On Wed. the 18th at noon, I was hit in the side of my '83 300 D Mercedes
Benz. The impact was hard enough to cave in both doors, the door post, and
the frame. Speed limit along that location is 45 mph. I saw the lady
coming and was thinking, "I'm glad MB puts that big piece of steel in the
doors just for side crashes. Then I rolled over onto the passenger seat and
pulled my knees up to get away from the door. I seem to have escaped all
injury...even soreness. It was like a very rough carnival ride. 'Had I not
moved, I probably would have had a concussion and broken shoulder.
I went back the next day with a tape measure and a video camera to see if I
could figure out what happened. A real estate sign obstructs the view both
for me and for her. I video taped 2 other cars that did what I did. I
stopped, couldn't see around the sign, moved forward (the edge of the lane
is 18 inches from the curb) this put the front of my car 2' into the lane.
She locked her brakes and her '79 Pontiac swerved 11 feet toward me. The
left corner of her front bumper hit my door. Bummers!
I'm not hurt though, my family is well, there's food in the fridge and the
house is warm. I still have my job, the MGA is in the basement and it's
Christmas. Life is good.
'Here's wishing everyone a very safe, healthy, and happy Christmas,
Chanukah, and New Year.
Don Mathis
AT&T - Bell Laboratories
Norcross, Georgia
'61 MGA '37 Bentley
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