Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 16:19:04 -0700
Reply-To: Aristotle Sagan <killer_jupiter@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Aristotle Sagan <killer_jupiter@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Near Death Experience in the Vanagon
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Ah Mike...
We all let you off easy with the first post.
But ya had to go try and defend yerself...
If you had been keeping safe following distance between you and the guy
ahead of you (yep, I know, tough in rush hour traffic)...
AND if you had been paying attention and KNOWING what was beside you (yep,
always plan your escape route)... AND had been wearing your seatbelt (come
on now)...Of course, you are still young I take it. I have been driving 27
years, many of them in much more strenuous conditions than the US interstate
system (like the Autobahns and back roads of Germany), so I learned one or
two things along the way... and yes, I was lucky once or twice myself when I
got careless...
Please slow down till you learn all the tools neccessary to survive just
about anything on the road.
Survival on the freeways is 1% luck, 99% skill.
tim o'brien
>mind you all who say "competence" has so much to do
>with wether you crash or not...that this is phoenix
>after all...and any of you that have driven here with
>the "snow birds" (old folks that come from every nook
>and cranny of the country for the windter), you
>wouldn't be saying that competence had much to do with
>my situation last night. i would also like to point
>out to andrew that i was not blaming the vehicle at
>any point in my mail...i was simply saying that in a
>crash like the one i was almost a part of...the
>vanagon would have lost...no question about it! i
>would have reared an oversized SUV at 65-70mph...tell
>me i'd still be alive. competence doesn't have much
>to do with a head on collision when the 2 right lanes
>of traffic come to a complete standstill because some
>old hag decides to swerve from the fast lane across 4
>other lanes so she doesn't miss her damn exit...uh
>oh...prune juice is kickin in...
>
> Myc
>
>p.s. vanagons are not safe against anything of
>comparable size...show me a crash test with any other
>minivan out there...
>
>
>--- "R. Hotchkiss" <richard.hotchkiss@VERIZON.NET>
>wrote:
> > I don't understand how a Vanagon could get a bad
> > rating at 35 mph. I
> > went ice skating in mine at 40 mph and banged into
> > the guard rail twice
> > with minimal damage (had to pick up the bumper). I
> > was amazed at how
> > strong the van is and how well I was kept in my seat
> > (everything else
> > flew). Nobody was injured, not a scratch.
> >
> > My next near death experience was getting the paint
> > job done at
> > Maaco....
> >
> > Hotch
> > 86 Vanagon GL
> > Philly
> >
> > --
> > Richard Hotchkiss
> > http://www.hotstrings-inc.com
>
>
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