That Accident

EricW · Post by **EricW** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:34 pm

It is quite amazing what your brain does not register in the heat of the
moment and how much one's initial impressions can be wrong!

Frankly, just after the impact, I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that I
was following the lady in the left lane and ran into her because she braked
very heavily in front of me.

I have just had a conversation with the Police, and this is what actually
happened.

I was definitely in the left lane. I had nobody in front of me

She was in the right lane and ahead of me.

She decided to stop for the lights, braked extremely heavily, spun to her
right through about 420 degrees and came to a stop with her tail in the left
lane.(I have no recollection of that whatsoever) I then struck her almost
across the rear of her car rather than straight on, the angle of contact was
about 30 degrees off perpendicular and I went under the car with the
spectacular result we saw.

There is actually a photo which shows a red paint line from my car going all
the way across the back of her car which proves she was nearly at right angles
to me as we hit.

The strange thing is that I have no memory at all of seeing her car except as
it slid in front of me and can remember nothing at all of the impact or any
noise.

I do remember that I had to get out the passenger side and thinking that the
easiest way would be to open the roof, and wondering why the roof would not
open!

I think that the lesson here is to do what your insurance company tells you,
DO Not Admit Liability! It is probably best not to be too helpful to the
Poilice either, straight after an accident. Not because you would not want to
co-operate, but you just might not, unbeknown to you, be in a fit state to do
so.

Regards

Eric

From John.Field@carterobservatory.org Fri Apr 27 17:48:47 2007
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Subject: RE: aircon switch & oil pressure
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 14:38:37 +1300
Thread-Topic: aircon switch & oil pressure
Thread-Index: AcZAtwA54qGMeqiZRpqMZ7XdNkHH+gAA/MSA
From: "John Field" <John.Field@carterobservatory.org>
To: "MX5List" <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
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Hi Dave,
We brought a 1990 1600 from a dealer Paid $8500, 130,000km. Most
probably, no did, pay too much. The car has had a number of problems,
passenger window not going down (worked at first then crapped out),
water leaked around the windows and running rough.

Vivienne, my wife and purchaser of car (now called Betsy),I just said
yes, got quite depressed and thought we had brought a lemon.

Since purchasing we have replaced plugs and given a good service,
flushed radiator, motor, wheel alignment and she runs heaps better. We
just need to sort out the air filter set up and I think she will be
sweet!

On the window rubbers, ours leaked like a sieve... very soggy botty! I
replaced the original ones with second-hand items from Ross at MX-5
Mart, $90 for two complete seats. Fitted them myself in about 30 minutes
and no more leaks! If they aren't leaking don't replace them... my opinion.
This weekend I fixed the electric windows, took about 30 minutes. Dirty
contacts. A Haynes manual (you can find them for sale on trademe) and
checking out the website and e-mail list is helpful.

I would recommend getting the motor checked by a reputable garage.
But the rest can most probably be easily fixed with the resources
available through the club. E-mail Ross about a switch it will in my
experience is a lot cheaper than getting new.

The real joy I have got, other than: roof down wind in the hair, envious
looks from other drivers etc, etc etc, is the joy of fixing things on
the car. It's fun, I have rekindled my enthusiasm for things mechanical
that I have lost with the last cars I have owned and my brownie points
with my beautiful wife are well and truly up!

Hope this is of help!

Cheers

John

From supasparky@yahoo.co.uk Fri Apr 27 17:48:47 2007
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Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 03:13:42 +0000 (GMT)
From: glenn roberts <supasparky@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Re: That Accident
To: MX5List <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
In-Reply-To: <008b01c640be$144ecbb0$e205b9d2@your5139538146>
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Hmmmmmm...
Funny how the lady in the other car failed to mention
her 420 degree spin to the Herald, making it sound
like she was the innocent "carefull mum driver" who
was run into by the the sportscar..
Why couldnt the Herald get a hold of you to tell your
side Eric??( did they even try??)

Glenn "SLYDIT"
http://miata.cardomain.com/id/supasparky
Hairdressers car??? well no. but it does have a HAIR DRYER!

EricW · Post by **EricW** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 4:42 pm

I actually got hold of them on Friday after the article appeared, but to be
honest, I did not really know any of this myself until the Police told me.

And of course, as far as the Herald is concerned, there is nothing older
than yesterday's news!

Eric

TwinkleNoze · Post by **TwinkleNoze** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:13 pm

Great news Eric!

Nina (WRW)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket?

TwinkleNoze · Post by **TwinkleNoze** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:13 pm

Great news Eric!

Nina (WRW)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket?

Bill Rehm · Post by **Bill Rehm** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:40 pm

Only red ones Glenn, ... BRG will still be regarded as "safe and classy"

Bill

Bill Rehm · Post by **Bill Rehm** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:40 pm

Only red ones Glenn, ... BRG will still be regarded as "safe and classy"

Bill

Okibi · Post by **Okibi** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:43 pm

Nope, your insurance premium will go up now you have a hairdryer under your
bonnet.

- Dave.

From supasparky@yahoo.co.uk Fri Apr 27 17:48:53 2007
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Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 04:52:18 +0000 (GMT)
From: glenn roberts <supasparky@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Re: aircon switch & oil pressure
To: MX5List <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
In-Reply-To: <440BBBF2.7090008@mx5club.org.nz>
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Have a look on trade me, or the club for sale section
. theres lots of Mx's for sale for your budget. Maybe
a Mx club member could offer thier services as a
second inspector for possible candidates??.
Gearboxes have a habit of lunching the input shaft
bearing( 3rd gearbox coming up for me)amd syncros wear
out too. Gearboxes are cheap but better to find a car
thats in good overall condition.
Have a good look at the coolant and radiator, as ANY
sludge in the rad means overheating problems are
iminent.
heres a run down of possible costs associated with an
MX...
New soft top, $1100 fitted
cambelt,(with new water pump) $350
Gearbox, second hand fitted $650
Respray, $2500-3500

Glenn "SLYDIT"
http://miata.cardomain.com/id/supasparky
Hairdressers car??? well no. but it does have a HAIR DRYER!

___________________________________________________________
Win a BlackBerry device from O2 with Yahoo!. Enter now. http://www.yahoo.co.uk/blackberry

Okibi · Post by **Okibi** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:43 pm

Nope, your insurance premium will go up now you have a hairdryer under your
bonnet.

- Dave.

From supasparky@yahoo.co.uk Fri Apr 27 17:48:53 2007
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=s1024; d=yahoo.co.uk;
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Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 04:52:18 +0000 (GMT)
From: glenn roberts <supasparky@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Re: aircon switch & oil pressure
To: MX5List <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
In-Reply-To: <440BBBF2.7090008@mx5club.org.nz>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Precedence: list
Message-ID: <P31fb.A.EEH.ZGZMGB@L733>

Have a look on trade me, or the club for sale section
. theres lots of Mx's for sale for your budget. Maybe
a Mx club member could offer thier services as a
second inspector for possible candidates??.
Gearboxes have a habit of lunching the input shaft
bearing( 3rd gearbox coming up for me)amd syncros wear
out too. Gearboxes are cheap but better to find a car
thats in good overall condition.
Have a good look at the coolant and radiator, as ANY
sludge in the rad means overheating problems are
iminent.
heres a run down of possible costs associated with an
MX...
New soft top, $1100 fitted
cambelt,(with new water pump) $350
Gearbox, second hand fitted $650
Respray, $2500-3500

Glenn "SLYDIT"
http://miata.cardomain.com/id/supasparky
Hairdressers car??? well no. but it does have a HAIR DRYER!

___________________________________________________________
Win a BlackBerry device from O2 with Yahoo!. Enter now. http://www.yahoo.co.uk/blackberry

Keith Smith · Post by **Keith Smith** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:20 pm

The photo makes a mockery of the theory that sports car
drivers like to be "on top"
Keith

Keith Smith · Post by **Keith Smith** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:20 pm

The photo makes a mockery of the theory that sports car
drivers like to be "on top"
Keith

Simon Lord · Post by **Simon Lord** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:09 pm

As you say, Eric, the brain plays tricks. I was once a passenger in a Cobra
replica (with nitro!) in England doing a strictly legal 70mph up a dual
carriageway towards London. A lady in a Fiesta turned right on to the
carriageway in front of us just where the road narrowed and there was nowhere
to go because of roadworks in the left hand lane. My driver, Chris, braked,
there was a bang and we shot off over the embankment and skidded merrily up
the central reservation for a while. Fortunately it was wide there as all the
rush hour traffic from London was coming in the other direction.

When the car eventually stopped and we got out and inspected the Cobra and the
Fiesta, there was a dent on the back of the Ford but nothing on the fibreglass
front of the Cobra. We were quite mystified until we noticed that there was a
big crack on the back end. It was eventually established that Chris had braked
so hard the Cobra (being a true replica right down to the evil handling) had
actually spun and hit the Fiesta travelling backwards! Neither Chris nor I had
any recollection of this at all, although we did recall that part of our
skating up the reservation had been backwards... If you had asked me to make a
statement before this was all worked out I would have sworn we hit front end
first.

My boss at the time was following us a distance back and saw the lights
careering around - he was convinced he was going to be looking for a new brand
manager and PR manager. Good thing we were travelling at a legal speed as the
car came to a halt literally two feet from some reinforced concrete blocks
with the wire sticking out ...

Simon

Simon Lord · Post by **Simon Lord** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:09 pm

As you say, Eric, the brain plays tricks. I was once a passenger in a Cobra
replica (with nitro!) in England doing a strictly legal 70mph up a dual
carriageway towards London. A lady in a Fiesta turned right on to the
carriageway in front of us just where the road narrowed and there was nowhere
to go because of roadworks in the left hand lane. My driver, Chris, braked,
there was a bang and we shot off over the embankment and skidded merrily up
the central reservation for a while. Fortunately it was wide there as all the
rush hour traffic from London was coming in the other direction.

When the car eventually stopped and we got out and inspected the Cobra and the
Fiesta, there was a dent on the back of the Ford but nothing on the fibreglass
front of the Cobra. We were quite mystified until we noticed that there was a
big crack on the back end. It was eventually established that Chris had braked
so hard the Cobra (being a true replica right down to the evil handling) had
actually spun and hit the Fiesta travelling backwards! Neither Chris nor I had
any recollection of this at all, although we did recall that part of our
skating up the reservation had been backwards... If you had asked me to make a
statement before this was all worked out I would have sworn we hit front end
first.

My boss at the time was following us a distance back and saw the lights
careering around - he was convinced he was going to be looking for a new brand
manager and PR manager. Good thing we were travelling at a legal speed as the
car came to a halt literally two feet from some reinforced concrete blocks
with the wire sticking out ...

Simon

MadMaz · Post by **MadMaz** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:17 pm

Hi Eric

A 420 degree spin is 1 complete revolution plus 60 Degrees. Are you sure the
police were right about that?

If they are, even a skilled stunt driver would have trouble doing that going
at < 50k's as the Herald story implies - at least without full lock, whacking
on the handbrake and full power to the rear wheels in a rear drive car. To
achieve that with heavy braking only, even allowing for the wet and downhill
slope, make speed 70 k's at least.

To quote the Herald "..she (Ms Baird) was going slowly because of the wet
road...". This implies she was going at < 50k's while in a 50k zone.
Obviously that's not right.

Anyway, it supports my claim further, that a sharply growing number of drivers
on the road are well on the way to the dark side of the moon.

Or are already there.

Cheers
Mark

MadMaz · Post by **MadMaz** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:17 pm

Hi Eric

A 420 degree spin is 1 complete revolution plus 60 Degrees. Are you sure the
police were right about that?

If they are, even a skilled stunt driver would have trouble doing that going
at < 50k's as the Herald story implies - at least without full lock, whacking
on the handbrake and full power to the rear wheels in a rear drive car. To
achieve that with heavy braking only, even allowing for the wet and downhill
slope, make speed 70 k's at least.

To quote the Herald "..she (Ms Baird) was going slowly because of the wet
road...". This implies she was going at < 50k's while in a 50k zone.
Obviously that's not right.

Anyway, it supports my claim further, that a sharply growing number of drivers
on the road are well on the way to the dark side of the moon.

Or are already there.

Cheers
Mark

MadMaz · Post by **MadMaz** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:57 am

Hi Jeff

That's a good point you make - I wonder what the tyre condition & pressures
were like on the Diamante - i.e. if they were close to bald and over
inflated that would change things considerably - especially as it was wet.

Anyway, to all list members: "Be careful out there people".

Cheers & Take Care
Mark

From gmunro@go2uti.com Fri Apr 27 17:48:59 2007
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Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 11:58:46 -0800
Thread-Index: AcZBWGEoXjXi1km2QJa6WWvfVxPF1w==
From: "Munro, Grant" <gmunro@go2uti.com>
To: <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
Precedence: list
Message-ID: <mbY8q.A.QEH.ZGZMGB@L733>

Your spellings correct but leave a space between the two words.
Cheers
Grant

__________________________________________

--------

MadMaz · Post by **MadMaz** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:57 am

Hi Jeff

That's a good point you make - I wonder what the tyre condition & pressures
were like on the Diamante - i.e. if they were close to bald and over
inflated that would change things considerably - especially as it was wet.

Anyway, to all list members: "Be careful out there people".

Cheers & Take Care
Mark

From gmunro@go2uti.com Fri Apr 27 17:48:59 2007
Content-class: urn:content-classes:message
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 11:58:46 -0800
Thread-Index: AcZBWGEoXjXi1km2QJa6WWvfVxPF1w==
From: "Munro, Grant" <gmunro@go2uti.com>
To: <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
Precedence: list
Message-ID: <mbY8q.A.QEH.ZGZMGB@L733>

Your spellings correct but leave a space between the two words.
Cheers
Grant

__________________________________________

--------

EricW · Post by **EricW** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:30 am

Mate, you have no idea how wet and slippery it was, that's what the witnesses
say!

Eric

John Spooner · Post by **John Spooner** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:04 pm

I think you will find that the 0 is actually the abbreviation for degrees.
Ie spin was 42 degrees.

John

_____

From: e-admin@mx5club.org.nz [mailto:e-admin@mx5club.org.nz] On Behalf Of
Eric & Ann West
Sent: Tuesday, 7 March 2006 11:31 a.m.
To: MX5List
Subject: Re: That Accident

Mate, you have no idea how wet and slippery it was, that's what the
witnesses say!

Eric

John Spooner · Post by **John Spooner** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:04 pm

I think you will find that the 0 is actually the abbreviation for degrees.
Ie spin was 42 degrees.

John

_____

From: e-admin@mx5club.org.nz [mailto:e-admin@mx5club.org.nz] On Behalf Of
Eric & Ann West
Sent: Tuesday, 7 March 2006 11:31 a.m.
To: MX5List
Subject: Re: That Accident

Mate, you have no idea how wet and slippery it was, that's what the
witnesses say!

Eric

EricW · Post by **EricW** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:30 pm

No John, the Police say definitely a full 360 and a bit more, but as I said,
the road was like glass so that's probably right. I dont remember seing it
though

Eric

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