Hi All,
I was working last night when this call came in at about 2am
for a vehicle into a house. A +97 4x4 Dakota hit a single family
home doing about 45-50 MPH. There were minimal skidmarks
before the impact.
The damage to the dak wasn't really that bad. There was
about 1' frontal intrusion, slightly diagonal, on the pass. front.
The windshield was cracked, but the cab was totally intact with
both doors able to open. The crumple zone worked well. Both
airbags deployed, but unfortunately the driver (no passengers)
wasn't wearing his seatbelt and suffered massive chest injuries.
As of 4:30 this morning he was in stable condition and early
speculation was that he suffered a seizure at the wheel.
I think the house suffered the most damage. When we returned
back to the scene afterwards, we were able to see just how bad
the house was. The Dak had hit a little alcove which stuck out from
the main house by a foot or so. Well, the Dak had pushed the bottom
of the alcove over by more than a foot. When looking straight on, it
was clearly visible ... especially with the crooked window. When we
went down to the basement, we were stunned at the damage. The
foundation was cracked from ceiling to floor in two places with
pieces of concrete as far away as 30'. The Dak snapped at least 6
floor joists (a couple doubled) and knocked out one support column.
Thankfully the residents were sleeping on the other side of the house.
The local building inspector was quick to deem the house uninhabitable.
That's about it. Stay alert out there. I think it's time for bed now ...
Chuck Robbins in Cranston, RI
'99 Dak Sport V-6, 5spd, 2wd, RC
DML Digest Mode
http://www.members.home.com/clrobbins
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 06 2004 - 11:47:45 EST