First video surfaces of the JL that ran over a woman at EJS

[cjaama]

What is a "WOT"?

Wide Open Throttle.

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[Deleted member 29342]

The bank doesn’t own it, the insurance company does. It’s totaled, the insurance company pays the money owed to the lienholder (bank) and the remaining balance of the value to the owner. At this point the insurance company owns the vehicle and auction it off to recoup whatever they can.

If the insurance company thought for a second it was a mechanical failure, they wouldn’t let it lose until Jeep bought it from them. If Jeep bought it from them, Jeep would never let it lose.

I believe what others have said, he had his foot on the wrong pedal (not both pedals, no brake lights), panicked and mashed the throttle until he ended up in a crevasse.

A personal anecdote that I shared in another thread:

When I used to handle insurance claims, a policy holder had a brand new GC SRT-8. He claimed he started it in a parking garage and put it in drive at which point it accelerated at full speed into a concrete wall (sandwiching a Ducati and BMW bike) and no matter how hard he pressed the brake it wouldn’t stop. He had surveillance video, which I watched [with a bowl of popcorn]. He was insistent that he never touched the gas. He insisted we investigate it fully. We gave in and flew in a vehicle forensics expert. Jeep did the same. Both of them reviewed data from the “black box” and they both confirmed he was at WOT when he hit the bikes/wall.
He also had a Ferrari, his wife’s Benz and his mansion on the policy. I gave him a little credit based on the Ferrari, we valued him more based on the mega-policy, and it was a totaled $75k SRT8 and two totaled high-end bikes. If it weren’t for these factors, we never would have even considered his story and just paid the claim and moved along. I can’t tell you how much time and money we wasted.


It's true that we don’t know with any certainty what happened, but by discussing/speculating I’ve gleaned some pretty good tips.

Oh, and call it whatever you want the "hand/e/parking brake" will bring you to a stop when the rusted out brake lines in your TJ fail as you're approaching a red light at a busy intersection. Ask me how I know.

From your experience will a insurance company cover this accident? I use to take my motorcycle to a race track and I had to get special insurance (much higher premium) bc my regular insurance said they wouldn’t cover the bike if I was to wreck it on the track. Is that the case with Jeeps or any other off road on road vehicle?

 

[cjaama]

From your experience will a insurance company cover this accident? I use to take my motorcycle to a race track and I had to get special insurance (much higher premium) bc my regular insurance said they wouldn’t cover the bike if I was to wreck it on the track. Is that the case with Jeeps or any other off road on road vehicle?

This comes up a lot. It's obvious insurance did cover it, as Progressive owns the vehicle and is auctioning it. If they didn't cover it the owner would be trying to part it out or sell it as a whole on his own.
The following is from my auto policy exclusions section and is the only section that would be applicable here:
Loss to “your covered auto” or any “non-owned auto” which occurs while participating or competing in, or practicing or preparing for any prearranged or organized:
a. Racing contest, meet or rally, whether against another vehicle or against time;
b. Demolition contest;
c. Stunting activity; or
d. High performance driving or racing instruction course or school.
This Exclusion (10.) applies only while the vehicle is at a location, whether temporary or permanent, established for any of the above purposes.

I don't see how any offroading could fall into these exclusions unless you were competing in King of the Hammers or something. It's also interesting to note the last line, which would seem to mean that you're covered for street racing, but not drag racing at a track.

I always encourage people to read through their own policy to find out what they're covered for and what they aren't. Don't trust your agent. Most of them are only good at selling policies. I just needed to correct a coworker whose agent/best friend told him that damage to his camper would be covered as long as it's still attached to his vehicle (liability coverage, yes; first party coverage, no).

 

[TXJeepScientist]

Wide Open Throttle.

Thanks!

 

[Deleted member 29342]

This comes up a lot. It's obvious insurance did cover it, as Progressive owns the vehicle and is auctioning it. If they didn't cover it the owner would be trying to part it out or sell it as a whole on his own.
The following is from my auto policy exclusions section and is the only section that would be applicable here:
Loss to “your covered auto” or any “non-owned auto” which occurs while participating or competing in, or practicing or preparing for any prearranged or organized:
a. Racing contest, meet or rally, whether against another vehicle or against time;
b. Demolition contest;
c. Stunting activity; or
d. High performance driving or racing instruction course or school.
This Exclusion (10.) applies only while the vehicle is at a location, whether temporary or permanent, established for any of the above purposes.

I don't see how any offroading could fall into these exclusions unless you were competing in King of the Hammers or something. It's also interesting to note the last line, which would seem to mean that you're covered for street racing, but not drag racing at a track.

I always encourage people to read through their own policy to find out what they're covered for and what they aren't. Don't trust your agent. Most of them are only good at selling policies. I just needed to correct a coworker whose agent/best friend told him that damage to his camper would be covered as long as it's still attached to his vehicle (liability coverage, yes; first party coverage, no).

I know this might sound stupid but wouldn’t off roading be kinda of stunting? With my luck I probably be sht out and not covered.

 

[cjaama]

I know this might sound stupid but wouldn’t off roading be kinda of stunting? With my luck I probably be sht out and not covered.

I would say no, but the problem is they never define it so it’s up for interpretation. Insurance can be obnoxious like that.
If you can drive it home, I’d always just say you backed into a tree or something.

 

[Deleted member 29342]

I would say no, but the problem is they never define it so it’s up for interpretation. Insurance can be obnoxious like that.
If you can drive it home, I’d always just say you backed into a tree or something.

 

[Chad1433]

The recovery looked pretty difficult when we saw it. Wouldn’t be shocked if it’s still there.

It's not, I saw it at a local shop.

 

[DeVoTee]

TOP HEAVY JEEP + Driver Inexperience = Accident!

Very unfortunate for all involved... Hope and Pray for all.

 

[Cypher]

I wanted to add this in this post because it just happened to me yesterday.

Where I work I have a gravel road and when I was leaving I tapped my throttle pretty hard and let off quickly!

What I got in return was about 30’ of burnout! This surprised the heck out of me because I was only expecting about 5’ of get up and go! I was not trying to burn out just getting into it a little. As soon as my throttle released I instantly thought of this post and this accident!

Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing with their JL? I have the 3.6 with the auto trans!

And before anyone gets the idea that maybe I didn’t know what I was doing or what actually happened. I have spent all my life working on cars trucks and Jeeps. I’ve done numerous street racers and know the difference between a little action and a sticking throttle. What I experienced was a momentary sticking of the throttle!

I rarely ever tap the throttle on my Jeep. It’s generally easy going or get into it completely! Never just a simple foot tap and release!

If anyone else thinks of this, may I ask that you give this a try a few times when it may be safe! Let’s see if this may actually be an issue not know or discussed yet!

What if it turns out we do see a problem and the driver was actually not completely at fault but maybe taken by surprised and we find we can duplicate it?

Just asking fellow jeepers!

I have also had this happen with my 2019 JLUR, but also with my 2017 grand Cherokee Trailhawk. These are drive by wire and not instant on/off like it would be with a physical cable connection. Mine was not quite as bad as you described, but enough that i never blip the throttle wide open when off-road. The delay is actually quite noticable on the Rubicon. Really, really noticable in 4L.

A few have been posting about surge / stall feeling when going very slowly or in 4L. I assume that's why there are multiple pedal commander type products out there.

I have no idea what happened in this accident, but no matter the cause it sucks for everyone involved. I am not as quick to point to a defective vehicle as the cause, but I guess it is possible. I do think the pedals are pretty close, so if there was a lot of bumping due to dropping off the ledge i could see how in a panic the wrong one could be hit. I did not see brake lights, so something seems off. He very easily could have hit his head and then was a little out of it as well.

No matter what happened i hope all get well soon, and hopefully eventually we will hear from the source what happened so that maybe others can avoid the same accident.

 

[Deleted member 29342]

Has anyone heard from American jeeper?

 

[OkieMizzou]

For those who haven't seen that obstacle... being too far left puts you precariously close to tipping over as you come up on top (especially if you pop up too quickly) because your front left tire falls into a void. Looks to me like that's what was happening so he tried to power out of it which is the cause of the acceleration as seen in the video. From that point, excitement, loss of control, head bouncing back and forth, confusion, dread and panic resulted in the crash. Everybody has to start somewhere but owning a Jeep doesn't mean that you have experience. Especially in a place like Moab.

 

[American Jeeper]

Hello all, it has been a while. I wanted to drop a line and say thank you all for the well wishes and support while I was on hiatus. I’ll be back to posting real content soon and join the forum discussions as time allows.

 

[DanW]

Hello all, it has been a while. I wanted to drop a line and say thank you all for the well wishes and support while I was on hiatus. I’ll be back to posting real content soon and join the forum discussions as time allows.

Glad to know you are getting back on the horse! Great to hear from you!

 

[robaw]

Hello all, it has been a while. I wanted to drop a line and say thank you all for the well wishes and support while I was on hiatus. I’ll be back to posting real content soon and join the forum discussions as time allows.

Welcome back Jeremy Hope all is well with you!

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