Car Saved My Life

Elton · 06-02-2006, 01:17 AM

I felt compelled post on the forum about my almost life ending experience and how this car saved me from my bad judgment.

On April 19th 2:30 am I totaled my SRT-8 out. I was coming off some very long hours of work and had little sleep if any totally sober but clouded judgment. I was traveling in the country here in northern California actually in the wine country with out a single car or anything around. I was anxious to get home and decided to actually see what my car could do.

I hit it and at around 165mph it did a throttle over rev and readjusted at around 5100 rpms and was taking off at 168mph I started shut down because I glimpsed a sign and knowing the road a little, knew there was a turn coming up with in a mile. My bad more like a ¼ mile. There it was a 20 mph 45 degree turn. I was traveling about 110 mph when I locked her up. I could not go left or right because of fences and telephone poles. So I said to myself I am going strait into the field. Well about 2 feet into the field was an irrigation ditch. I hit that head on with the front of the car **** that hurt. Nose over end airborne about 45 yards on to the top passenger’s side and rolled twice landing on my roof.

I was able to get out thank God I had my cell phone in my pocket to call my wife and I had a dial tone because it was black for miles and I my bell was rung really good or I would be there until morning time. Needless to say I ended up with fractured L1 and L3 vertebrae and a sore collar bone.

There is no doubt that the quality of this car saved my dumb ass. Four days later I went to look at the car and the entire driver and passenger side was totally intact. The air bags safety belts and the structure worked to perfection as far as I am concerned because here I am alive to talk about it.

Yesterday I played 6 holes of golf just to stretch my back a little and I am feeling back to normal.

Insurance replaced my car I picked up 2 weeks ago another Black SRT-8 Fully loaded and been intergrading my salvageable mods from my other one. That’s a story in itself. Insurance company turned me loose on my car. 

The bottom line is they built this car knowing it can go fast very fast and with that the safety features implemented in the design are dead on. Thank you Daimler Chrysler for making a great car.
I will be going on my first trip since the accident with my NorCal LX group on June 17th to Monterey.

To all please be safe and drive with good judgment I humble myself in writing this but I wanted to let you know first hand how good this car is built. Trust me do not find out for yourself.

Elton

sjz · 06-02-2006, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elton

I felt compelled post on the forum about my almost life ending experience and how this car saved me from my bad judgment...

Holy S..t! Thank God you're alright, and no one else was involved! Thanks also for having the courage to make this post. Maybe it will wake up someone else (no pun intended).
I hope your insurance company doesn't read this. Does the police report estimate your speed?
Here's to a complete recovery,
Steve

Mr.DJ · 06-02-2006, 01:42 AM

Wow, sorry to hear about the 'bad news' with regard to your beautiful car, but I'm also glad to hear that you were able to 'walk away' from the high-speed accident. In addition to learning about how structurally sound the 'SRT-8' is/was, it appears that you have also learned another valuable lesson from the incident...take it easy my friend.

**HEMEEE** · 06-02-2006, 01:42 AM

That's one of the scariest things I have read on these forums to date, and could have been one of the saddest.
God blessed you Elton!!

I'm happy I will get to spend more time with you at the next Spring Fling... stay safe!

kc2ntlh · 06-02-2006, 01:45 AM

Elton,

It's good to hear that our cars are designed to provide a level of safety comparable to their performance level. Because of that (and other powers), it's even better to hear that you are ok. Considering the conditions (speed, etc.) that you described, the passenger areas of the car look like they were nicely protected. Can't say as much for the front end....but that's what insurance is for.

Again, glad that for the most part you are doing well.

moparfo · 06-02-2006, 01:46 AM

good to hear you are ok.

**AussieHemi** · 06-02-2006, 01:50 AM

Damn!!!! Now that is nasty. At least you have the honesty to admit it was you being foolish that caused it and thankfully you were by yourself. I'm glad you got out of it with only minor injuries and it's great to see our cars hold up and do the job they are supposed to do in a serious accident. Hopefully this will be a lesson for all of us.

ScottB · 06-02-2006, 02:13 AM

Totally frightening.

I agree with all the points on the above posts. I also last week went to test limits of the car.
There but for the grace........

I'm awfully glad you are safe. Wishing you a speedy recovery. (No pun intended).

HalV48 · 06-02-2006, 02:41 AM

I enjoyed our brief conversations at Irvine Elton. Glad to hear you injuries where somewhat minor. Also glad to hear how well our cars are built. Most of us tend to think we are invinsible, but hearing your story should knock us down a couple of pegs. I haven't attemped a fun top speed run yet. I did 161 on the Dyno sitting still though.

Again Elton, glad to hear you only have minor injuries and have a brand new SRT-8.

Jakez · 06-02-2006, 03:02 AM

Man am I happy to hear you're OK. Recently I took my car up to 155 with more people in the car than I'd like to admit, although they were all egging me on to see what she had, I can't think of anything more idiotic that I've done in my entire life. If I had wrecked I would be in prison for a very long time. I guess sometimes your adrenaline really gets the best of you.

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