Miata Mailing List: August 1997, Message #218
sponsored by



     



From: 	Larry Alster <Larry@Miata.Net>

Subject: Deals Gap/Miata Crash (long)

Date: 	Sun, 3 Aug 1997 17:53:39 +0000



You folks all ready saw the post from Scott about the fun we all had.

43 cars from as far away as Chicago and Tampa showed up in the mountains

of N.C. to play.  Thanks to Mary Osmar for making it all happen.  For a

local event it turned into a world class regional event for sure.  It

was fun meeting new people and putting faces to the list members I've

never met.  It was also fun seeing friends that have been at other

events again.



The safety event Scott refered to happened on our way to the Tapoco

Lodge on Friday afternoon.  We were driving with 24 Miatas up the

mountain to the lodge and had been driving for about 2 hours.  We were

within about 10 minutes of reaching the lodge when the event happened.



Janet Johnson from Florida went into a turn and lost the backend.  It

started toward the valley and she corrected and saved the car.

Unfortunately the car came around and the right wheels hung off the lip

of the road.  When she tried to get the car back this time it hooked

hard left and drove head first off the side of the mountain.



Janet was heard on the CB saying "Oh s--t I've banged my car" as she

disappeared.  Several people follow stoped and jump over the side

looking for her.  She was so far down the mountain you couldn't even see

the car from the road.  She had gone down forward and the car flipped

over upside down and fell about 80 feet down the hill which was close to

a vertical drop.  When Bob Hotaling reached her she was upside down in

the car putting her shoes on!!!!  She had turned off the ignition and

had put the keys in her pocket and was waiting for someone to help her

open the door.  She climb up the hill under her own power and ended up

with nothing more than a bump on her head and a mess of black and blue

marks!!!



Her offical name for the rest of the weekend was "Flipper".



After about a 2 hour wait the car was pulled from the ravine and it sat

in the road on all 4 wheels pointing the correct direction.  We were

able to open the doors and the trunk!!!  The main damge was the

windshield pillars were both bent back about 2 or 3 inches.  The center

of the windshield was down 5 or 6.  We were almost will to bet the car

could have been driven away, but being on the side of the mountain no

one was dumb enough to try it.



Janet was one very luck person.  She also contributed to her luck with

some good common sense reactions by tucking in a ball as she went over

the hill.  She also had the good sense to own a Miata which definatly

seems to have built more like a tank than a sports car.



When I get pictures back I will send some to Gary for posting on the web

if he can find some room.



You had to be there to beleive the fact that Janet was able to walk into

the dining room at the lodge under her own power and sit down an eat

dinner with us!!!  She did get a standing ovation and was presented a

Tee Shirt that said "I survived Deals Gap".

They don't know how amazing it really was to have survived it!!!



Janet it was wonderful to have you with use for the rest of the

weekend!!!



--



Larry and The White Knight



M Club Member #70

'91 Crystal White

S.C. Tags "RUJELUS"

Team-Base-Model

Team-Stripes

Team-Dealer-Alternative

Team-Jackson-Racing

Team-Hard-Dog

Team-Crazy-Red-Italian

Team-Too-Much-More-To-Mention