i'm here to tell ya how i could have run over myself yesterday. well, here's a couple pix to explain. my car was parked as it is now behind my wife barbara's t-bird. when i got in the 54 yesterday to go to work, i turned the ignition switch & nothing happened. sure, i had power but it wouldn't turn over. i ***umed that the switch was bad & being in a hurry i decided to just use the emergency starter ****on that i have behind grill. it only works if the key is in the ignition & turned on. as soon as i hit it i realized that the reason the ignition switch wasn't working was b/c when i rewired the car last summer i installed a neutral safety relay which only sends juice to the starter (from the ignition switch but NOT the emergency starter ****on) when the car is in neutral or park! of course by then it was too late. the starter fired up the car & drove me instantly into babs' t-bird. i was nailed in my right shin/ankle & my left thigh, neither foot was on the ground. i couldn't wiggle free. not only was the pain excruciating but i was flesh & bone between 2 all-american chromed steel bumpers. no way i was getting out of that vice. the 54 was still idling really high but fortunately babs' car wasn't moving. i yelled for babs over the roar of the engine. she came out & put the 54 in reverse. i crumbled to the ground in rain of headlight gl*** & radiator fluid. the initial impact must have made a hell of a noise b/c all my neighbors had showed up by then. i felt my body going into shock & told my neighbor to get a blanket. he did. by then babs had already dialed 911 & her favorite firemen from around the corner showed up. fortunately i was still coherent & able to communicate. they asked me to wiggle my toes. i could. i was relieved. but my right leg below the knee had swollen up like a monster kankle & was almost as big as my thigh. my left leg had a giant indentation in it across the femoral artery. and a puncture wound behind the knee (we still can't figure out what that was from except for maybe babs' p***enger's tail fin). the paramedics loaded me on the stretcher & carried me to the ambulance. i got a shot of morphine & away we went. i wanted more b/c the pain was still kickin' my *** but i also wanted to be awake in the emergency room for their q&a. i'm sure this ambulance ride is gonna cost me a $1000 but it was worth it for the morphine but even more to byp*** all the people bleeding out in the waiting room. i answered a barage of questions & then got hit w/ another dose of morphine. a big dose. i rolled around like a zombie while they x-rayed me. then i p***ed out. i woke up to an angel caressing my arm: babs! my buddy adam had heroed her in as she was too shaken to drive. the doc was there too telling me to her suprise (& mine) that nothing was broken. i hate to say it but AMAZING! she told me to take a day or 2 off work, dose up on ibuprophin & ice the hell out of my legs (which i have been doing). the nurse proceeded to clean out my puncture wound which looked like a .22 shot & was deep enough for a q-tip head to get in! she glued it shut. she then wrapped my ankle & strapped me into a wheel chair. adam rolled me out to his car & got me home. babs put me to bed. i slept for a couple hours. woke up, iced my legs & 12 hrs after the accident i was hobbling around. today i can almost walk & not look like frankenstein. how cool is that?! i wish my car had fared better. besides the broken headlight, her fender panel is bent as well as the fender & the grill. i guess my body absorbed the impact (or caused the damage) b/c babs' t-bird only lost a brake light & had some minor scratches where i was struggling on the tail/trunk. so there ya have it. i'm really lucky & really stupid. happy to be alive. i don't know what would have happened if babs' hadn't been home to pull the 54 off of me. anyway, as soon as my legs are better i'm gonna make good use of them & take her dancing, hiking, etc. so enjoy yer legs y'all! and remember to MAKE SURE IT'S IN PARK! dave
dam that could have been alot worse! dont feel to bad about it, we all have done things like this , me included. anybody that says they havent is full of ****. these things will make you think alot more before you take any chances. good luck to ya.
Glad you are not hurt significantly. By now, You know what should have been done. Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy. I suppose more than one has had their own lapse of safety. I know I have!
That could have been alot worse. Glad your still with us. Now, dont do it again. I had a 4yr hit the start ****on on the dash of an old chevy with it in gear. Noone got hurt and it put a good scare in all of us. That too could have been alot worse.
A real hotrodder would have thrown himself between the cars to protect the chrome! ;-) Hey , wait a second, who won, the Chevy or the Ford?!?!? I think Ford took this round, *****es!!!!
You are very lucky to still be with us. I had a friend get pinned between car and workbench(not his fault another persons)and it broke his pelvis.It took him a long time to heal up enough to work.
All I can say is WOW and thanks for a real wake up call! I have a prayer card with a friend of mine up in my garage. He died making that mistake. He was under a 70ish Cadillac and did the screwdriver jump across the two terminals on the starter solenoid and the car ran over him. I almost did it last year when I fired up my Rambler parts car for the first time. The car isn't driveable so I hadn't been behind the wheel or anything like that. I hooked up remote switch to the starter and coil and pushed the ****on. I was so excited about getting it running I never checked to see if it was in gear! How do you like this, I got it on video! http://s200.photobucket.com/albums/aa167/BasicsofBasics/?action=view¤t=100_3064.mp4 Thank God the ****** was real low on fluid, it was slipping bad and didn't take off. Right in front of it was my 65 Gran Sport convertible that was a newly painted restoration, man am I lucky! Thank you for posting your story, it will help a lot of people. Brian
Wow ,thats' scary! Glad you're OK. If they had been new cars,they would have bounced off of each other like nerf balls! LOL Be careful.man
wow glad you made it thru without major damage! Wasnt there a thread not long ago about neutral safety switches and are they needed or not? Seems like this thread should end the arguement. I wonder if any of the blowhards that say they arent needed will chime in here and call you a non driver, or a dumb*** like they did in the other thread. Please dont take offense, stupid **** happens all the time, just trying to prove a point.
No what Tin Man this isn't the place the guys hurt. If anyone saw my post before editing I apologize it was in bad taste.
I am glad you are ok. Here is what happened last weekend at Tom Mack's show in Charlotte. A guy was unloading a '64 Falcon off a trailer and it got hung up (we've been down that road before, haven't we). The engine was cold and on fast idle. He leaves it running and gets out to raise the trailer tongue. HE LEFT IT IN REVERSE, NOT PARK. As he raises the tongue it got unstuck and drives itself off the trailer. In most cases it would have gone straight back until something stopped it. Not this car. Somehow it locked the steering and started doing backward donuts in the parking lot....fast doughnuts...it was still on fast idle but warmed up by now. I was inside the building and heard the commotion but noise and shouting is not unusual at a show. The Falcon door was open and someone started running with it as if he was going to try to jump in. Bad idea! His better judgement prevailed. Finally after about 20 doughnuts a good samaritan took his rollback and ran it into the back bumper of the Falcon which stopped it but damaged both vehicles. It could have been much, much worse.
Glad you are okay man,set your backup starter ****on up so where it only works if the emergency brake is set. Get well .
My goodness....that was soooo close to being really, really bad....you just dodged having a life altering experience.... I'll bet your smiling through all the pain just imagining what life would have been like with two broken legs..or much, much worse. You're a lucky man, but you already know that. Terrible story with a good ending......yikes!
Ouch and one more reminder to the rest of us that we need to remember to do the things that insure that we are as safe as we can be when we are working on our cars. I lost one of my close friends a few years ago because some guy who was probably too old to be driving hit the starter when he was crouched down in front of the guys car in front of the parts house he worked at. Sometimes we have to watch what is going on around us too. Get well so we can read about your next adventure hopefully without a mishap involved.
glad to hear your gonna be ok,like was said it could of been real bad. and good on ya for sharing an embarrasing moment to get others to take heed.
Glad to hear things didn't turn out worse. I think almost everone who has messed with cars for more than a few years have got similar stories to tell. Heal up and get back to it. Frank
johnny1290 you ain't never wrenchin' on yer ford in my driveway again! ha. everybody else, thanks for the kind words & the advice. def gonna rewire engine compartment starter ****on thru neutral safety switch. and even if i don't, i won't make that mistake again. but somebody else might so better safe than human sandwich. thanks again guys & y'all be safe. dave
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