roadster wreck on I-5 california

Glad he's ok...

These open cars are mucho cool, but I would also be concerned about the lack of any rollover protection.

I worked at BMW in the mid 90's, & we would test the hidden rollover protection system on the 3 series convertibles. Surprisingly, it was a very simple system. 2 large square tubes are held locked / stowed into place & hidden out of view in the rear area. Each one had a large spring under it under tension. An electric latch would keep it "cocked". When the rollover sensor detected a tilt, they would pop out.

I think a crafty car builder could easily add something like this...

Every now & then they would "fire" if you bumped into something

Here's a link for the new RPS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FebWuKy5pYM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8d7QkXfD-g

Hope for a speedy recovery. Being in the hospital sucks.

 

What appears to be an exceptional build helped save his life, without a doubt. For the folks building their rods right now, look those pics over very carefully. I wish I had the skills to build something that tight! No scrimping on safety!

 

wow, he definately has an angel watching over him, very lucky, hope for a full speedy recovery

 

Prayers for family...Rod..

 

Get well soon! Thankfully it wasn't worse!

 

Agree; the car can be rebuilt - good people are much harder to replace. Let's hope he's well soon.

 

That looked Bad!!! Good Luck to Dave on a speedy recovery..

 

I think it's a fear all of us roadster travelers carry with us. Always surreal when it really happens. Godspeed and a speedy recovery.

 

Great to hear he will be OK. Thanks to Boyce for building such a stout chassis !!!! Hoping for a smooth recovery and all the best to the family.The HAMB brotherhood is a wonderful deal.

 

Chassis was built by Pro Stock builder Gary Hanson.

 

The good Lord will give Dave the love and support to come thru this ordeal with as much healing as He will deem neccessary. A special thanks to the unnamed good samaritans who rendered what was undoubtedly life saving aid within moments of the accident and the law enforcement personel, paramedics (on scene and air lift), and hospital staff. Say what you want to about the medical system in our United States, there is no finer care system in the world.

As for the need to install a roll bar or cage, be careful what you install because more harm may come from from head impact with a funny car type of roll bar system. Those systems were designed for use with a helmet and can be deadly in a roll over when there is no helmet to absorb head/roll bar impact. For a street car, I feel a NASCAR halo type of bar set up would be better. Or a simple, single loop that is behind the drivers head.

Still no definitive word on what happened to Bob Cano?

To the families of Dave Allen and Bob Cano my deepest sympathies and to Linda you have been given another day to share with Dave. To Dave, a speedy recovery and do everthing the rehab people demand of you and more.

John

 

Subject: Update Dave Allen 4/14/10


On Monday, Dave was moved out of critial care to ICU step down level 2 for close monitoring. He was wearing a cervical collar and oxygen mask and tubes everywhere. Because of his neck injury, he had to stay on his back and can't be raised more than 30 degrees. His allergies cause fluid to build up in his lungs, so at 30 degrees it's hard to hack stuff up, especially with 3? broken ribs. The poor guy was really miserable. He called it "the worst day of his life". Very tough night.

Tuesday morning the neurosurgeon explained procedure to repair cervical fracture and other damage. Because fracture is on the front side of the neck instead of the back side, they will make a 1" incision in his throat. Doctor says the procedure is pretty common, he's done many many and the procedure is used for common disc surgery. They will repair the damage and fuse the vertebrae. There should be minimal loss of range of motion, if any. Procedure takes about 1-1/2 hours. The day after, patients with no other issues are released with a collar. In Dave's case, after surgery when the neck is stable, he will be able to be vertical, sit up, get up and walk. Surgery is tentatively scheduled for Friday (no details). The surgeon OK'd raising the bed angle so Dave could breath easier, and he was much more comfortable. Speaking with the surgeon made us both feel a lot better. The reason they scheduled surgery for Friday was to give Dave more time to heal, recouperate and increase his lung power to be ready for another surgery.

Dick DeVilbus stopped by with pictures of the crash scene, the car and rescruers (nothing gorey, just shocking to see the car upside down). Dick was one of the first to get to Dave. He and another angel (not sure who) saw a lot of gasoline on the ground, so they decided to not wait for paramedics and got Dave out of the car. Since Dave had a crushed artery, they may have saved his life.

Charlie Lambetecchio recovered Dave's iphone, so Dave's very happy about that, but can't use it easily because he's one handed and can't read the little tiny print without glasses (yet to be recovered). Car is in an inside storage facility for now.

Wednesday morning his oxygen mask was off with just a small oxygen tube in his nose; he's on light food. Hospital moved him down a floor because he's progressing well. He looks much better, and he feels much more comfortable. He's getting more sleep, which he really needs. His sister and nephew visited today and Dave showed his healing powers by being a total smart ass with his them and his new nurse. I have been impressed with his care so far and have confidence in this hospital's trauma unit, the surgeons and the RN's.

I recovered Dave's personal affects from the wrecked '32 including his glasses and electronic poker game which he was worried about. (What is it with the iphone, glasses and poker game?) I will be contacting the insurance company regarding disposition of the car. It looks like it's repairable.

We don't know at this time how long he's going to be in the hospital. First we have to get through the neck surgery. After that, it's up to the trauma unit to monitor/release his arm for the next steps, like physical therapy.

Thank you all so much for your good wishes, thoughts and prayers. Every day I give Dave the "Caller Report" so he know who's been in touch. We have been overwhelmed by all the responses, and I feel badly that I can't return all the phone calls or emails. If you didn't get this email directly from me, I didn't leave you out intentionally. You can chew me out later. I don't have computer access in Fresno and have to wait til I get home for a night to update you in detail. My thanks to all who I've updated by phone and have kindly passed on the info to others.

Charlie and Stella Lambetecchio have kindly been put me up in Fresno during all this, and I don't know what I'd do without them or their family. They are the best!

For those of you who would like to visit, we very much appreciate your caring, but I think it would be better if you waited until next week after he's recovered from his neck surgery. He still can't talk on the phone and he needs the rest, and I'll try to get back to you. You can also call the room, but you'll probably get me (sorry).

Full recovery is going to take a lot longer. When Dave gets home, he'll be bored out of his mind and will want visitors, so keep in mind that you're on the visitor hook until he's fully recovered!.

Love to all and God bless,

Linda

 

Sounds like this will all have a happy ending... Too much bad news in this world. Here's to a speedy recovery!

 

We hope everything goes well with him and we all here at CCC wish him a speedy recovery.

 

Keep the updates coming, GREAT news.

A friend of mine had the neck surgery thru the throat late last year, made a full recovery, said he wished he would have done it sooner.

Glad Dave is doing better.

 

This is great news.

 

Thanks for the detailed update. Keep pressing Dave.

 

We left monday and were sick to hear about the accident. Our prayers are for a full recover. John and Nancy

 

John is absolutly right on this one. I've had 3 friends seriously injured (one fatally) in Jeep roll overs. Not from the roll over it self but from head trama from impacting an unpadded roll bar. Think about where your head can/ will go in non roll over accidents as well, your head can get flung around pretty good in a rear ender or t-bone as well.
Don't mean to get this thread off in a different direction so I'll wish Dave a smooth recovery.

 

Glad it sounds like he'll be fine . It'll be a long road with the neck injury especially I guess. I've been following this thread since Monday and It helped me finally make a decision whether or not to put a roll bar in my tub project.I put one in it this morning as my wife and son will also be driving this car.I think this accident will inspire a few of us to add some structure to our future roadster projects.

 

wow that thing was built really well
it had to have saved his life
tk

 

What brand axle was in it? It took a hell of a beating! (as did the whole car!)

 

All I can think of to say is holy crap.

Combination of somebody looking out for him & a well built ride saved him.

Speedy recovery Dave.

 

That's a good start on protection but I would recommend that you not stop with what we can see in those pictures. If that car flipped and landed on one of the corners of that hoop it would push off to one side pretty quickly with only that single center support brace. At a minimum I would add similar supports on either side. Roll-bar experts will give you more details but even with my little experience, I know that that set-up, while certainly way better than nothing, could be giving you a false sense of security.

 

Thanks for posting pics of the car. Really gives me some ideas to make mine a little safer as I finish it.

 

I wasn't going to say anything, but the hoop looks too close to the melon. I'd mount it on the floor in the rear floor area.

 

Wow, that was/is one stout and well built car. The way it was built may have indeed saved his life.

 

With the roll bar in and some additional "tuning" the car went 8.72 in the quarter....that's some serious times for a full on drag car, much less one that is streetable with some minor "taming"....

 

Off topic to this thread perhaps, but the real reason for the ruts is studded tires on passenger cars. Far more damaging to roadway surfaces than just about anything else.

 

Henry Ford's. Dig out your old magazine articles on the car it was stout!