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I guess this is how it happened. He was there!
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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 13:38:07 -0700
From: Mark Peugeot <mark@networkone.net>
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To: Crooke John <crooke_john@bah.com>
Subject: Re: Miata Roll-Over
References: <37EA7926.FBE6BA4C@bah.com>
I had just adjusted the sway bars the day before to pull some of the
understeer out of the vehicle as well as changed to a much heavier clutch in
preparation for a turbo. What happened is a result of many factors,
stupidity being a primary contributor.
So I was driving along fairly aggressively and was driving on a road
that I was familar with but have not been driving on a regular basis,
wanting to see if my adjustments really helped or hindered the car. I
entered a 30 MPH (Yellow Sign) corner in a 55 zone at aproximately 60-70
MPH, the car was doing splendid and I was in a nice controlled drift. Then I
realized that this was not your usual off-camber right sweep, but rather a
nasty reducing radius turn which got real sharp, real quick. I realized I
was not going to make the turn cleanly.... So I figured that I would crank
it in and try and stay in my lane to avoid risking anyone elses life. The
transition to oversteer was much, much quicker than I had anticipated and
the day before the car was understeering rather badly. Needless to say I
figured that I was going to hit the mountain (there was no shoulder for
manuvering.) I did infact hit the mountain, I was a little unprepared for
what happened next, the car shot up the side of the mountain and began a
barrel roll. I landed squarely on the top of the roll bar and watched the
windshield pillars collapse rather quickly to my dismay... I was sliding
upside down at 20-30 MPH at this point and remember looking back at the roll
bar and marveling at the fact that it held together and was infact keeping
my head from contacting the asphalt below. When the car came to a stop I
immediately disconnected my seatbelt and crawled out from the wreckage
through an 8 inch zone that the roll bar afforded me. The roll bar and seat
belt both saved my life. It was not that I had underestimated the physics so
much as I had made mistakes prior to entering the turn that already had
doomed me to have an accident.
Crooke John wrote:
> Mark,
>
> I saw your miata on your web page. What a shame. It hurts to look at the
> page.
>
> It actually has started quite a bit of discussion on a mailing list
> about autocrossing (www.team.net). To put the issue to bed once and for
> all, I thought I'd get it from the horse's mouth:
>
> What were the circumstances of your rollover?
see above.
> Was it on the street or
> racing?
On the Street.
> (or racing on the street)? Were other cars involved, or alcohol?
>
No racing, other cars or alcohol.
>
> BTW, I'm not an insurance investigator or a lawyer, just curious. I'm
> also sharing my question with the mailing list, if you don't mind.
>
Enjoy the details above. :) Mark!
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