Thread: A Bad Crash

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Originally Posted by John Palmer

First lets cut "the owner" some slack here, or at least until he heals back up and is out of the hospital. That's a pretty strong "second hand information statement" from someone that does not have the nerve to "sign their own post", IMO.

This was a well built car, that has run well into the 8's, at close to 160MPH in the quarter mile. The car has been around for a long time and all that have seen it agree, it's was impressive. It was not a thrown together car with marginal design, and equipment. I for one, and I'd bet ALL THE BUILDERS on this site are very interested to find out what really caused this crash, road conditions, a component failure, or maybe a driver error, maybe a combination of all three? We all need to learn from this and build better and safer cars. We might even find that he lived through this accident "because of the lower cage" built into the car only time will tell.

In any case lets not start pointing fingers, this site is better than that.

Wow.... this site is certainly better than your response IMHO.
as I said: "I wish him a speedy and full recovery, but also hope the true reason for the crash is addressed." I don't concider that "pointing fingers".

OC (Russ if you prefer)

I read about this crash and several others on some other forums. Seems there have been a rash of hot rod accidents real recently. I feel terrible for the people involved and wish them a speedy recovery. Steel can be fixed, but people sometimes don't.

I agree with Ken that I have a deep respect for what can happen in one of these cars when something goes wrong. They are light, don't have crumple zones, air bags, and all the modern safety features today's cars have. Plus, they are dwarfed by some of the SUV's and trailer trucks on the road. Every time I go on the interstate to some event I say silent prayers all the way that we get home safely. I keep looking over at one of my Sons in the shotgun seat and thinking how terrible it would be if something bad happened. When something goes wrong in one of these cars it happens in the blink of an eye.

All we can do is make sure our cars are built as well as possible, are maintained (steering, brakes, tires, etc) and that we drive them in a sensible, alert manner. You have to drive defensively and maybe at speeds slower than the other cars on the road, just so you have time to react.

I wish everyone involved in these accidents well.

Don

Those pictures remind me of my father in law's car after the my nephew lost control of his roadster on a slick street last year. He was lucky to walk away since he and a friend were ejected from the vehicle near a stand of trees.

I pray that the guy has a full recovery, cars can be fixed or rebuilt, but not so much the human body and brain.

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

I read about this crash and several others on some other forums. Seems there have been a rash of hot rod accidents real recently. I feel terrible for the people involved and wish them a speedy recovery. Steel can be fixed, but people sometimes don't.

I agree with Ken that I have a deep respect for what can happen in one of these cars when something goes wrong. They are light, don't have crumple zones, air bags, and all the modern safety features today's cars have. Plus, they are dwarfed by some of the SUV's and trailer trucks on the road. Every time I go on the interstate to some event I say silent prayers all the way that we get home safely. I keep looking over at one of my Sons in the shotgun seat and thinking how terrible it would be if something bad happened. When something goes wrong in one of these cars it happens in the blink of an eye.

All we can do is make sure our cars are built as well as possible, are maintained (steering, brakes, tires, etc) and that we drive them in a sensible, alert manner. You have to drive defensively and maybe at speeds slower than the other cars on the road, just so you have time to react.

I wish everyone involved in these accidents well.

Don

So well put Don and all so John Palmer, Thankyou both for reminding us all that at the end of the day, a fellow rodder/rodders have recently been hurt in accidents that no one would wish on their own loved ones,so lets stop the blame game and pray for those people and their families for speedy recoveries. Until my health problems I was a professional truck semi driver and know all about wind gusts and sadly all about idiots on the roads. Lets all be safe out there please!!!

Do we have any follow-up info on this accident? There was another accident this week with exactly the same results. Something broke and the car suddenly turned right, hitting a tree. The driver was very lucky to have escaped with only a brokem leg. The pictures of that car are not clear enough to tell for certain but I suspect the batwing/ sppring perch hanger bolt broke.
I am really frustrated that we are unable to get to the source of these problems.

Here is a picture of the other car.

Originally Posted by volksrod

Do we have any follow-up info on this accident? There was another accident this week with exactly the same results. Something broke and the car suddenly turned right, hitting a tree. The driver was very lucky to have escaped with only a brokem leg. The pictures of that car are not clear enough to tell for certain but I suspect the batwing/ sppring perch hanger bolt broke.
I am really frustrated that we are unable to get to the source of these problems.

Here is a picture of the other car.

I agree with your comments on the parts breakage. The thing that really makes you wonder is on a Volks Rod application the front end has just a small fraction of the weight that a V8 powered rod has on the front end. Those front ends are built for V8's, just look at the number of leaves in that spring. Scary breakage.

You're right John. I just recieved another picture that helps to clarify a little bit but it poses more questions than answers. The owner of the car is supposed to call me by the end of the day. If he does, I will let you guys know what he says.

devasting accident .. iv`e been most lucky that iv`e not been killed in wrecks as i been greatly intoxicated in some of my rides and dont remember how i even got home

If a "gust of wind" blew (only) his car off the road, wouldn't one wonder about the stability of the car's construction/design? or was there actually another contributing factor to the wreak?

This has a chassis build by pro stock builder Gary Hanson so I doub't it was unstable.
From what I heard- the wind blew hard & he dropped a rear tire on the dirt shoulder & lost it.

Originally Posted by Steves32

This has a chassis build by pro stock builder Gary Hanson so I doub't it was unstable.
From what I heard- the wind blew hard & he dropped a rear tire on the dirt shoulder & lost it.

Cars dropping a tire off the should and the driver trying to correct it putting it into a roll happens every day in the US. Most drivers instinct is to get the car back on the road as quick as possible, making erradic reactions (over correcting), and upsetting the car badly. The correct maneuver is to drive the whole car (or at least both wheels of that side) off of the road, slow the vehicle down, and re-enter the road way at a controllable speed. The drop off between hard surface and a gravel shoulder will grab a tire/wheel and jerk it, thus losing control of the car. I am not positive this is what happened in this wreck as i have no idea, but windy day, pushing him slightly off the road, the circumstances sure add up to this situation.

That all surely does not explain why the entire front end is off the car, but a hard enough roll, anything can happen to even the best built chassis. (go to youtube and find the clip of Ryan Newmann's rearend coming out of his car at Daytona a few years back).

Glad he is going to make it, cars can be fixed. Drive safe, anything can happen out there.

Looks to me to be some type of torsion bar suspension----and the whole front ---is missing???? I would bet that there was a failure and then chain reaction

verry sad to hear what happened to him . i was at del-mar and looked at that car , i hope the best for him .

on the other side we all need to think about saftey in these cars ! i have seen first hand how a streetrod will brake apart in a crash , now i think about that when i build it . and seatbelts save lives !

Think I would much rather bang my head on a roll bar than the ground

Originally Posted by 61bone

Think I would much rather bang my head on a roll bar than the ground

I don't know if you would consider this relevant to that, but i was knock unconscious in my pro stocker from tire shake with my head bouncing around inside a funny car style cage. So to bounce around in a street rod with a seat belt on with your unprotected head hitting a roll bar, I don't know, every accident is different. I think if you have the perfect wreck under the perfect circumstances you could live under any situation. But unfortunately that isn't the case, most of the time
Ken

The Nevada Highway Patrol investigated consecutive-day fatality crashes that killed a 44-year-old Minnesota woman Sunday.

Tracy Fons, 44, of Eden Prairie, Minn., was a passenger Sunday in a 1932 Ford Roadster convertible driven by Thomas Taxon, 64, of Reno, when 83-year-old Bernice Rodgers, 83, turned in front of them to access a South Virginia Street casino parking lot.

Fons died at the scene. Rodgers, her husband and passenger, Harry Rodgers, 84, and Taxon were taken to Renown Regional Medical Center for treatment. Bernice Rodgers and Taxon were listed in fair condition Monday, said Trooper Chuck Allen, while the condition of Harry Rodgers was not known.

The crash occurred about 4:15 p.m. Sun., in front of the Tamarack Casino.
Allen said Bernice Rodgers was driving a 1998 Mercury Tracer north on Virginia Street when she turned left in front of Taxon, who had been heading south on Virginia Street. She was turning into the casino parking lot when Taxon tried to avoid the collision, and instead struck the right side of the Mercury.

Both Taxon and Fons were wearing lap belts in the antique roadster.