Date:         Thu, 18 Oct 2001 08:36:00 -0700
Reply-To:     Shawn Wright <swright@SLS.BC.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Shawn Wright <swright@SLS.BC.CA>
Organization: Shawnigan Lake School
Subject:      Re: Near Death Experience in the Vanagon
In-Reply-To:  <001901c157b1$f5ef1980$ea4f0441@bllvu1.wa.home.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

On 18 Oct 2001 at 1:50, Mark Sheflo wrote:

> I realize that it is my Van, my abilities and my choices that have the
> largest effect on my survival on the road.

Very true...

Two close calls that I've had in 5 years of Westy driving:

Returning from our first trip in our '88 Westy (Wash, Ore & N.Cal
coasts), while climbing the notorious long hill out of Goldstream park
on the Malahat drive, only about 20 mins from home, in the rain, some
moron in a full size American sedan rounded a corner coming at me
and continued to come at me at about 80-90 km/h. I was in the left lane
going uphill, with a rock face on my left, and the right lane and a guard
rail on my right, no shoulder. I wrenched the wheel to the right as close
to the guard rail as I dare, and watched in horror as the out of control
car careened through the left lane where I had been. This being the
first avoidance move I had made in the van, I was impressed at its
ability to perform such a move quickly and without a fuss. Many
vehicles, such as the sedan coming at me, would have failed such a
test.

The most recent one: last Saturday we drove home from Redmond, OR
via Yakima and Leavenworth, preferring to avoid the Interstates. About
2 miles south of Biggs, OR on Hwy 97, I rounded a corner to find a
Toyota pickup on the right shoulder of the 2 lane road, with something
sticking out the driver's window. A split second later I realize it is a
RIFLE with a scope!! Since I am doing about 90-100 km/h I had very
little time to decide what to do. I simultaneously leaned on the horn and
hammered the brakes, although there was NO chance of stopping
before I passed him. Fortunately he raised the gun very quickly upon
hearing the horn, and pulled it in the truck. Although I barely had time
to consider what I would have done if the gun was not raised, I do
recall afterward thinking about clipping it with van mirror to avoid a
possible shot. I'm glad it didn't come to that. Seconds after passing the
truck I look to the left across a small ravine and see two large deer
bounding along the hillside at full speed, indicating he had probably
already fired once, and was preparing to take another shot when I
passed.
I spent the next few minutes looking for a cop (which I didn't find before
crossing the stateline) and wondering how many laws this moron was
breaking. At the very least, he could parked on the ravine side of the
road to avoid shooting across traffic.

========================
Shawn Wright
Computer Systems Manager
Shawnigan Lake School
http://www.sls.bc.ca
swright@sls.bc.ca