|
In the past my husband and I have discussed why people were crushed when trees fell down and he said one should put your foot to the floor - yesterday I put this to the test and, by the grace of a foot, we came out of it with a bang on the head in the front seats and the back seats were totalled. Boring I know, but how many people think about these situations in advance - if we had not I think I would not be here as instinct is to brake.
|
A strange thing to put to the test...:-)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
|
Just looked at similar incidents via Google.
A recent one in Manchester involved a guy in a Mercedes.
He slammed his brakes on and got the oak tree across his bonnet rather than roof.
I'd probably also stop rather than driving at the hazard- but who knows when things happen so fast.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
|
|
Don't think I would have driven into it - heard crack sound and caught sight of movement above and to right - braking would have left me under it completely - accelerating allowed it to land and bounce on back of roof - shorter car than estate would probably have got away with it.
|
Luck of the draw isn't it? I mean - it all depends on how far under the tree you are which would determine whether flooring it or slamming on would save it.
Of course, I doubt whether I could weigh up all the options when a huge Oak is crashing down on me.
|
Wonder how all these 5 star rated ncap cars would fare under this kind of test? Some of the smaller models just do not feel that "solid" (solid being used subjectively).
Would they still ALL be 5 star?
|
|
|
Yes, exactly. There are situations when it's best to accelerate out of trouble and there are situations when it's best to brake sharply. In either case you're better off in a powerful car. Sometimes you may be able to judge what's the best course of action to take, other times you may get lucky and other other times you may get unlucky. Accelerating from a falling tree is a good idea if it's right over you, but not so much if it's 100 yards in front.
----
Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
|
|
No matter how powerful your car is, if you ar ein the wrong gear as the tree falls on you then you won't get much reaction from the car. Unless its an automatic with kickdown I suppose?
|
In which town or city did this remarkable escape occur?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
|
|
I was driving a 2 litre Mondeo Estate in 2nd, just about to go into 3rd gear as I had come out of a sharp corner in the lane - rural lane about four miles from Lymington, New Forest. I tend to take it slowly as it is a winding lane with deer and horses around - not to mention people cutting through from the A337 to the village refining their cornering skills , refrigerated lorries and boat trailers. There were marks on the bonnet which were pointed out to us which showed just how close it was. Initially it was thought that the tree had snapped because of the weight of the wet leaves, but we now understand that there was some rot they found while clearing the site.
|
Well I have to say thats a remarkable tale. I wonder how many of these near miss with trees things there are in a year.
My life mantra is that my retirement from this earth is pre planned somewhere on the calendar. My experience tells me that I dont have a great deal of control over that date. (several things have happened to me that should easily have resulted in early retirement)
|
Now you see, if we all had 5.0 litre monsters, never replanted after chopping trees down and had a general disregard for the Earth, there wouldn't be any trees to fall down.
Anyone else think this idea has some merit? I do.
|
Next thing it'll be airbags in the roof......
|
Oh definately :-)
Seriously though, there's no doubt about it that being in second gear in a reasonably quick car saved your life. Now I can use that as justification for buying a more powerful car in the future. ;-)
See Ebay in a couple of month's time when some salvage company places it's ad:-
Ford Mondeo 2.0 Estate, one careful lady owner, was previous light panel damage now fully repaired. £5,000 o.n.o
:-)
Blue
|
It's good to hear you got out of it OK.
My sister and BiL had a similar thing happen to them many years ago when they were in their Pug 205GTi - only the thing that came down oh them was not a tree but a bloke falling out of a cherry picker!
Apparently a lorry in front of them clipped the vehicle with the cherry picker mounted on it, wobbling the bucket enough to throw the guy out who, not being harnessed in against H and S rules came crashing down on the car.
Both sister and BiL thought that their retirement had arrived but although the roof was badly damaged the poor unfortunate bounced off it and landed on the pavement beside. This Pug had the sliding sunroof but it was closed with the internal blind drawn. The combination of that probably saved their lives.
AFAIR the lorry driver got done for careless driving and the company operating the cherry picker god prosecuted under the Health and Safety at work Act.
|
|
|
