An Inertia Moment with the Focus
12/9/2

For those of you who are looking forward to seeing the new Harry Potter movie that came out a few weeks ago and are buying into that everyone is saying �It�s better than the first one�, well, it�s not. It did have some good points, and would be great to take the kiddies to. Or at least the ones that wouldn�t be scared to death. I must admit, I found Harry�s freakish world rather creepy.

But if I have to find a movie targeted at kids with a bloody dead cat on a hook in a hallway, I know which movie I�d pick.

But some of the throwaways were priceless, particularly the car running away. Ha.

So, the most adventurous thing that happened this weekend was on the way down to Birmingham to go to World Market to get stocking stuffers and just goof around. There was a 20something car pileup on the four mile long bridge above the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge on 565 so we were diverted to Decatur. I took the exit onto North 31 at about 60 miles an hour.

Now, I know that I really needed south 31, but I felt I�d just exit and do a U-turn. I did this and got gas, but that�s not the interesting part.

As we were going down the ramp in the Focus (new car) at around 60, I suddenly see that there is a very long patch of oil running exactly where the left side of the car�s tires will be. �Oh, Crap!�

The tires on the left side of the car were coated with oil. I couldn�t avoid it. There was no way to swerve to put the oil in-between the tires at that speed while going down the ramp. I should have been going slower, but it was an acceptable speed. Who knew I�d have to deal with oil slicks?

If I didn�t brake, I�d have very little steering. The path would take the car off the ramp and down a steep gravelly grade, then across the first double lane going our way, then into the median which was of questionably ditchyness, and then there were the oncoming lanes. I figured I�d regain control by the time I was in the oncoming lanes.

If I did brake, then the weight of the car would transfer to the front tires. The left tire would not grip as well as the right due to the oil. The car would bring the back end around and since the brakes are weighted more to the front than the back, would continue backward, in drive, until it stopped.

I put on the brakes, the car started bringing the back end around my side. Noooo. Not that side, dang it, I should have known that the car would fall off the ramp. Hard turn left. ABS is holding ok. The back end of the car goes back behind us and then swings out off the right side of the car, all the way around and then some. We come to a stop with the front wheels still on the ramp and the back end of the car in the gravelly area.

The first thing I said was �We�re fine.� The first thing Aisai said was �Someone�s going to get killed.� I got the Focus off the ramp and headed north for a while.

�You handled that really well.� Said Aisai. Ten or so seconds of silence pass. �I mean, I think you really did. I�m not being sarcastic.�

�Oh, I know. I play a lot of video games. We lucked out since there were no obstacles or anything. If there were a guardrail we would have bounced it.� Ten or so seconds pass. �I�m sorry. I should have been able to avoid that. I was going too fast.�

�No,� said Aisai. �That was an acceptable speed for that. You didn�t know that there was going to be oil there.�

Yeah, I thought, but that�s just the way that I wrecked the Saturn that time. I didn�t expect for there to be standing water where I�d never seen it or for there to be tons of cars on the road. And I wouldn�t have wrecked that time if I could have thought quicker.

That wreck was me taking a ramp too fast for the conditions, hitting some water, and then having to choose whether to hit the brakes or not. No brakes meant I hit an old man in a white truck next to me. Brakes meant the weight of the car was transferred to the front wheels and my car will swing around the left side. I hit the brakes and ended up traveling backward at about 35 mph and the engine had stalled out. My mind searched for what to do. How to stop? Only 8 hrs later did I blurt out from my office �Emergency Brake! Agh, I�m an idiot!�

Aisai�s stomach was hurty due to the stress shock of the near accident. We stopped and got gas. Sitting in the diverted traffic and listening to Christmas music in Decatur was enough to calm her and me and the rest of the day was pretty fun.

There are little oily specks on the rubber around the windows on the left side of the Focus though. I need to wash it since I know that stuff is all over the paint also. Can�t be good for the paint.