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stevo Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2004 Posts: 906 Location: the eugeniverse
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:24 pm Post subject: samba pilot down |
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=193242
ronnie chase is one us. always active on the samba, he chooses the split bus life but has not one-tenth of one percent ever looked down his nose at a bay bus pilot. he's a you wear stipes i wear plaid, wtf, kind of person. he always tries to get me into a split. he is primarily responsible for finding my rare sunroof bay bus. that's what he does. for me he makes up for one hundred percent of the boys that can't cope beyond buses with bullets [bullet blinkers]. for years he has been there to help me with my buses doing anything like lifting one end of an engine to kicking down nos parts for my bays. with out fail. guys like him make it possible for guys like me to help guys like you. he is old school, old world, and if you don't know him yet, you wish you did. enough technical info now. he and his wife have never missed one of my kids' birthdays; he's house sit my house while i tooled around the country, putting up with my fucked up neighbors, he's got as most integrity of anyone on the samba, dot. i go to war with this guy first.
next door, a thread - now a sticky - was begun, by our great friend cris torlasco, that hopes to bring light to ronnie's near death serious accident. i've picked parts with torlasco in 70mph winds. later in the afternoon we've come home to find our neighborhood messed up and services out, for days. cris is the point person. read his thread and if you want to donate it would be a sensational way to drop bucks. this is a picture that need not be painted: imagine the scene then push yourself to hit the bucket, flow it over. five grand to have ronnie airlifted from the crash site. cristal was dragged fifty feet between two cars - one car surgically extracted to remove her from the blood and oil pool. broken back, three places, donor bones and blood transfusions, zipped up and sent on a plane with ronnie who couldn't stand to hear a pin drop. if your getting the picture, good. follow the thread. please help be a part of a solution.
when funds are raised we as a group financially and otherwise will mule his bus across the country. it will not be picked, parted, and ebayed from an impound or junkyard lot.
i know about the airs list, i live on both sides of it. if there is anybody on this list who wants to kick down safe haven during transport from east to west pm me asap. maybe if we get the funds we can help the bus neatly, professionally trailered once out of impound. would be nicer than paying for gas, airfare, misc expenses, all that. however it shakes down i would like to see bay bus people stepping up.
if you feel you cannot donate now, for what ever reason its not your bag, please put out the good vibes that we all believe in. it all makes a difference. join in to make that difference.
ronnie got 5000 miles down this time. in weeks, perhaps months to come i hope he can manage to share a few words about the sparkling trip he made with his wife to we who care.
THANKS. paz, stevo _________________ When you cross an Irishman, they never forget. I mean, never. |
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Thirstytank Samba Gaucho
Joined: August 05, 2005 Posts: 667 Location: Lake Geneva WI
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:35 pm Post subject: |
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Kudos to you Stevo, and everyone else who is helping these good folks out. I read the thread in the split forum yesterday and couldn't help but think how close I was to being put in that same situation over Labor Day weekend. Be careful out there everybody, it seems like people are getting worse about paying attention behind the wheel. _________________ Ryan
1985 Vanagon Westfalia
https://www.facebook.com/VanagonMorrison |
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steponmebbbboom Samba Member
Joined: May 01, 2004 Posts: 6390
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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thank you for posting this. If I wasnt eating catfood this month I would help out. The same thing can happen to us at any time. |
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Randy in Maine Samba Member
Joined: August 03, 2003 Posts: 34890 Location: The Beach
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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Well I sent a PM off to Ron in Maine to see if there is something I can do to assist at least gettting this bus someplace safe.
I am going to be up there this weekend buying blueberries and kayaking if that means anything. They must have been headed to Acadia when the accident happened.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery for Ron and Crystal. |
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Bajatacoma Samba Member
Joined: August 05, 2003 Posts: 675 Location: the Great State of Denial
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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Hope things get better for him.
One thing I noted in the type2 posting though:
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... they got T-boned by a 22 year old girl. The impact was
so strong that it ejected both of them through the driver's door,
Ronnie hitting the pavement and injuring his head, and Cristal
getting caught in the wheel well and sustaining several broken bones.
They had to operate her back as well. |
Wear a seatbelt folks! There was a thread a while back on wearing them vs. not wearing them and some really stupid arguments against. Wear a seatbelt! _________________ '78 Westy
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?
Hunter S Thompson |
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steponmebbbboom Samba Member
Joined: May 01, 2004 Posts: 6390
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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Pretty sure that bus did not come with seatbelts. Doubt it even had the provisions for them. If he had hacked in a set, they probably would have just pulled out of their anchors. |
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Bajatacoma Samba Member
Joined: August 05, 2003 Posts: 675 Location: the Great State of Denial
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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Most vehicles didn't come with seatbelts until sometime in the sixties and even then they were options in many cases- some had no rear seat belt options. Buses went a little longer than passenger cars because they were buses.
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Seat belts were first invented by George Cayley in the 1800s. Seat belts were introduced in aircraft for the first time in 1913, for air shows and became common in the 1930s. The automotive seat belt was introduced into the United States by Kenneth Ligon and his brother, Bob Ligon, whose patented quick release seat belt, the AutoCrat Safety Belt, was the first seat belt installed as original equipment in the US by Ford in its 1956 model year. The first seat belt to be included as standard was on the 1959 Volvo. Australia was the first country to make seat belts compulsory in vehicles. However, they were not required by law in the US on passenger vehicles until the 1968 model year. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belts
Properly mounted, they won't pull out. You need a backing plate of some sort under the mount, but they can be safely retro-fitted.
Not trying to hijack the thread or rehash an old one, but safety is an important issue with me having been a paramedic for years now. Head injuries usually leave lasting problems. Yes, I know buses aren't the safest vehicle on the road, but they can be made safer. Just my two cents [/url] _________________ '78 Westy
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?
Hunter S Thompson |
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Phyllis Samba Member
Joined: October 31, 2005 Posts: 773 Location: McMinnville, OR
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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No offence to the Californians, as it isn't the bus drivers I'm refering to- of course not, but I took a visit in California for a few days and couldn't help to notice how leanent the police are over there compared to Oregon. You the term "Californian stop," well it's now like a Californian yield. A yellow light always means speed up. I'm in avid runner and do X-country and track for my school and this is what I fear most- people running red lights and stop signs and just generally not paying attention. It's those dame CELL PHONES! Luckily us bus goers aren't appart of that cause were always shifting. My point is, we need to be extra careful driving out there. Buses don't have air bags or any front end to help us out in accidents, so if you get hit head on or clipped at an angle or what ever... Well, just be careful out there. _________________ 1971 Deluxe Transporter "Winston"
1970 Westy Weekender "Cornelius"
Andrew |
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stevo Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2004 Posts: 906 Location: the eugeniverse
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wanderglobe Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2005 Posts: 1047 Location: Winnipeg Manitoba
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 1:56 pm Post subject: |
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Phyllis wrote: |
No offence to the Californians, as it isn't the bus drivers I'm refering to- of course not, but I took a visit in California for a few days and couldn't help to notice how leanent the police are over there compared to Oregon. You the term "Californian stop," well it's now like a Californian yield. A yellow light always means speed up. I'm in avid runner and do X-country and track for my school and this is what I fear most- people running red lights and stop signs and just generally not paying attention. It's those dame CELL PHONES! Luckily us bus goers aren't appart of that cause were always shifting. My point is, we need to be extra careful driving out there. Buses don't have air bags or any front end to help us out in accidents, so if you get hit head on or clipped at an angle or what ever... Well, just be careful out there. |
It's really bad in Vancouver BC as well. There's a lot of feigned self importance in this city and with that comes people yapping on cell phones all the time and driving extra fast/eradically as thier time is more important than anyone elses. I always keep the bus in the right hand lane. wear a seatbelt and force all of my passengers to wear one as well. On a recent trip to Burning Man one passenger had too much stuff and wanted to place it on the floor. I told him that if it doesn't fit in a compartment or in the back then it doesn't go, simply as that. Having said that I do feel very safe in my bus and am comfortable driving it. The sticker on the back that states, "Never But Never Get Behind A Volkswagen" kind of says it all to anyone tailing me so most people pass and I give them room whereever I can. As an aspiring videographer I like moving slowly anyway so I don't miss anything. To quote a line from the movie Cars, "Low and slow baby...low and slow."
I read the thread yesterday on the accident and hope for a speedy recovery for the two of them. _________________ ============================
Owner of Dante the Hellrider
1973 Bay Window Automatic
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Website: www.wanderglobe.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wanderglobe
YouTube: www.youtube.com/myvwtravels |
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Birdibus Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2006 Posts: 933 Location: Inland SoCal
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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I have sent a small contribution towards the return of the bus. My healing energies to Ronnie and Cristal. _________________ `
'74 Westfalia Yosemite Yellow
'71 Bus Niagra blue and white |
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stevo Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2004 Posts: 906 Location: the eugeniverse
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Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 8:38 am Post subject: |
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i want to pass the bay pilots cap for two more months. this is for ronnie and cristal's personal expenses. insurance has cut them off and that was while they were still in maine exceeding the limits of their benefits. this is not over by a longshot. i know that, and now you do too. see my sig.
though they may return to work, it will be part time because of the mounting financial burden.. in my opinion - too farkin early.
until christmas, i want folks who haven't kicked down, to kick down. every small donation matters. fives, tens or a twenty will add up nicely, and don't even worry about paypal fees. i'll cover them. thank you one and all. _________________ When you cross an Irishman, they never forget. I mean, never. |
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