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Black Ice and not the good AC/DC kind
#279312 11/17/09 12:56 PM
Joined: Oct 2006
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Murph Offline OP
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Well, for anyone who actually noticed I haven't been here to harass them for a few days, it's partially because I took a trip last week to my brothers to go see Collective Soul which was awesome but then had to return after hearing news my wife was in a car accident.

Most importantly of all things, she is fine and so is her Mom that was riding with her. Sharon's neck is very sore. She already had a bad neck from being rear ended 2 or 3 years ago and this re-aggravated it. Her Mom took a bad bump to the head but no concussion. Slight bruises for both.

They hit a patch of black ice at 9:00am on a sunny day but it was a spot where the sun doesn't hit that side of the hill until noon or so. The Jeep skid sideways until it ran out of ice and then flipped when the tires hit the traction of solid pavement again. Judging from the fact that the roof is totaled & much of everything underneath was beaten off when it landed back on the tires (of which three blew off the rims) but the two sides are relatively unscathed, I'd have to say they had some air time before and after the bounce to the roof.

In any case, the roll bars did their job and kept the roof from crushing in on them and the seat belts kept them tightly in their seats so they were released from the hospital quickly after being checked out with no serious injuries.

I can't tell you how scared I was when a fellow Jeep club member & buddy called me to see how I was because he was on his way to go help out after hearing the news from yet another Jeeper who came across the accident and stopped to help. I was doubly scared after calling my wifes cell phone only to have it answered by a nurse.

Thankfully, they were safe and my fears turned to frustration as I was a 4 hour drive from returning home. My buddy kindly continued on straight to the hospital and was there to greet them when they got released and were just starting to try and figure out how they would get home.

The Jeep is probably a write off. Although that's irrelevant because it did it's job and kept them safe. The investigating officer said that after looking at the skid marks and the huge patch of near invisible ice, any vehicle would likely have ended up rolling if it had skidded sideways so although some may say Jeeps (any tall vehicle) rolls a little easier, in this case it was the vehicle that saved them with the sturdy roll bars (and wearing seat belts) from the crushing blow that the roof took.

I met with the adjuster while he looked over the vehicle and he said it would be an easy write off from what he sees so far but since it is a specialty vehicle (Rubicon plus the thousands of aftermarket parts I put into it myself) he is going to reserve his decision until he has the frame measured and he checks to see if things like the axle tubes are bent.

At this point, I really don't care as everyone is safe.

In another interesting note, the adjuster told me that my wife was double lucky that she was in a Rubicon because the drivers air bag is calibrated to not go off unless it takes a very specific frontal impact. This is because a Rubicon is expected to be driven in rough conditions off road, even more so than a regular Wrangler. In any case, a steering wheel airbag serves little to no purpose in a sideways roll and would have likely injured her further in this specific scenario.

Sorry for the long explanation. It started as quick paragraph but I suck at executive summaries.


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Re: Black Ice and not the good AC/DC kind
Murph #279314 11/17/09 01:05 PM
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Andrew, I'm very glad to hear she her mom are safe. That sounds like a pretty horrific accident. Kudos to the Jeep for keeping them relatively unharmed.


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"Nothin' up my sleeve. . ." --Bullwinkle J. Moose
Re: Black Ice and not the good AC/DC kind
Murph #279315 11/17/09 01:06 PM
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Wow.... well as you said, what's important is that they're OK.

Joyce works at a hospital and deals with ER traumas frequently. She's really instilled in me how a life can change in a moment.

I'm glad your family's hasn't! Scary, though!


::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::
Re: Black Ice and not the good AC/DC kind
Murph #279318 11/17/09 01:11 PM
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Glad to hear they are safe. Stressful situations...


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Re: Black Ice and not the good AC/DC kind
EFalardeau #279320 11/17/09 01:19 PM
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Wow!! I was thinking to myself yesterday "Where's Murph"?

Happy to hear they are both doing well, life indeed can change in a heartbeat.


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Re: Black Ice and not the good AC/DC kind
EFalardeau #279321 11/17/09 01:20 PM
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I'm very happy to hear that your wife and mother-in-law are ok, WoW, what a ride that must have been...


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Re: Black Ice and not the good AC/DC kind
EFalardeau #279324 11/17/09 01:28 PM
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I'm also glad to hear that both of them came out of the deal relatively unscathed, good thing they were fastened up well.


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Re: Black Ice and not the good AC/DC kind
RickF #279327 11/17/09 02:14 PM
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Scary stuff. I hope her neck feels better soon. And I appreciated the long explanation.

Re: Black Ice and not the good AC/DC kind
Murph #279332 11/17/09 02:24 PM
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Murph, glad to hear that the safety features worked as designed and the trusty Jeep delivered your wife and her mom relatively safely from their ordeal.

Thanks for sharing the silver lining with us.

Re: Black Ice and not the good AC/DC kind
pmbuko #279368 11/17/09 07:01 PM
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Wow, good to hear everyone's safe.

Fortunate that your Jeep was able to take the brunt AND you had the roll cage.

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