Not to get anybody too riled up, but I have always considered Volvos the
safest cars on the road because their drivers are the most dangerous. They
seem to float around in their own little cloud invariably chatting on the cell
phone (without a hands free) and seem completely oblivious to everyone else
around them. The feeling of being safe and protected they have often come due
to the fact that everybody else is avoiding them. Around here it seems that
retired folks love volvos because they're "safe". They drive them in the
passing lane on the highway, nice and slow, and love the experience of the
nice open road ahead of them. The rest of us go mad trying to get around them.
Sitting stuck in traffic watching the other cars all trying to slip past the
volvo-ites, I can see them peering thoughtfully out the windows and thinking
how nice and safe they are and how bad all those other drivers are to be so
stressed out.
I have just given up counting the number of times I've seen a sudden zig-zag
dodging of cars or waving arms only to see a Volvo at the heart of it. I've
personally seen at least a dozen people driven off roads into traffic cones,
or other cars avoiding volvos. I don't know what it is, but whenever they are
near, the accident rate of other cars seems to climb. Undoubtedly I exaggerate
a little. However, I am so far from the lone voice expressing this feeling
that I wonder.
So when I read of an altercation between a modern 250+ HP car and a 1929
(machine with perhaps 50 hp) I'm a trifle inclined to wonder which driver
zipped into the spot that the other thought was empty.
Of course, having just ranted for half a page, undoubtedly my next car will be
a Volvo. After all they do seem to be quite well made with amazing
anti-reality properties. :^)
Mark
(now hiding under the bed as the V-igilantes ignite their flaming torches)
________________________________
From: owner-triumphs@autox.team.net on behalf of Tim Cheatham
Sent: Thu 04/08/2005 7:05 PM
To: owner-triumph@autox.team.net; TRlist
Subject: RE: not specifically triumph, but vintage related
This was certainly a tragedy. When I first read the
news reports, I thought that the other driver must
have really been speeding.
It turns out that the Volvo driver works for one of my
best friends. According to my friend the Volvo
sustained little damage and the airbags didn't deploy.
Despite any news reports, the Volvo driver didn't
run a stop sign. My friend reports that there is some
indication that the Duesenberg driver may have jerked
the wheel and run off the road in an attempt to avoid
the Volvo. The Volvo driver is supposedly a great
kid, 25 years old, and is completely distraught over
the accident.
Not sure what really happened (other than a terrible
tragedy), but it may not be as simple as some of the
news reports would have us believe.
Regards,
Tim
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