of photos of my injuries.

  Good caveat about what you say in public, but I don't say anything on the net that I wouldn't say in court, so I'm not worried about that.  These cops know that they screwed up, and the police in this town already hate me, so I don't care if they read this.  They know that they behaved like a bunch of sociopathic apes, and they're trying to CYA, but it's not going to work.  I have some resources that they don't know about yet.

   My neighbor has a friend who is an "old timer" mechanic, and I'm going to see if he will come over here and look at the car, to give an independent statement.  That is, of course, unless the drug test has the expected and well-deserved negative, in which case this is all going to get thrown out.

  Best news is, I'm finally recovering my singing voice and re-learning how to pronounce my German (the French never left...you can read all about it, and hatred and prejudice, in the police reports, after the trial is over and I make the whole story public) so I may get to do my favorite thing and sing European karaoke again.

[Rhino]

As usual I am late to the party but check for recalls. I found a bunch of them about Ford tie rod ends, including one on Ford's site:
http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?gclid=CMDGxNXYnK0CFScRNAodzlcxlQ&pagename=Owner/Page/RecallsPage&searchid=58077435|2089711155|13028210
Looks like a common problem. This is stuff a lawyer should know, some are as lazy as the cops.

The airbag can do you serious harm. The one that got me cracked bones in both thumbs. Tonight I am typing funny because the Gout associated with the bone damage is affecting both thumbs. They feel like someone beat them with a rubber mallet for an hour or so. And when I stopped whimpering they hit me again and laughed. Fentanyl is falling down on the job. Ever watch someone type with two pinkies? They don't hurt.