Be careful on the Highway!!!

[R W Burgess]

An East Tennessee Region AACA member sent this picture to a friend of mine. Evidently, Don Wentworth had organized a Caravan group of Florida folks for a trip to a Texas Tour, something Mr. Wentworth is famous for. While on the highway the 1962 Chevy Impala, pictured, was cut off by a passing semi-truck with the resulting damage shown. The Chevy was a 30,000 mile original car. We're not sure who owned the Chevy, but think that the fellow in the blue shirt is Don Wentworth, the caravan organizer.

Wayne

[1937hd45]

Sad photo, hope nobody was hurt. I can't help seeing the Peterbilt sign above one guys head, is that what hit him?

[R W Burgess]

I knew that was coming, Bob. Doesn't matter what brand truck it was, there are so few competant drivers anymore. When you observe truckers that either hug the center line or the ditch line, be careful because they are diffinately "newbys"! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Wayne

[Rick Lay]

Don Wentworth lives in Florida and the caravan, as I understand, was enroute to the Central Division Tour in Granbury, TX (April 8-10). I guess the photo is just now getting circulated.

[R W Burgess]

Thanks Rick. The front clip won't be a problem, but the front suspension would concern me, if they frame got hit. Sad!

Wayne

[ex98thdrill]

What a shame.

I think the next part of the story that will be interesting is who the car was insured under and how well they took care of the issue.

[Ccar]

Wayne, look the picture over again. It sure looks like the right side is jammed to the wall. The left side is mushed from back to front. Maybe the rear, the glass and the deck lid and inside stuff are only pieces that can be salvaged. What a shame. We owned two '62 Impala SS, one hard, one soft.

It will be interesting to hear the insurance carriers response. If not satisfactory to the owner it could be rough on them when we hobbists find out

Chuck

[R W Burgess]

Maybe Chuck, but I'll bet he just drove to the side of the highway and parked it in that position. I hope so anyway. I never had a '62. My first car/Chevy was a '64. I just recently saw pictures of her again at my ex-wife's funeral last month. The kids had put pictures of her up on the funeral home "memory board" sitting in my first car. Kinda put a big lump in my throat, since I was the one who took those pictures of her in my car at the ripe young age of 19.

<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Wayne

[Guest BruceW]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

but I'll bet he just drove to the side of the highway and parked it in that position. I hope so anyway. </div></div>

Wayne,

I think you are a little optimistic about the drivability of the car. The left front wheel looks to be completely gone and the suspension appears to be resting on the pavement. I don't think it was very drivable after the truck got done thrashing it.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

That's a real darn shame!

It seems the apparent majority of drivers these days are "bad" ones... car, pick-up, SUV, and (sadly) Truckers...

I travel I-81 in NE Penna every day, between Scranton & Wilkes-Barre, as my daily work commute. The posted speed limit through this area is 55 MPH.

The average speed of traffic is between 75 & 85 MPH (I've checked this with stop-watch & mile-markers, so that speedo-error would be ruled-out).

In addition to local commuters at "Drive-time", there is also a heavy volume of OTR truck traffic, much of it from /to Canada...

It's down-right scary anymore.

The section from mm 185 to mm 178 has been declared a "targeted enforcement area", with "fines doubled"... I rarely see it patrolled or see anyone being pulled-over by a Statie.

"Everyone" tailgates, speeds, passes on the right, passes on the right in a merge-area, gabbing on the cel-phone, etc.

There's no exciuse for this, and it should be stopped.

I got my own driver's license at age 17, in 1984, and watched all the goofy 1960's & '70's driver's ed films, etc... but I took all that stuff to heart and put it into everday practice...

I have given-up trying to "Drive 55" and be a stalwart law-abider, and now generally "go with the flow" (trying to keep it under 65, anyhow) as far as speed goes; but I still observe the "2-car-legnths minumum following distance" rule, or "1 car-legnth per every 10 MPH of vehicle speed" rule, I don't cut-in front of people; try to anticipate what could happen up ahead, etc...

But sometimes all the defensive driving techniques in the world don't help...

My greatest fun with old cars comes from being able to drive them; it really stinks to see somebody's pleasure trip wind-up like this...

"Something should be done..."

[Ron Green]

I-81 a little further south of you down here in central PA has had multiple fatalities within the past few weeks. The one refused to yield onto I-81 so he drove on the berm at speed until his tires got caught up on the uneven pavement of which rolled him several times resulting in his death. The capitol beltway with I-83 and 581 are now downright terrifying to drive a new vehicle let along a antique even though I do it a few times each summer.

I travel all of the above roads everyday. I grew up in this area and remember when I-81 & 83 were being built. A few years ago there used to be 3 or 4 accidents a month and now we have 8 to 12 a week. Pieces of cars everywhere on some days. If you leave more then 15' between cars you will have a idiot squeezing in, no matter what the speed or weather conditions.

[Shop Rat]

Speaking of driving on the berm, try this on for size. Today we were in a congested area where there are two lanes each way and a center turn lane. We are headed north on the road, in the inside lane to go to the center lane to turn left. Out of the corner of my eye I see an idiot FLYING down the south bound berm but he is going north like we are. He zips in front of two cars that are south bound, through the turn lane in front of the car ahead of us, across the inside lane to the outside lane and jumps onto the I-64 east bound on ramp. People just stopped and you could see them just stunned at what he had done. He was going so fast that if he had hit someone it would have been very bad.

Really, where are the cops when morons do stuff like this?

[jaxops]

When I lived in Massachusetts, we would have to drive to/from Philadelphia through Connecticut. I had never before witnessed people cutting you off from the shoulder before. It was a new and frighteing experience. One time, with my whole family in the car while driving in the right lane northbound on the CT Turnpike, a fellow came onto the highway from the entrance ramp and paralelled me on the soulder. We were bumper-to-bumper on the highway, and I could not imagine what he was doing until I saw an overpass bridge coming up. I figured him for dead when he zoomed ahead, and brushed the car ahead of me and worked his way between us.

This sort of driving happened every time I drove through there from Groton to Sturbridge. As more cities become more and more densely populated, and here in the south, everyone drives alone in a car, we will see more and more "desperate" driving. Makes one wonder about why we all gave up on public transportation.

[West Peterson]

I wonder if that's the car owned by Travis Henderson, Mobile, Alabama. Here's a photo Steve took of it at the recent National Meet in Mobile. The difference I see, though, is the size of the white sidewall tires.

[Ron Green]

We can only hope that when his luck runs out he only ends up killing himself. I see this stuff on a daily basis and it makes one wonder what are they thinking.

I was nice enough to leave someone out the other week as we were in stop and go traffic. He turned around and flipped me the bird. I guess I didn't leave him out fast enough? I only wish I would of had a bond like vehicle that had the saws that protrude out from the wheels on this occasion, or maybe a rocket or two!.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

Ron,

That's a really sad (but accurate) example of the kind of society we live in these days...

I see this sort of "gratitude" every day, often many times in the same day...

What's WRONG with people these days ?

(PS: I still travel down to Balto. frequently to visit my parents, and I drive around H-burg on I-81/I-83; you're right - it's absolutely terrifying, no matter what you're driving. I've been driving that route for over twenty years now (since I went off to college in Wilkes-Barre in 1985, in my '62 Ford Falcon), and two things strike me on every trip: the amount of development (both commerical & residential) and the congested traffic and lousy driving through the I-81/83 corridor... )

[R W Burgess]

Poor upbringing is what they call it in the south. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Wayne

[ex98thdrill]

Pitt64, I wouldn't be so quick to point the blame at law enforcement. Yes every police agency has its' share of "slugs" out there, but also understand that in many areas the population is growing, the number of complaints, crimes and reports are growing, yet the number of cops per capita aren't necessary growing at the same rate. You also have several of these municipalities that are trying to cut costs to keep taxes low, and because of that you may have fewer cops and/or no or poorly equipped departments. With the increased workload, a lot of these law enforcement agencies are overlooking a lot of the less serious issues.

Also take into account that if a cop writes a fistfull of tickets, and the tickets go in front of some judge who is a bleeding heart liberal and throws out the ticket, that also plays a role in things as well. There isn't a cop in the world that's going to break their butt to nail someone if the local judge is a total candya_# who lets everyone go.

Another contributing factor as well is incompetent administration within the law enforcement agency. If the supervisors don't do their job, how can you expect the cops to...

During the month of March, there were two cops shot and killed in the line of duty in rural areas of New York state less than three days apart. People don't seem to think twice before pulling the trigger anymore, so it may be a case where the cops may choose to be less aggressive.

I'm not saying your comments are wrong, but you may want to look at more of the picture.

[ex98thdrill]

You didn't have to do that. Your post didn't offend me, I was only trying to give you a little more insight on things. Not everyone understands the full picture or the other side of the coin, and I was simply explaining things to a level that you and others may understand.

Like anything else, all it takes is one idiot to say or do something that can paint an image for an entire organization. In your case, you may have actually seen a total slug in action, but unfortunately that one person paints a bad image to both the department and the profession.

[Rick Lay]

Just to update the info - Roger Kash of Florida is the owner of the Impala. They had minor bruises, but went on to Texas and ran the tour in a rental car. The car is now back in Florida awaiting insurance action.

[ex98thdrill]

I sure hope the insurance company puts the car back together and does right for both the car and the owner.

[rocketraider]

My questions: did the truck stop and was the driver charged? Trucking company's insurance carrier needs to get hit upside the head with this one before the car owner's carrier pays out a dime. Truck driver needs to lose his CDL too if he's gonna cause mayhem like that with an 80,000 lb rig...

Pitt and Pat: I have to agree with both your stances on the LE issue, but I've gotten about tired of getting passed in blind curves on 2-lane roads at 5:30 in the morning by idiots driving 75-80 mph. Complaints to the local State Police barracks and Sheriff's offices haven't produced any results, so I guess it's time to "elevate" the issue and see if they can't get some troopers out there that time of morning to slow these idiots down.

We left Carlisle Saturday morning in pouring rain and got on I81 at Chambersburg. Fifteen miles of it was all I could take before I told my bud to get out the road atlas and find us a different way home. Raining so hard wipers could barely keep up, traffic still running 75-80 and got cut off by two semis before we reached Hagerstown. Ain't playin' dat.

Just yesterday, I had gotten back into Danville on US 58. Checked mirrors and looked back to move into the left lane and there was NOTHING behind me for nearly 1/8 mile- enough to merge over, right? Before I got moved over good a horn started blaring and there was this damn BMW convertible right on my butt. It's a 45 mph zone and this peckerhead HAD to have been running 65-70 to catch up to me like he did. Georgia plates- had to have been some of the VIR crowd. It's general knowledge that "unofficially" local cops in two counties have been told to lay off VIR folks so as not to present a negative image of the community and scare off their rich-tourist dollars... Boolshat.

[Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

VIR?

[novaman]

If I remember correctly, Virginia International Raceway. It's just east of Danville, VA.

[Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

OK

Funny how some people think they have to drive like a racecar driver after they leave the races, or even car shows. I went to a local show this weekend. You couldn't believe the number of guys who had to burn rubber when they turned out of the parking lot. Then of course there were the crotch rocket guys who had to leave on the rear wheel only.

[ronbarn]

Hal, You are so right. Our daughter-in-law teachs school near Talladega and she had a day off today. They close the schools during race week for the very reason you mentioned.

[Guest Randy Berger]

Some people ruin it for everyone. We have had local cruises shut down because some jerk just has to "light 'em up" as he's leaving. It's not just the younger crowd either. Some older enthusiasts obviously have inhaled too much CO to make sound judgments anymore. (Maybe they were always like that). Local and state cops make some additional income nabbing these jokers so maybe there is a plus side

[Dynaflash8]

The car belonged to Roger and Paula Kash of Palatka, Florida (or close by). They have been active AACA members for many, many years. They formerly lived in Fort Lauderdale. Their other car is a beautiful Senior 1947 Pontiac convertible, for which I supplied a NOS grille about 30 years ago. It is truly a shame this happened. Unfortunately, it isn't the first time. Longtime AACA member Seth Pancoast was rear ended on the Interstate by a tractor trailer while on the way to Winchester, VA from eastern PA about 15-20 years ago, and this was while they were still running down the highway. What is really so great about this, remember still, is that Roger and Paula were able to walk away from this wreck. I ask you, how could the truck driver "not see their car" as he is reported to have said.

[novaman]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I ask you, how could the truck driver "not see their car" as he is reported to have said. </div></div>

Easy, Not paying attention to traffic around him. He may not have seen them if they were in the rig's blind spot. But he should have been pay attention to traffic and realized he went by them and now don't see them in the mirrors therefore they might be in a blind spot.

[rocketraider]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The car is now back in Florida awaiting insurance action. </div></div>

You know- even an Anniversary Gold car- with that much damage, I don't know if I'd want it fixed. Especially a 30k mile original car- it will NEVER be original again and that was a big draw to owning it. I know I'd never feel the same about the car again. But that's just me, and I'm sometimes guilty of taking damage to my property personally.

My cars are "modern" enough to handle heavy traffic, but I've gotten really particular about putting them on Interstates because of idiot drivers. My general experience is: the bigger the pickup truck or smaller the car, the more apt it is to have an idiot behind the wheel.

[Ron Green]

On a somewhat related note of this thread.

As per the news yesterday there was a driver who crashed his vehicle and did a total of $5,000 damage. I don't believe anyone was hurt. Seems he was eating a bowl of cereal complete with milk and spoon while driving down the expressway at speed.

He must have been crazy and it wasn't for his coco coco puffs!

[R W Burgess]

<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Joe_Materasso]

one word...

<span style="font-weight: bold"> heartbreaking </span>