On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 16:28:48 GMT, Bruce L. Bergman
wrote:

On 31 Mar 2005 06:14:27 -0800, jim rozen
wrote:
In article , Gunner says...

After what she's been through, Borgaard said, she isn't too worried
about the car.

Yeah but her cell phone got all wet!

I'm sure all those rescue workers were pleased they
had to fish somebody out of the river because they
were yakking on the phone and just drove off the
road.

You mean all those rescue workers who regularly monitor and
participate in three or four (or five...) radio conversations at a
time? Their police or fire department's Dispatch channel, their
Tactical channel, the scanner to pick up what other regional services
are doing (which can count as a dozen or more), and perhaps a CB? And
the AM/FM for traffic reports? And perhaps that little beeping LoJack
receiver even... While /they're/ driving?

Give me a break. ^_^

Been there, done that, still have all the radios mounted in my
LandCruiser - I spent 15 years on a rescue team. I'll take a single
handsfree cellphone call being the sole distraction ANY DAY as far
safer than handling the average Policeman, Fireman or rescue worker's
radio load.

The factor nobody keyed in on was that she was driving on steel
bridge deck grating, not normal asphalt or concrete paving. Those
surfaces are as slippery as greased snot when wet, especially in a
light vehicle with a lot of lightly loaded rubber on the road. If
your vehicle is the tiniest bit unstable (like from making an
emergency lane change) you might as well be driving a Dodgem Bumper
Car at the local carnival, or one of Alice's Teacups at Disneyland.
You're spinning.

And a normal passenger sized SUV shouldn't be punching through or
going over the guard railings of the bridge and into the drink nearly
that easily - unless she was in a raised-to-the-sky Hummer H2 or Ford
Excretio^w Excursion 4X4 with 33's on it, she should have bounced back
into the roadway.

-- Bruce --


Bruce called it 100%

Jim of all people should be aware of this sort of road bed danger.
Those sorts of bridges are a nightmare for scooter riders. Freeway
overpasses on cold wet windy nights are nearly as bad as the ice that
forms on them is both invisible and unexpected.

Gunner

Rule #35
"That which does not kill you,
has made a huge tactical error"