Date: Sat, 1 Jul 1995 07:50:12 -0700 (PDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Tobin T. Copley" <tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca>
Subject: Re: /f Road hazards
On Fri, 30 Jun 1995, Clark Langstraat wrote:
[I used my Rabbit as a wood-chipper while driving on the freeway the
other day...]
>
> All the recent threads re: flammable substances, exploding batteries and
> other general stupidity made me think that others on the list have
> encountered other interesting road hazards. Anyone care to share?
An incident that occurred to Christa and me as we were driving up the
Gulf Coast of Mexico comes immediately to mind. I'll bet a few of you
may be able to relate to this one...(And yeah, yeah, I'm STILL trying to
get the trip report uploaded to this #@(^$ freenet system)
So we're cruising up the main highway along the coast, a couple of days
south of Brownsville, Texas. We're making really good time of this flat
straight 2 lane highway, maybe 56 - 58 mph. It's about 30 degrees C
outside (what's that--upper 80s degrees F?). A large semi-truck (an
"artic" for you UK folks) is coming the other way at a similar speed.
This gives an impact speed of, what, 100 -120 mph? About a second before
we meet on this narrow, shoulderless road, I notice a piff of white
smoke come from one of the tires on the truck's trailer.
A half-second later, one of the truck's retread trailer tires blows
completely apart, throwing very large chunks and strips of heavy tire up
to maybe ten feet in the air. Most of the larger pieces are pretty much
exactly as high as our windshield. Some of these pieces are over a yard
long and a foot wide.
So, in the flash of a second, the space in front of us in filled with
these big chunks of rubber closing on us at about a hundred miles an
hour. I duck, covering my face with my forearm, and try steadying the
camper to keep us straight until I can look again.
The truck blows by us, and the deafing noise of the remains of the
truck's tire slamming into our bus follows. I look up, straightening out
the bus, amazed that I still have a windshield in front of me.
Shaking, I pull the bus over at the next wide spot. I feel sick,
expecting to see dented sheet metal or a punched out headlight or something.
No damage! None! And no retread chunks imbedded in my skull, either!
Just goes to show, good karma is worth working for!
Tobin
(Who's bus still has its original windshield) (Knock, knock!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobin T. Copley Currently =============
(604) 689-2660 Occupationally /_| |__||__| :| putta
tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca Challenged! O| | putta
'-()-------()-'
Circum-continental USA, Mexico, Canada 15,000 miles... '76 VW Camper! (Mango)