Date:         Mon, 20 Feb 1995 11:51:16 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Eric Oster <ekoman@u.washington.edu>
Subject:      Re:Life in the Breakdown lane (was: R.I.P. 79(80) Bug Convertible)

On Mon, 20 Feb 1995, Thom Fitzpatrick wrote:

All I can do is offer my condolences, Ric, and repeat what everyone else
has said: be thankful your wife wasn't in the car.

A couple of years ago, I was driving to my folks for Thanksgiving: then
my driveline dropped out of my car. (It was about 50 feet from the clunk-
clunk-clunk to the actual falling out of the car-A 1976 Dodge Charger, BTW.
A real TANK.) I pulled a good distance off the road, (about 4 feet off the
shoulder) and made my first mistake: I jacked the car up on a bumper jack,
crawled under, and removed the driveline. Nothing was sheared, I could go
get new u-joints and be merrily on my way. I went to the NSFLAPS, had to
buy tools (I never leave home without them anymore.), came back, put the 
new u-joints in, and was ready to get back into my car, when WHAM!!!
some drunken B#$%CH hit me going about 55-60. I was luckily(?) sitting
in the passenger seat, (without a seat belt!), but was not thrown through
the windshield, since my forehead had struck the very nice, large padded
sunvisor. Anyway, she was in a saab (completely totalled.), and this guy
in a volvo (probably totalled.) My car was also totalled. She had struck
about the center of the rear wheel, and there was now about a 1 1/2 foot 
impression all along the side. (My poor Dodge was shaped like a "U"!)
At least I wasn't driving my bus!! <g>

Eric Oster (ekoman@u.washington.edu)

> >Perhaps there is something to be said for not sitting in your car in the
> >breakdown lane. A few months ago a couple of people up here died in an
> >accident which involved having the back of their car crashed into while
> >parked in the breakdown lane. Maybe there is something that can be learned
> >from this most unfortunate accident!
> 
> When I was with the fire department in the east bay, we had a Semi
> (articulated lorry) carrying tomatoes that had broken down and was in
> the breakdown lane.  Another articulated lorry hit him in the back at about
> 65-70 miles an hour.  Needless to say, nobody on the crew was hungry for
> tomato sauce for a while...