Mary and I had just arrived at a campground on Friday night of Memorial Day weekend when a friend drove up to tell us that Ben had just rolled his Jeep on dirt road not too far from the campground. We were assured that no one was hurt so I followed the friend back to the scene in my truck. When we arrived, sure ‘nuff, the Jeep was on its top in the ditch. Ben said that he had been traveling about 50 mph when an animal jumped out in front of him. He hit the brakes but the Jeep started to fishtail in the loose gravel and he rolled into the ditch. Ben and a female friend who was with him were both wearing their seatbelts and ended up with a few cuts on their knees from the broken glass when they crawled out of the Jeep, and the girl had a glass splinter in her eye that they removed later with no damage to her eye, but no other injuries. The only real damage to the Jeep was a crushed windshield and frame. Everything else seemed to be in order. The protection systems (seatbelts, rollcage) on the Jeep worked well.
I put the Avalanche in 4WD low and crawled down into the ditch, hooked up a tow strap to the far side frame and pulled the Jeep back over on its wheels, then ran home to get a tow dolly. When I arrived back at the scene, a sheriff was there making a report. The only thing the sheriff did was fill out an accident report. Since we were towing our own vehicle, no reports have to go to insurance companies (we just carry liability on the Jeep anyway), nothing goes against Ben’s license. The sheriff was very nice.
My neighbor had come back with me so he got in the Jeep, started it up and drove it up out of the ditch and onto the tow dolly. The Jeep is home now in the back of the driveway
We can’t tell you how thankful to God we are that it wasn’t more serious. We give Him all credit for protection and grace. I’ll never understand God’s goodness in a situation like this. Even the girl’s father was very thankful that Ben did everything right after the accident. I told Ben later that he had acted so maturely and professionally through the whole ordeal. His first concern was for the welfare of his passenger and had immediately worked to see that she was okay. He’s quite a young man these days and I am so very proud of him.
About the only thing wrong is the crushed windshield and frame. I can get a used one for about $150 or so, but since I’m unemployed again (that’s another story), it’ll have to wait.
I just semi-rebuilt the rear end last weekend. I installed new axle, pinion and driveshaft seals, replaced all the rear brake components including the cylinders, and rebuilt the driveshaft. We’ve put so much work into the Jeep that we’re not going to give up on it now. The windshield will be easy to replace. The softtop bow might need some work, but we’ll see what shape it’s in this week when I can get a closer look at it.
Edit: Oh yeah, the rollover sheared off the driver’s side mirror. Gonna need a new one of those.
Seriously, glad it wasn’t as serious as it could have been. Tell him to be more careful and slow down when driving on loose surfaces in case an “animal” jumps out.
50mph = around 80kph. That’s crazy fast on gravel, even for a jeep. I’m glad everyone’s fine. And I think the worst part of the whole story is the splinter in the poor girl’s eye. That must be terrible!
I was once told a story about a similar accident to this one. Two people were driving down a motorway in Scotland, and there they don’t paint the road restriction lines, but make them out of cement or something similar, so that they become small bumps(apparently). Anyway, they were driving in the car, there was a heavy storm and low visibility. They hit one of those bumps and it sent the car skidding. The driver couldn’t control it and the car went into a roll. Now, the thing that saved both people in the car is the fact that they weren’t wearing their seatbelts. They were able to duck into the space between the cabby hole and the passengers seat, which prevented the roof from crushing their heads. Isn’t that ironic?
Very glad to hear everyone’s okay. Jeeps are infamous for “rollability” and the seatbelts in this case were probably lifesavers. In almost all cases, that is.
Ironic and extremely rare. In fact I question anyone’s ability to “duck” with much control when a vehicle is rolling. In a rolling vehicle, it’s all too common for occupants not wearing seatbelts to be crushed by the vehicle because they end up “falling” out a window or door. Fortunately, seatbelts do not prevent you from leaning down to the sides, or otherwise making movements to get away from a descending rooftop.
My brother died in a rollover car accident in 1985. He was wearing his seatbelt but apparently his head hit the side of the car pretty bad, causing fatal brain injuries. If you have a 1975 Datsun 710, get rid of it!
