# Truck -1 Miata - 0 **URL:** \ **Category:** Shift518 Automotive\ **Created:** [July 7, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290 "2009-07-07T19:04:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vovchandr](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/vovchandr/32/6275_2.png) [@Vovchandr](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Vovchandr)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/1 "2009-07-07T19:04:38Z")
> Trauma T1571 > For a short time yesterday I did not have a name; I was Trauma T1571 at the Cumberland Memorial Hospital in Cumberland, Maryland. Before that, I was flown by helicopter off of Highway 68 Westbound. Before that, I was strapped to a backboard and given an IV. Before that, I was cut out of a car with giant pneumatic pincers. Before that, I had a man holding me immobile and shielding my face and legs from the tools the firemen were using to extract me. Before that, a bystander reached his hand through the smashed window just to hold mine and speak with me. Before that I was in the worst car accident I can imagine. By all apparent rights, I should not be typing this right now. > This past week I was at the BuildaBridge Institute in Philadelphia (which was superb, by the way—amazing people and conversations). Yesterday afternoon I drove back from Philly to Morgantown, West Virginia where my parents live…or at least that is what I was attempting to do. Somewhere east of Cumberland, MD, I was going down a grade (there is a long hill there that trucks tend to barrel through). My cruse control was on; I was just going along in the right hand lane (which, for my friends in the UK, remember to switch this…I was in the “slow” lane). I caught a glimpse of something very large in my driver’s mirror and then was suddenly spinning around and all hell broke loose. > I was hit in the rear driver’s side corner by an eighteen wheel truck that came into my lane as he passed me (apparently rather quickly). This spun me around several times and I then became lodged in underneath the trailer of the truck and dragged along the freeway for some distance. Of course, there is not a lot of room underneath a cargo trailer; fortunately, I was driving one of the smallest cars in existence. I was in a Mazda MX-5 (a Miata); the top of the car was shorn right off as I went under. The firemen who cut me out (they had to extract me through the side as there was no way for me to come out upward) said that, had I been in any other kind of vehicle, I would be dead. Actually, everyone that spoke with me could not figure out how I survived. One of the paramedics said he had never seen anyone come out of an accident like that alive (when they arrived on the scene, they immediately called for a helicopter before seeing me); I have some lacerations on my face and arms from all the glass and a sore shoulder and arm. I was not even kept in the hospital overnight. The medic on the flight took some pictures of the scene with his mobile and shared them around the emergency room; I just kept hearing “Damn…dayyymn!” and then people would just come over and look at me (and then say something like “…damn?”). I felt I was playing out the hospital scene in Unbreakable. > As they pulled me out of the wreckage, one of the firemen looked at me and said, “Man, there must be some kind of plan for you.” I have always valued my life and appreciate the blessings of it—but this is a new life. I remember thinking one thing during the accident, “Let me Live!” and I’ve lived—and that means something very special now. I hope to discover more fully what life is—because I’ve been given a chance to continue anew with living. > [http://www.edgeofsomewhere.com/Journal/trauma-t1571](http://www.edgeofsomewhere.com/Journal/trauma-t1571) [http://www.mazda-speed.com/forum2/index.php/topic,17795](http://www.mazda-speed.com/forum2/index.php/topic,17795) The guy will never be entertained by roller coasters, ever again. :eek ---
**Author:** ![Eatonualive](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/eatonualive/32/6442_2.png) [@Eatonualive](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Eatonualive)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/2 "2009-07-07T19:28:34Z")
wtf?! that guy was sooo lucky to live… wow ---
**Author:** ![OsoiNA6](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/osoina6/32/6301_2.png) [@OsoiNA6](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/OsoiNA6)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/3 "2009-07-07T19:34:28Z")
$45 shipped to 12065 for the right door panel (if in good shape)? j/k… Wow, talk about lucky to be alive… ---
**Author:** ![Baumbauer](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/baumbauer/32/6530_2.png) [@Baumbauer](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Baumbauer)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/4 "2009-07-07T19:45:43Z")
That’s amazing. I cannot imagine going through an accident that horrible. I’d like to kick the shit out of that truck driver too. ---
**Author:** ![McLen](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mclen/32/6354_2.png) [@McLen](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/McLen)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/5 "2009-07-07T19:56:41Z")
O.o I’ve responded to accidents like that and it’s steak in a blender on the inside. ---
**Author:** ![kramerbuccs24](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/kramerbuccs24/32/6397_2.png) [@kramerbuccs24](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/kramerbuccs24)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/6 "2009-07-07T23:36:45Z")
how tall was that guy? my car’s even smaller and my head would have been fuckeddddddd. ---
**Author:** ![KillerBlackbird](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/killerblackbird/32/6525_2.png) [@KillerBlackbird](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/KillerBlackbird)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/7 "2009-07-08T05:11:53Z")
Thats crazy. ---
**Author:** ![n\_cole](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/n_cole/32/6382_2.png) [@n\_cole](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/n_cole)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/8 "2009-07-08T06:17:47Z")
So, pretty much if this same scenario had played out and I was hit, I would be dead because I wasn’t driving a Miata? Hm. Hey Vlaaaaaad… ---
**Author:** ![Fn\_Skanks](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fn_skanks/32/6308_2.png) [@Fn\_Skanks](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fn_Skanks)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 7:44am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/9 "2009-07-08T07:44:41Z")
looks like a fun ride. dibs on drivers seat. looks like theres gonna be a schnieder employee with a lot of explaining to do. ---
**Author:** ![KrazyKid](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/krazykid/32/6371_2.png) [@KrazyKid](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/KrazyKid)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 8:18am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/10 "2009-07-08T08:18:50Z")
I often thought about making a company that builds “trailer skirts”. That extended down either side of the trailer and just had fenders for wheel wells. That way cars, bikes and what ever else cant get caught under a truck and smushed. These would only work for “highway” use. no chance in hell a truck could crest a city hill and not bottom out on them. But then again, make them with hydro sliders or worm gears that alowed them to be re-tracted up to allow for clearance, and dropped down for highway safety. ---
**Author:** ![Fn\_Skanks](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fn_skanks/32/6308_2.png) [@Fn\_Skanks](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fn_Skanks)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 8:20am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/11 "2009-07-08T08:20:21Z")
thanks for the idea. now wheres that # for the patent. lol ---
**Author:** ![kramerbuccs24](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/kramerbuccs24/32/6397_2.png) [@kramerbuccs24](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/kramerbuccs24)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 8:21am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/12 "2009-07-08T08:21:16Z")
that would also probably help aerodynamics a bit, right? ---
**Author:** ![Murrdog9000](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/murrdog9000/32/6391_2.png) [@Murrdog9000](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Murrdog9000)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/13 "2009-07-08T08:24:58Z")
o wow ---
**Author:** ![Wayne64SS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/wayne64ss/32/6365_2.png) [@Wayne64SS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Wayne64SS)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 9:25am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/14 "2009-07-08T09:25:44Z")
> [@FS: Feeler 1993 Honda del Sol](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/fs-feeler-1993-honda-del-sol/20297/13): > > I often thought about making a company that builds “trailer skirts”. That extended down either side of the trailer and just had fenders for wheel wells. That way cars, bikes and what ever else cant get caught under a truck and smushed. > > These would only work for “highway” use. no chance in hell a truck could crest a city hill and not bottom out on them. But then again, make them with hydro sliders or worm gears that alowed them to be re-tracted up to allow for clearance, and dropped down for highway safety. the skirts that they do make are only fiberglass and wouldn’t prevent something like this. They are done for aerodynamic reasons only. I don’t think it’d be an easy sell for a metal one, especially one heavy / robust enough to keep a car from smashing through. The main thing with trucks is weight, & weight = payload capacity. Lower payload capacity = less on a load = less dollas to make you holla. ---
**Author:** ![KrazyKid](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/krazykid/32/6371_2.png) [@KrazyKid](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/KrazyKid)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/15 "2009-07-08T13:55:24Z")
It doesnt have to be made out of tank armor, just strong enought to act like a bumper… thin about it on the road. Even if say the truck was in the far left lane and you were two lanes over traveling at the same aprox speed and you spun out across two lanes and headed towards the center of the trailer (like the mx-5) all this bumper ieda has to do is bounce the car off. even if it crumpled and concaved in a bit it would still not trap the car under neath. It is like reverse pit manuvering the trailer… but instead of the truck oversteering, your ass gets sent around. I bet a thick walled aluminum square bridge frame: * * * | \ / \ / \ / \ / \ | | --- | skined in 1/4" aluminum woudl be plenty strong, only about 2-1/4" thick and light weight. On either end you can mount the sliders/lifting system. Anyone who steals this idea and make millions owe’s me 3 blowjobs from their wife or GF. ---
**Author:** ![Mark355](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mark355/32/6528_2.png) [@Mark355](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Mark355)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/16 "2009-07-08T17:15:36Z")
I always thought that truckers drove their rigs way too fast for their size and weight. There should be a damn 60 mph limiter on those things. ---
**Author:** ![Wayne64SS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/wayne64ss/32/6365_2.png) [@Wayne64SS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Wayne64SS)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/truck-1-miata-0/245290/17 "2009-07-08T19:27:55Z")
no fucking way. keep on truckin.