We take a chance when we drive our rides.

[Russell Ashley]

This is totally sad to me. This fuzzy pic from the newspaper is my friends 51 Studebaker going up in flames after being rear ended by a teen aged girl yesterday on I16 in Savannah, Ga.. He and his wife were slightly injured but are OK. He said he saw the car coming in the rear view mirror but couldn't move. It's really sad because this car had many NOS Studebaker parts that are practically unavailable, and ridiculously priced when you do find them. It had an Alston chassis, 502 engine, and many thousands of dollars in chrome parts. It also took top paint award at a Good Guys show a while back. It was heavily insured by Hagerty but that won't pay him for his twelve years of work. I guess we all think of the possibility of something like this when we drive our rides.

[iowaboynca]

Man that sucks.
Glad he and his wife are ok.

[73kay]

Did he have a tear gas tank or something? Curious what exactly led to the fire?

[Rude Dude]

Kind of makes a person wonder maybe the trailer queen guys have it right!!
Not ---still rather drive them

[crossfire84]

She wasn't texting by any chance ?

[Advanced Design]

That is too bad, and fortunately they weren't seriously injured.

Sounds like a nice Stude. Do you have any pics of it?

[OrrieG]

You get hit that hard especially in an auto with a rear tank risk of fire goes up. Glad they got out ok and have good insurance. This time around they can get something on the bucket list and enjoy it right away and find another project if that is where the interest is.

[joedoh]

wowowoow glad he is ok!

[my56chevytruck]

that is terrible, glad nobody was seriously hurt. i feel for the owners.

[mongocanfly]

Sad..glad they're o.k.

[MARTINSR]

So sad, and scary. I work in late model collision and a late model car is so much safer it's crazy.

When I drive my Rambler every day, I look at it as if I am riding a motorcycle. I have learned to be VERY defensive and I leave lots of room and I tap my brakes (after installing a manual switch so all it takes is a tap) to make the lights blink. I also added a third brake light and reflectors in the lights to make them MUCH brighter. http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/basi...ng-212015.html

It isn't going to eliminate all chances, but I am doing my best.

Brian

[franken]

Originally Posted by crossfire84

She wasn't texting by any chance ?

Of course she was playing phone.
Anyone notice the accident rate change from 2008 to today? Or head on collisions, hence deaths? Morons.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

So sad, and scary. I work in late model collision and a late model car is so much safer it's crazy.

When I drive my Rambler every day, I look at it as if I am riding a motorcycle. I have learned to be VERY defensive and I leave lots of room and I tap my brakes (after installing a manual switch so all it takes is a tap) to make the lights blink. I also added a third brake light and reflectors in the lights to make them MUCH brighter. http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/basi...ng-212015.html

It isn't going to eliminate all chances, but I am doing my best.

Brian

Excellent suggestion Brian!

When I rode a motorcycle I rode with the idea that NO ONE saw me - EVER. I still stopped riding. When the fear starts to outweigh the enjoyment it's time to find something else.

Terribly sorry to hear about the loss of the Stude. I just posted in my build thread that my pristine '08 Silverado LTZ crew dually with only 45,000 miles burned to the ground yesterday so I can sorta relate. If it were my '55 truck that burned I'd be inconsolable I think. As long as they're unhurt and it was insured the the rest will fall into place, eventually.

[Lo1dakota]

Awful story. But also a reminder to carry a fire extinguisher with you. You never know what might happen.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Excellent suggestion Brian!

When I rode a motorcycle I rode with the idea that NO ONE saw me - EVER. I still stopped riding. When the fear starts to outweigh the enjoyment it's time to find something else.

Terribly sorry to hear about the loss of the Stude. I just posted in my build thread that my pristine '08 Silverado LTZ crew dually with only 45,000 miles burned to the ground yesterday so I can sorta relate. If it were my '55 truck that burned I'd be inconsolable I think. As long as they're unhurt and it was insured the the rest will fall into place, eventually.

That is exactly how you need to think! I have always taught my kids that you want to see the driver looking right at you, and you can't even believe that fully. I have even said you need to think they are TRYING to hit you, if you loose that way of looking at it you are in trouble.

What in the hell happened to your Silverado?

Brian

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by 73kay

Did he have a tear gas tank or something? Curious what exactly led to the fire?

They were heading out of town and had just put eighteen or twenty gallons of gas in it. The tank was well protected and the car had a full cage from front to back but when you get slammed hard enough it's hard to say what exactly caused it. My friend said he saw her in his rear view mirror coming at a high rate of speed but had no place to go to get out of her way.

[73kay]

Man that sucks. Thanks for sharing, it is always healthy to remind us to be defensive and careful driving these old rigs, especially with all the money and time we put into them.

[mr48chev]

Terrible about the car but relieved to see that they were ok with minor injuries.

A lot of times we as old car and truck enthusiasts don't help our selves as much as we could simply because our usually small tail lights are often hard to see especially in certain light conditions.

I see far too many drivers on the road not paying attention to their driving though, cell phones, video monitors on the dash, reading a book propped up on the steering wheel (including bibles) holding food in one hand and a drink in the other and steering with their arm. Pets riding in their lap. Just too many distracted people out there and then add the ones who drive with one hand and take photos of our trucks with the other going down the road beside us. I almost got nailed by a big Ford diesel pickup pulling a race car trailer while turning into my brother's yard a while back. The guy came over the crest of a hill at full throttle blasting down the hill behind me with the intent of racing up the hill on the other side of the dip without slowing down. I'd guess he has done that all too many times but he came with inches of nailing my back bumper before I nailed the throttle and got out of his way.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

They were heading out of town and had just put eighteen or twenty gallons of gas in it. The tank was well protected and the car had a full cage from front to back but when you get slammed hard enough it's hard to say what exactly caused it. My friend said he saw her in his rear view mirror coming at a high rate of speed but had no place to go to get out of her way.

DAAAAMN!

Brian