How
many times have you climbed into your rig just to go down the
street a block or two and decided not to use your seatbelt? How
many times on the trail did you just move it up a little bit
without your belt. Maybe you thought to yourself, "Hey, I'm a
seasoned wheeler. I'll be ok." Or maybe, "I'll be able
to jump out if something does happen." Perhaps it just
slipped your mind and you drove without it. Scott Havis is a Texas
wheeler that has graced our pages here
before
and thought the same thing this past April. What follows, is
Scott's account of his rollover, which was the result of a
momentary lapse of judgement.
If I had only
buckled my seat belt I would have walked away. I would have been a
little mad and my pride hurt and the Clear Lake Emergency Medical
Corps, Seabrook Fire Department, Life Flight, Police, and all the
others involved could have done something different that
afternoon. It was just a test run, not even around the block. I've
rarely put on my seat belt while driving around behind the shop.
So here's the story...
Saturday, April 17,
1999 was an absolutely gorgeous day for working on the Cruiser. I
had added a redundant starter solenoid to take care of the times
the primary gets mud in it, reinstalled the steering stabilizer,
checked all the lube oils, repaired a pipe hanger, a few other
little things, and finally rebuilt the carburetor. The carb., a
Quadrajet, was running on the primaries only and poorly at that.
After finding the proper kit, discovering the float level was too
low, and putting it all back together, I bolted it back on for a
test.
Now, beside and
behind the shop is a utility and pipeline right-of-way with a 150
yard two-track covered with grass. There is also a muddy drainage
ditch back there and some mounds of dirt left-over from some
construction. This is my 'test' area.I jumped in the Cruiser and
she fired right up. I tooled over to the two-track, straightened
her up and floored it. Wow! Secondaries were feeding, too. cool. I
got to third a little early to see if there was the famous
'Quadrajet bog' and, yes, there was. Just after it 'unbogged' I
was about out of track in the middle of third gear.
I went for the
brakes without any real urgency- still plenty of room. Then she
started to fishtail in the grass. Once to the left, I corrected,
then back to the right and I realized I was about to go over. Then
-violently- I went over. At that point, I was just trying to hang
on. The Cruiser almost made it back on all fours, but then fell
back down and I heard an awful crunch as the roll cage landed on
my face. Then, suddenly, I was trapped with the bar coming to rest
on my neck. I could barely gasp a breath and I knew if I didn't
get this off of me in less than a minute I was going to black-out
because the blood to my head was being cut off as well.
I heard someone
running up yelling "are you O.K.?" He saw the roll and
stopped- very lucky for me. He helped me lift it up so I could
crawl out enough to get the weight onto my chest. I could breath.
He tried to flag someone else down to get me the rest of the way
out. With his back to me, the driver's seat started to flame up.
Through my mangled jaw, I yelled at him " I've got a fire
over here!" He ran back and removed the fire extinguisher
(still in the mount) and put the fire out. The battery, mounted
behind the drivers seat in a box, hadn't been fastened in and
shorted against the seat, igniting the foam and cover. About that
time another person ran over and, together, I wiggled out from
beneath the bar.
Within five
minutes, the EMS and fire department showed up. They are right
across the street. They taped me to a board and suggested I be
Life flighted to a trauma center due to possible head and neck
injuries. Ten minutes later, I was aboard a helicopter to Hermann
Hospital in Houston.
The
final result was a 7 day stay in the hospital and reconstructive
surgery to repair 2 mandible (jaw) fractures, multiple facial
breaks (cheek bones), and an orbital blow-out (eye socket bones).
I will have my jaw wired shut for several weeks and red eyes for a
couple of months. I believe I got out pretty lucky. I could have
died.
All because I
didn't think to need my seat belt.
- Scott Havis -
April 28, 1999
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