bamamedic
Contributor
- Messages
- 1,251
- Reaction score
- 8
- # of dives
- 200 - 499
So much for my little yellow Miata! :icoeek:
While driving back from Vortex Springs on Sunday, I ran into that nasty bunch of thunderstorms in southeast Alabama. It was like Armageddon out there! Torrential rains, 70mph winds. I had to wait it out in a gas station for an hour, because winds like that would have thrown my car off the road.
Anyways, the storm passed and I proceeded on my merry little way, only to lose control of my car on Hwy 231 outside of Montgomery. In my defense, my tires weren't all the great, and the roads were wet. Texting on my cell phone while driving probably didn't help matters either.
I wound up spinning the car around a couple of times at 70mph, running off the road into the soft shoulder, and plowing into the woods. All I remember is shutting my eyes tightly, screaming, stomping the brake, and thinking to myself, "This is really going to hurt when I stop".
When the car stopped, I opened my eyes and was amazed that the passenger compartment was still intact. A quick once over revealed that I was pretty much uninjured. I got really, really lucky! The Miata fit in between two trees. I scraped the right side of the car onto a tree, and the left side had about two feet to spare. The undercarriage of the car was caught on a huge fallen tree, and that's what absorbed the impact. I turned out to have a cervical strain, and a bruised sternum and shoulder. At least I get a couple of days off work! (bad way to earn a vacation, though)
The car is totaled (bent frame, broken rear axle, and a ton of body damage) and I had the rather unfun experience of getting me and all my scuba gear back to Tuscaloosa.
Moral of the story: The drive back and forth to the dive site can be far more dangerous than the actual diving! Also, Miatas and trees don't mix well, and from now on, I'll pull over if I feel the need to text message while driving.
While driving back from Vortex Springs on Sunday, I ran into that nasty bunch of thunderstorms in southeast Alabama. It was like Armageddon out there! Torrential rains, 70mph winds. I had to wait it out in a gas station for an hour, because winds like that would have thrown my car off the road.
Anyways, the storm passed and I proceeded on my merry little way, only to lose control of my car on Hwy 231 outside of Montgomery. In my defense, my tires weren't all the great, and the roads were wet. Texting on my cell phone while driving probably didn't help matters either.
I wound up spinning the car around a couple of times at 70mph, running off the road into the soft shoulder, and plowing into the woods. All I remember is shutting my eyes tightly, screaming, stomping the brake, and thinking to myself, "This is really going to hurt when I stop".
When the car stopped, I opened my eyes and was amazed that the passenger compartment was still intact. A quick once over revealed that I was pretty much uninjured. I got really, really lucky! The Miata fit in between two trees. I scraped the right side of the car onto a tree, and the left side had about two feet to spare. The undercarriage of the car was caught on a huge fallen tree, and that's what absorbed the impact. I turned out to have a cervical strain, and a bruised sternum and shoulder. At least I get a couple of days off work! (bad way to earn a vacation, though)
The car is totaled (bent frame, broken rear axle, and a ton of body damage) and I had the rather unfun experience of getting me and all my scuba gear back to Tuscaloosa.
Moral of the story: The drive back and forth to the dive site can be far more dangerous than the actual diving! Also, Miatas and trees don't mix well, and from now on, I'll pull over if I feel the need to text message while driving.
