mat@hou5d.UUCP (M Terribile) (04/23/84)
It's the Saturday before Easter. I'm travelling south on Rte 35 just south
of the intersect with US9. There is a tight pack of cars around me.
A couple of road-pluggers are driving next to each other a little below 40
(50 mph road) a few cars ahead.
Behind me the only near vehicle is a flatbed truck, empty. It's one of those
trucks that they pile seven or eight smashed-up cars on. Not a semi.
The truck moves right (I'm on the left of 2 lanes southbound) and tries to
find an opening. Failing that, he falls back a little.
Suddenly, the cars ahead panic-brake. A little ways up one car swerves
violently to the right. I jam on the brakes; my '82 Reliant's rear end
breaks loose. I recover, and then --panic! I'm still doing about 25 and
the car ahead is just about stopped. I watch helplessly as I see my hood
about to plow into his, with my brake pedal to the floor. Well, at about
20 my brakes grab hard and I come to a stop.
As I bounce off the shoulder harness, I glance in the mirror.
Clear -Sigh- -- *NO!*
The flatbed's front end careens into my field of view, skidding sideways.
The truck comes to a stop about 7 feet behind my rear bumper.
No damage to sheet metal anywhere. Lots of burnt rubber everywhere. The
front cars pull away, and then the next row, and then ... The culprit looks
like a early 70's big-body mint-colored GM sedan, driven by an obese black
woman (If you want to discuss racial overtones, meet me on net.flame). The
left rear spring is shot -- car appears to be riding on the stops. Driver
seems oblivious to spring, traffic, and near ten-car-plus-truck accident she
caused.
Less than half a mile down the road, now in the right lane, she comes to
a sudden stop to read a road sign for an exit. More screeching brakes, though
at about 25 mph this time. Love them Delco power brakes. She ought to have
her service brakes removed entirely!
Oh, I wish that I'd been right in front of or behind a cop. That
***** deserved a reckless driving citation (in my opinion, of course).
About four seconds after we got rolling again, I felt a wave of relief
all over. About a minute later I started getting cramps in my back!
They eased up in another minute.
Lessons:
1) Keep out of packs, especially tight ones. Ol' Mr. Smith's
rule about space makes sense.
2) Tires. With the original equipment tires I would've lost the
rear end much sooner, and I probably could not have brought it
back in line. Woulda' rear-ended the person in front of me,
and kissed my unibody front end goodbye. And just that morning,
I'd finally gotten around to bringing my XZXs back up to pressure
(they were over two lbs low).
3) Pure dumb luck. That truck driver must've seen what was happening
at least a second before I did, and acted on it. At almost 40 mph,
if he'd been one EIGHTH of a second slower my rear end would have
been gone. One quarter of a second and they would have taken me
out with the jaws.
4) Anal Sphincters. They're all around you.
``Sweeney stands in the parlour hall,
Sweeney leans on the office wall,
Noplace is safe; Nothing can hide you --
Isn't that Sweeney there beside you !??''
5) Wear the belt! I always do; this is the third time in two years
that it saved my sweet hindquarters.
--
from Mole End
Mark Terribile
(scrape..dig) hou5d!mat
,.. .,, ,,, ..,***_*.an@hou2h.UUCP (A.NGUYEN) (04/23/84)
-- Paradox of the American Way: - Most people need wheels in this country. The place is so damn big that to go anywhere useful you have to hop in the car and drive 10-15 miles. Public transportation doesn't work especially in suburban and rural areas because everything is so geographically distributed. Bicycles are feasible only if you are an extreme fitness freak. - Most people are too Godawful incompetent to be allowed to drive anything anytime anywhere! That goes for elderly people who are too feeble of mind and body to control a 4000 lbs projectile, people who are too lazy to look around them before moving around in traffic, and people who are just plain too inconsiderate or ignorant to be a courteous and safe driver. Au PS. How'bout mopeds for everybody?!