For several years my wife and I used our '74 BGT to drive to and from work
in downtown Seattle. There was nothing like getting stuck in traffic on one
of the steep hills on a busy, dark, rainy, night. I work in the south end
where there is a lot of industrial traffic, container trucks, etc. Didn't
think much about it. Last spring we bought a new Plynouth Grand Voyager.
My first new vehicle in 13 years. Talk about one extreme to the other. A
few months later (at 6,000 miles), I was rear-ended in the van by a
hit-and-run driver in a full size pickup. I was making an emergency stop (I
remember thinking "Oh, that's what ABS feels like when it kicks in.") and
had almost completely stopped when he hit me without ever touching his
brakes. Must have been going close to 50 MPH. Knocked the van 60 feet down
the road which is where I found myself when I had use of my senses again.
He was never heard from again inspite of 3 witnesses. I spent the afternoon
in the hospital and a couple of days off work. $8,000 damage to the van. I
was basically fine with a very mild whiplash. The whole left rear corner of
the van was cut off and replaced after they straightened it out. You can't
even tell it happened now. The drivers seat collapsed back absorbing most
the impact to me. That's what saved my backside.
After the accident, we went out and bought a Chrysler Concorde and retired
the MG to tours and other club activities. Just the thought of driving that
lbc in the middle of these enormous trucks gives me chills. LBCs are fun.
We love our's dearly. I am the membership chairman and my wife is the
editor for our club. We simply won't take that kind of risk on a daily
basis anymore.
Ted
Edward B. (Ted) Weiler, tweiler@eskimo.com
Engineering Manager, Olympic Medical
Director, Volunteers NorthWest
http://www.eskimo.com/~tweiler/vnw.html
Membership, MG Car Club NorthWest Centre
http://www.eskimo.com/~tweiler/mgccnwc.html
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