Sometimes we get reminded that the effort we put into our Teutonic beasts pays off in the least expected ways.

[Andrew Buc]

On Friday, December 31, 2004, at 12:07 AM, cobram at juno.com wrote:

>
>  There have been many stories posted to the Qlists of much worse
> accidents than mine, but the bottom line is that the listers were 
> on-line
> sharing their experiences and not on a stretcher with IV's hanging out 
> of
> their arms and tubes crammed down their throats.
>
> Happy New Year, and for those venturing out on first night, keep an eye
> out for the Ahole DWI's.

Yep, I chose my first car (Saab 96, in '71) because of its reputation 
for passive safety. A year and a half later, I was T-boned by a Duster 
going 25 or 30. I wound up on the roof, with my passenger and me 
hanging from our 3-point belts. We crawled out mentally shaken, but 
physically unscathed. I knew I'd bought the right car! At the time I 
bought the 96, I hadn't been aware of its fragile transmission, but 
even after finding out, I stuck with 96's until 1990. Then I switched 
to Peugeot 504's, which are also quite crashworthy.

When I joined the list a few years ago, one of my first posts was a 
question about the crashworthiness of Audis. If I hadn't liked what I 
heard, that would have been the end of the matter, but I did like it, 
and you're stuck w/me for the foreseeable future!  :) I hope my 4kq 
never has the chance to sacrifice itself for me, but if it comes to 
that, I'm confident!

The late Tom McCahill in _Mechanix Illustrated_ once called drunk 
drivers "knights of the fluid." I think he said that at night, 1 driver 
in 50 is just plain smashed. This was pre-MADD, so I don't know what 
the %age is today. I'll be seeing in 2005 at a pub ~12 miles from home. 
Yes, I plan to pace myself when it comes to beer consumption!