Trip to California w/o Miata.

I'm back, I know you all missed me terribly, right? ;-)

I was surprised, I posted last week about having to drive the van (2005
Buick Terraza) over so as to have the scooter and scooter lift
available for use at the San Diego Zoo and was expecting the twisty
parts of the trip over California 74 and 371 to be pretty awful but I
was wrong, the van handled the curves way better than I'd expected! It
drove around the sharp turns with no fuss at all and did it slower than
the Miata but not as much as I'd feared.

The visit to the zoo was fun until the trip home when the freeway
traffic slowed to a stop on I-15 and we all stopped except the two cars
behind me.

Nobody was hurt, the Buick has a small tear in the rear bumper along
with some scratches, the Nissan Titan has the front and rear smashed
but was sort of drivable, the Jeep Commander had to be towed. I think
Buick wins that round! I suspect I'd have probably been killed if I'd
been in the Miata, the Titan would have ridden up over the rear end
and, with the Jeep Commander pushing it from behind would have possible
come as far forward as ME! <URK>

I've reported it to the insurance company and am waiting for the CHP to
make the report available, they said it takes 7 working days. Monday
I'll get an estimate which should run from around $350 to
replace/repair the face bar to a complete total if the sub frame and
structure are damaged.... ain't impact bumpers wonderful?



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XS11E wrote:
> I'm back, I know you all missed me terribly, right? ;-)
>
> I was surprised, I posted last week about having to drive the van (2005
> Buick Terraza) over so as to have the scooter and scooter lift
> available for use at the San Diego Zoo and was expecting the twisty
> parts of the trip over California 74 and 371 to be pretty awful but I
> was wrong, the van handled the curves way better than I'd expected! It
> drove around the sharp turns with no fuss at all and did it slower than
> the Miata but not as much as I'd feared.
>
> The visit to the zoo was fun until the trip home when the freeway
> traffic slowed to a stop on I-15 and we all stopped except the two cars
> behind me.
>
> Nobody was hurt, the Buick has a small tear in the rear bumper along
> with some scratches, the Nissan Titan has the front and rear smashed
> but was sort of drivable, the Jeep Commander had to be towed. I think
> Buick wins that round! I suspect I'd have probably been killed if I'd
> been in the Miata, the Titan would have ridden up over the rear end
> and, with the Jeep Commander pushing it from behind would have possible
> come as far forward as ME! <URK>
>
> I've reported it to the insurance company and am waiting for the CHP to
> make the report available, they said it takes 7 working days. Monday
> I'll get an estimate which should run from around $350 to
> replace/repair the face bar to a complete total if the sub frame and
> structure are damaged.... ain't impact bumpers wonderful?


Yikes, glad to hear that you are OK, really.

Maybe I am dreaming, but the rollbar that I have should be the first
thing hit by a truck that runs up over the rear deck in a rear end
collision after it has cleared the trunk lid, assuming I have the top down.
Otherwise, vinyl first, then the rollbar.

Then it becomes a matter of whether the bolts will hold and whether the
tubing will resist bending enough to stop the truck, which I imagine is
highly dependent on the total force generated based on the size and
speed of whatever has hit me.

It is the thickest tube size that Hard Dog offers, as well as being the
tallest one and having double diagonal supports.
It is also well-secured in 6 places, so it gives me some hope of
avoiding decapitation or being crushed whether it is roadway above my
head from rolling over or another vehicle on top of my Miata like that
Titan would have been on your's.

In any case, I like having it there better than not. If I'm wrong,
nobody will be able to tell me, "I told you so". ;-)

We have A LOT of jacked up trucks and SUV's in this area with a height
that will easily slide the trucks' front end over any NA or NB Miata
trunk lid in a high-speed rear-end collision, so it is something that I
have thought about.

Pat

pws wrote:
> so it gives me some hope of
> avoiding decapitation or being crushed whether it is roadway above my
> head from rolling over ......

Errrr, make that "whether it is roadway *below* my head from rolling over".
I'm pretty sure that it is the car that flips over. The road that the
car is traveling on usually remains on the bottom side, if I remember
correctly. :-)

Pat

pws > wrote:

> We have A LOT of jacked up trucks and SUV's in this area

Ditto here and in California where I was. Fortunately, the Nissan was
stock, otherwise it might have missed the bumper entirely and hit the
rear door which would have caused massive body damage and possible have
damaged the lift and scooter as well. Pretty scary to think about.


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XS11E wrote:

> Ditto here and in California where I was. Fortunately, the Nissan was
> stock, otherwise it might have missed the bumper entirely and hit the
> rear door which would have caused massive body damage and possible have
> damaged the lift and scooter as well. Pretty scary to think about.

So, XS11E, what are you having for dinner tonight? Watch any good ball
games lately?

I just figured that since we are the only two lost souls left on this
board, that it can just be email for us instead. ;-)

BTW, what the hell is your real name? Just a first one would do, we
aren't going to start searching Phoenix for you.......

Pat

> Errrr, make that "whether it is roadway *below* my head from rolling
> over".
> I'm pretty sure that it is the car that flips over. The road that the car
> is traveling on usually remains on the bottom side, if I remember
> correctly. :-)

If not, watch for large children.

miker

pws > wrote:

> Watch any good ball games lately?

You hit a sore point, I don't have cable. I'm a fan of the Arizona
Diamondbacks who sold the TV rights to ALL their games to Fox Sports AZ
a couple of years back so I don't see any of those games, I was a fan
of Monday Night Football but it moved to ESPN a few years back and,
last but not least, I hear the BCS series is moving to cable next year
or the year after so it looks like I won't be seeing many ball games at
all.... I'm not much of a basketball fan but that's all that's left on
broadcast TV.

NOTE: Why don't I get cable? It's really not worth the cost of cable
for a few games and I almost never watch anything else on TV but I
consider it sometimes.

> I just figured that since we are the only two lost souls left on
> this board, that it can just be email for us instead. ;-)

Nah, Miker chimed in.

Maybe if we hurl insults at Leon he'll come back? ;-)


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XS11E wrote:
> Pat wrote:
>> Watch any good ball games lately?
>
> You hit a sore point, I don't have cable. I'm a fan of the
> Arizona
> Diamondbacks who sold the TV rights to ALL their games to Fox
> Sports AZ
> a couple of years back so I don't see any of those games, I was
> a fan
> of Monday Night Football but it moved to ESPN a few years back
> and,
> last but not least, I hear the BCS series is moving to cable
> next year
> or the year after so it looks like I won't be seeing many ball
> games at
> all.... I'm not much of a basketball fan but that's all that's
> left on
> broadcast TV.
>
> NOTE: Why don't I get cable? It's really not worth the cost
> of cable
> for a few games and I almost never watch anything else on TV
> but I
> consider it sometimes.
>
>> I just figured that since we are the only two lost souls left
>> on
>> this board, that it can just be email for us instead. ;-)
>
> Nah, Miker chimed in.
>
> Maybe if we hurl insults at Leon he'll come back? ;-)

Ahem, I'm still here, although not as often.

Sorry to hear about the accident but glad to hear that you're
okay.

We did a short drive yesterday down to Philadelphia to the
Simeone Foundation Car Musuem. I had some serious car lust going
on with all those sweet racers. www.simeonefoundation.org

Iva & Vixen
2004 Classic Red
No more winkin' Miata

i am here too, but i am just a leech in this group, extracting valuable
information from you good people whenever i can.
but glad to hear that you are ok, and of course that your miata is ok
regards,

"Iva" > wrote in message
...
> XS11E wrote:
>> Pat wrote:
>>> Watch any good ball games lately?
>>
>> You hit a sore point, I don't have cable. I'm a fan of the Arizona
>> Diamondbacks who sold the TV rights to ALL their games to Fox Sports AZ
>> a couple of years back so I don't see any of those games, I was a fan
>> of Monday Night Football but it moved to ESPN a few years back and,
>> last but not least, I hear the BCS series is moving to cable next year
>> or the year after so it looks like I won't be seeing many ball games at
>> all.... I'm not much of a basketball fan but that's all that's left on
>> broadcast TV.
>>
>> NOTE: Why don't I get cable? It's really not worth the cost of cable
>> for a few games and I almost never watch anything else on TV but I
>> consider it sometimes.
>>
>>> I just figured that since we are the only two lost souls left on
>>> this board, that it can just be email for us instead. ;-)
>>
>> Nah, Miker chimed in.
>>
>> Maybe if we hurl insults at Leon he'll come back? ;-)
>
> Ahem, I'm still here, although not as often.
>
> Sorry to hear about the accident but glad to hear that you're okay.
>
> We did a short drive yesterday down to Philadelphia to the Simeone
> Foundation Car Musuem. I had some serious car lust going on with all
> those sweet racers. www.simeonefoundation.org
>
> Iva & Vixen
> 2004 Classic Red
> No more winkin' Miata
>
>

"Christopher Muto" > wrote:

> glad to hear that you are ok, and of course that your miata is
> ok

Thanks, I appreciate that.

NOTE: On the trip over, cruising at 70-75mph, the Buick Terraza ran
24.8mpg, I'm a bit surprised that a van with no attempt at aerodynamics
could do that.

I'm even more surprised as it's not white so there must be more photon
drag*! <G>


*All questions about photon drag must be referred to Leon.


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