Car Jumps Track - Thoughts

[Earl Weiss]

Sit thru EE.

Car Jumps tracks for no apparent reason. Video does not show it being in drive or brakes applied. Rearr wheel push, car jumps to right after skipping one roller.

Cannot see if driver had hands on wheel.

10's of thousands washed before and 1000's since, No issues.

Sadly did to get to drive car and see if t was pulling to one side. I ike to try this if I can and also check tire pressure.

Thoughts on cause?

Only saw a dent in door and scrape on mat finish mirror. customer gets $2500 repair estimates. Have turned over to ins. If it was under $1000 I would have paid out of pocket.

How would you handle the claim?

 

[Robert2181]

I have seen it before. There is only a couple of things that can do this. The first thing to keep in mind is that the vehicle or the conveyor had to stop instead of moving together. The times that we have seen it happen, the driver turned the wheel and the car tire got squeezed in the track, the tire being pushed was low on pressure.
For the car to jump a roller I would say that the vehicle stopped and not the chain. If the chain got jammed your crew would have known. Most all times when a car jumps the track (mainly to the right because being pushed from the left) the driver hits the brake and/or turns the wheel.
That is one of them you may have to cover unless it can be proven that the customer did something to stop the car or the conveyor. otherwise at that point the equipment is in control of the car and not the customer.

 

[rph9168]

The only time I have seen this happen was with an old, beat up Chevy Blazer that was badly out of line. It took out two arches. The owner sent us the bill which included a charge for the ball joints which were in terrible shape and the front end was badly out of line. We sent the bill for the two arches to the owner. What really pi$$ed me off was that the guy was a doctor and along with the repair bill he sent us a bill for his time spent getting the estimate. After a discussion with our attorney he dropped his claim.

 

[madstack]

Sounds like a Panicky Pete behind the wheel. Some people lose it when the car slips a roller and try to take over. If it were mechanical, video would show the tell-tale front to back rocking motion. Also, if it's gonna go, it's not going to wait for a second roller. In your case, I think it got a little help.

 

[Washmee]

Are you sure it only jumped one roller? If a roller got in position to start pulling on the front tire, that is what usually causes a car to jump out of the track.

 

[JeffM]

I doubt that your equipment had anything to do with it. Alignment issue, customer issue, or combination of both. The last time I had an issue like this it was a Jeep that hopped in the first 15 feet with no reason. I told the customer that they needed to provide me an invoice from a shop stating that the vehicle was within alignment spec before I would even consider looking at his damage claim. Didn't hear anything back after that.

 

[MEP001]

10's of thousands washed before and 1000's since, No issues.

We've only had one damage claim ever, a customer who said the foam brush scratched her paint. Turned it over to insurance who denied the claim based on both the warnings on the FB sign and the fact that there had never been a problem before (No negligence on our part). Psycho bitch customer flew off the handle and said we delayed turning in the claim and that was why they declined it.

I'd handle yours the same way.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Spoke to ins. Adjuster today.

Seems they are denying claim also due to nothing showing negligence by us. Customer told adjuster we will hear from lawyer.

 

[JGinther]

Customer told adjuster we will hear from lawyer.

And you might! I had an experience where a guy was walking up to my changer, and stepped halfway on a curb sloped to a sidewalk at which point there was about a 1" change in elevation. Well, he somehow broke his foot. Anyway, we said we felt really bad but didn't think we were at any fault. Later, I got a call from Duey Cheatum and Howe demanding my insurance company so they could help their client process the claim. If I didn't comply I would have to deal directly with them in court. So I turned it in.... Well, my insurance paid! They said its a courtesy settlement since litigation costs more and don't worry we won't raise your rates because it wasn't your fault! Well, my rates went up, and now I have a new insurance company who says it would have worked the same way with them. Rediculous.

 

[rph9168]

Lawyers know that insurance companies are an easy mark when they know that legal costs are more than paying the claim. Since the insurance company knows they can raise your rate it usually leaves you holding the bag.

 

[Let'Er Buck]

When we first opened are tunnel two years ago, we threw four cars to the left into our Omnis during our free week. Three were in good shape, no low tire pressure, no alignment problems. Several thousand dollars damage on the three. The fourth jumped out without damage so I asked if I could ride along with her once again. We got to the same spot and it jumped. The wheel just started turning and it jumped. I paid or her to have alignment checked. She had some serious problems.

The solution for us on the other three was that they were getting traction from the right wheel and causing the car to turn left andjump the track. We installed stainless steel plate on the floor and we haven't had a problem there since.

We have been having some issues closer to the beginning of the wash and are going to install more. Cheap insurance.

What a great way to start your new business huh!

 

[MEP001]

Spoke to ins. Adjuster today.

Seems they are denying claim also due to nothing showing negligence by us. Customer told adjuster we will hear from lawyer.

Funny, that's exactly what the customer I mentioned said too. It's been three years and no call from any lawyer.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Rediculous.

You don't know ridiculous. Sign company working on my sign, helper gets electrocuted. I attempt CPR. He Dies. My ins pays 10s of Thousands.

Customer loses control of car exiting tunnel. Toyota - before all the Toyoat UI issues hit the news. Hits coca cola delivery person. 2 ICA people deposed about ICA reccomended procedures to avoid UI issues. Her company pays Policy limits. Mine pays 100s of thousands.

You want to tell me about ridiculous?

 

[JGinther]

Wow. Was sign guy shocked by building power or overhead lines before the transformer? Did your insurance pay because you tried to help or because it happened on your lot? Was that the same insurance company for both claims and at same location? I bet you can never get insurance again now. I guess insurance companies tag the history of claims on locations independent of ownership/management now... which means you can inherit high rates by buying a place with bad history.

I don't have any payouts of that extent. I did have this one pictured last fall where guy had a heart attack in automatic, car shot out of bay under full acceleration, almost hit attendant, knocked over two trees, then luckily hit the wall between two customers.
I've had the same unintended acceleration problems at a full serve with both employees driving and customers, but luckily no one died - only crashes and a few thousand out from insurance.
I'm still waiting to find out results of another bad one a couple days ago: self serve gun valve breaks and sticks open on customer 1. Gun smashes into wall breaking plastic rear housing. Customer 2 is older female. Gun shoots out of holder and smashes her in the face. Plastic cuts into her eye and forehead. Hopefully vision comes back. Many stitches required.

So, I guess were in the same crappy business!

 

[MEP001]

Gun shoots out of holder and smashes her in the face. Plastic cuts into her eye and forehead. Hopefully vision comes back. Many stitches required.

It might be time to bring back the "Hold wand tightly in hand before starting timer" signs.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Wow. Was sign guy shocked by building power or overhead lines before the transformer? Did your insurance pay because you tried to help or because it happened on your lot? !

Neither. Bottom portion of sign is changable letter board backlit with flourescents. He had panels open and was working on Flourescents. I do not know what happened. Not sure why my company paid other than a sympatetic plaintiff. Plaintiff's attorney was trying theoruies like I had done something to the sign to cause problem or I controlled what they were doing. However Boss fro sign company who was there at the time said there was no way we did anything to the sign, and when I was asked at a deposition if I told them what to do, I said no, They asked why I did not tell them what to do and I said that was because that would have me assume that I knew more about their job then they did. I don't tell repair people what to do. I tell them the problem that needs correcting. Theyu also looked at our lock out tag out policy for equipment and they asked if the sign company asked us to turn of the power. I said that we did not consider the sign "Equipmnt" and it doesn't work that way. He said what does that mean? I told him if outside repair people like this who have been servicing stuff for many years come to fix something and it needs to have te power curt they don't ask us, they either tell us (If we need to know this will be out of service) or just do it. They know where the breakers and disconnects are.