Warning non-Diesel Thread!-Lucky to be alive today

[LUVMBDiesels]

I am putting this here because I know my buddies read DD.

Lesson Learned on Wednesday night -- ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEATBELT!
(West Virginina road knowlede is helpful while reading this)


I was driving home from DC to West Virginia in the snow in my Suburban. I got off I 270 and went down US 340 to see a possible rental house in Harper's Ferry. After looking at the house I started on my way back top Martinsburg I was on WV 9 heading to Mburg when it was suddenly closed due to a horrible accident. I diverted onto a secondary road (Short Rd) in order to loop around the accident and get back onto I-*1 to complete my trip. I was in 1st gear and in 4-HI doing about 12-15MPH when I lost it on snow covered ice. I went across the road and over the edge and would have gone tumbling down a 75 foot drop but for DIVINE INTERVENTION. As the truck was flipping over onto its right side. I landed on the top of a pickup truck that had also gone off the road! He has gone partway down the hill and ended up against a tree. The right side of the Suburban ended up on TOP of his fiberglass cap! My truck came to a gentle stop on its right side just off the road. I was hanging by the seatbelt which saved me from flying around inside the cabin.

THANK GOD for the people in this area. A bunch of them stopped and get me out of the truck as I could not hold the driver's door open and climb out. They also lent me a cell phone to cal AAA as I had lost mine. A new crop of people showed up and luckiliy one's son drove a tow truck. I canceled AAA as they were going to take 3-4 hours to come and the person's son came in about 45 minutes with two trucks. One for me and one for the poor guy who's truck I was on top of (the pickup truck was empty when I landed on it as he has gone to a nearby house to wait for his tow truck). Well they hooked a cable to the frame of the Suburban and pulled her back onto her wheels. The only damage was that I had broken three windows. Even the passenger mirror was intact! We put the Suburban onto a flat bed and then pulled the pickup out of the hole. His truck has more damage as it had hit head on into the tree. Lucky he was wearing his seatbelt too! But, miracle of miracles, his fiberglass cap was not damaged even with 6000 pounds of Chevy falling on it! Everybody was OK, I am just stiff as hell today and it looks like both vehicles can be repaired.

Just wanted to say that I never believed in gurdian angels or that sort of stuff before, but I do now!

Picture it if you can... Pickup truck goes off the road and hits a tree holding it in place. Suburban goes off the road, flips onto it's side and rests on top of the pickup! What are the odds?

[Masterful1]

you both are very fortunate that no one else hit the same patch of road death the two of you did, earlier this year in Missouri here we got hit with a severe ice storm that laid down about an inch of ice on everything, on my way to work the next day I seen several spots where 5 or six cars hit the same patch of Ice and ended up in the same ditch one after another. I even seen some where they just left their cars there to wait for better weather to get them out. the biggest ditch pile I seen was 17 cars on the st.Louis news.

[Dee8go]

Glad you're okay. Did you change your drawers when you got home?

Whose ever cap the other guy had on his pickup should hire him to do an endorsement! That's pretty amazing.

[LUVMBDiesels]

Originally Posted by Dee8go

Glad you're okay. Did you change your drawers when you got home?

Whose ever cap the other guy had on his pickup should hire him to do an endorsement! That's pretty amazing.

No drawer changing. It flipped in slow motion as I was only going maybe 3-4mph when she caught the edge of the road.

I did hit the hotel bar and had 5 double Jack Daniels once I got 'home'

I was meeting some friends there and when I told them the story via my found cell phone they waited to see me - I dragged myself in around 11:30. I askedthem
" now that I rolled a Suburban, do I qualify for West Virginia citizenship?"

Their reply - if you were sober Hell No!

Seriously, I am thinking of buying that cap from the pickup guy and making it into a coffee table. It was a life saver! Thing did not even crack and the glass was all intact. It managed to catch the 'burban's side glass and breaking that long expensive window absorbed the impact shock. Both rear door glass went too, but nothing else. Not even a major dent, just a big shallow one on the right front door where the body was resting on the edge of the embankment. It should pop out with one of those bug suction cups. Didn't even scratch the paint!

[rick surgent]

Chances are if you make a coffee table out of a pickup cap, you will qualify for WV citizenship.

[LUVMBDiesels]

Originally Posted by rick surgent

Chances are if you make a coffee table out of a pickup cap, you will qualify for WV citizenship.

Yep!

Either that or make it a PLANTER in the front yard -- next to the rusty Jeep/snowplow!

[Dee8go]

Do you have any upholstered furniture on your front porch? I think that counts.

[LUVMBDiesels]

Originally Posted by Dee8go

Do you have any upholstered furniture on your front porch? I think that counts.

Once I get a front porch I will put a nice set of Caddy seats on it (on cement blocks of course!)

[bgkast]

Your post made me think of this: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_truck_accident.htm

You both were real lucky!

[LUVMBDiesels]

Originally Posted by bgkast

Your post made me think of this: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_truck_accident.htm

You both were real lucky!

I agree My angel was looking out for me for sure!

The ravine I would have tumbled down sideways was about 50-60 feet deep I could not tell in the dark, went at about a 60 degree angle and was full of trees. I would have rolled down untila tree stopped me. At the lease the truck would have been totaled and I would have been heading to a hospital instead of a bar!

[Dee8go]

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

Once I get a front porch I will put a nice set of Caddy seats on it (on cement blocks of course!)

You may want to put your washer and dryer out there, too . . .

[LUVMBDiesels]

Originally Posted by Dee8go

You may want to put your washer and dryer out there, too . . .

Nawh, those go on the back porch with the refrigerator and the dog kennel!

Can I get a "HELL YEAH?"

[LUVMBDiesels]

Well I got her back yesterday. She runs fine but has a dent in the front passenger door and dents in the left rear door.

New glass and an alignment cost $1475.62!!! Kee-Rap!

Additional $850 to pull the dents! I'm taking her over to Ranson to Scotty's Body shop for that!

[Skid Row Joe]

You were lucky the Suburban landed on it's side........because it's roof pillars cannot support squat..........

[Mustang_man298]

Pretty impressive to do all that with minimal carnage. Your story reminds me of a sight I ran across several years back. We had a cold wet winter here ( I think it was that El Nino thing), anyway, it rained and got really unusually cold for the area overnight, froze a lot of stuff hard. I was driving a bobtail truck for an HVAC outfit through the Napa area, and when I crested the hill on hwy 12 where the big overpass begins and the road forks, it had frozen into black ice, the locals had no clue how to drive in it much less think about it even being there. You should've seen the mess, cars everywhere in the ditch, on the road, stacked into each other.....I watched 3 more do it right in front of me, not slowing down then jamming the brakes as soon as they felt a little squishy. It was in somewhat of a blind area too until you were right on it. I knew I couldn't stop, just hoped for the best, lined up to cross it and steered straight in it, no brakes and soft throttle, cruised right across it.