GGB Closed both direction

[Ozymandias]

interesting. just yesterday i came across a really great essay by a guy named stanley fish, called "the unbearable ugliness of volvos." (google books link, i'm not sure if the link will work)

basically about how pretentious academics will buy volvos specifically cuz they're ugly, much like pretentious academics will pompously associate themselves with badly written, unreadably dense philosophy books specifically because they're badly written, i.e., "not of the mainstream", and somehow makes them better/smarter than everyone else. or that's my take, i was reading up on the purpose of badly written philosophy books, and came across a reference to mr stanley fish's essay.

i'm not saying that all people who read dense philosophical writers are pretentious, or that all volvo owners are pompous, by the way.

But just like everything, it's a stereotype. I happened to have a Volvo and I LIKED the car. I liked the looks, I like the handling, I liked the fact it was spunky for a 4banger w/ turbo luxury car. But then, I'm kind of an oddball in just about every circle you want to try and put me in

But the, I'm smarter than everyone else too

 

[Stormdragon]

I've actually said for years that there are only two types of Volvo drivers:

Type 1: Is worried about safety and therefore gets the safest car on the road. They drive tentatively, tapping the brakes at every perceived sign of potential trouble, stay 10MPH under the limit because it's safer, and never proceed from a 4 way stop until every other driver has come to a complete halt.

Type 2: Is driving the safest car on the road, therefore can never be hurt. Will tailgate unmercifully, jackrabbit from stops, lunge out of parking spaces, speed, and change lanes without signaling all because if they ever do get into an accident, they'll be able to climb out of the wadded up hulk unscathed. Just look at the commercials!

 

[mongrel]

But just like everything, it's a stereotype. I happened to have a Volvo and I LIKED the car. I liked the looks, I like the handling, I liked the fact it was spunky for a 4banger w/ turbo luxury car. But then, I'm kind of an oddball in just about every circle you want to try and put me in

But the, I'm smarter than everyone else too

hence my disclaimer. =) i think i'm there with you, i'm the kind of person who would buy a car like a volvo simply to pretend i was a pretentious academic, for the f*ck of it.

i found myself in a used bookstore the other night skimming thru books of various philosophers (sartre, foucault, kristeva, etc), and then looking down at a "philosophy for dummies" book that happened to be in a stack on the floor. it was the very fact that i was embarrassed to pick the book up and be seen reading it that made me buy it.

 

[HondaFreak]

:51PM BRIDGE WILL BE CLOSED FOR AT LEASR 45-MIN TO 1HR
2:51PM 6VEHS, MC INJ MAJ INJ - ROLL 1141
2:49PM 1039 DOTCC
2:48PM ROLL AIR UNIT FOR PHOTOS
2:48PM VEHS ARE T ARAOUBND ON THE BRIDGE AND ALSO AT SPENCER
2:48PM 1097 JNO MID SPAN
2:47PM 1039 1141 UNITS ENRT
2:46PM .K/1109D0326.D/ROLLING 1141
2:43PM MULTI VEH S UNK INJ
____________________

That's a new one for me.

Christian

 

[masameet]

I had a pristine '68 Volvo that was originally owned by a very nice old lady in SF's Russion Hill. She never drove it. She hired a chauffeur to take her 1.5 miles to the nearest grocery store and other errands. The car was about 16 years old when I bought it and had less than 10k miles on it. And man, did it detonate every time I shut off the motor.

And I was not the academic type. The car just seemed a great used car at the time. But since snow easily froze in the trunk's channel, effectively locking the trunk and cutting off access to my dry clothes when I started going up to Tahoe to ski, it had to be replaced with a real snow car -- a two-carbureted 4WD Subaru wagon that barely did 85 hp.

 

[Ghstmchne]

thats very interesting, the volvo part. something i forgot about but remember now, when i first started riding again a few years back: a friend took me aside and said "things are different now, the most dangerous thing on the road is the volvo driver. if someone is going to take you out, its going to be a volvo, always watch out for the volvo"

i asked him to elaborate, and he couldnt very well. but said something about the fact that they are so safe they give the driver sort of a reverse (perverse?) feeling of protection, not only that nothing can happen to them, but that they are immune from doing harm or damage to others!

and i have to say there have been bad volvo moments in my few new years riding. and i do avoid them, superstitiously and on his good word. and ill just keep it that way, even though i own a volvo!

does anyone else have a volvo story, to corroborate this friends sage or sad advice?

Funny, a few friends said the same thing to me when they found out that I had purchased a motorcycle.

 

[Archimedes]

Oh great.

Now the City of San Francisco is going to spend $10,000,000 on "researching a viable divider for the Golden Gate Bridge" and then spend $800,000 a year with some movable K-rail system that is going to prevent accidents but will screw up traffic 24 hours a day, 7 days a week instead of leaving it how it is now, saving the money, and having a huge wreck/backup like this every 10 years.

I thought the fatality rate from head on accidents on the GG bridge was way higher than that. I could be wrong, but I recall reading something like an average of 2 fatal head ons a year on that bridge the last time there was a bad one.

EDIT: just looked it up. Average of 1 fatal accident on the bridge per year for the last 36 years.

 

[mototireguy]

Could have been any car brand causing this pileup but this bad news just adds to the Volvo stereotype.

I'm pretty sure the GG Bridge surveillance cams got quality video of the doofus driving the Vulvo. Their insurance company is in for a big surprise.

Funny timing with the bridge reopening time at 4:20pm.

*************************

Officials reopened the bridge after the crash site was cleared, about 4:20 p.m.

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.).

 

[07chuck]

I was in my friends Volvo 164 when he forgot to turn and we drove through and over a small stand of maple trees 4-6" in diameter, needless to say we made it to the party...

I would hate to meet one head-on...


One other thing that I've noticed is that todays Prius buyer matches the profile of yesterdays Volvo driver....

 

[Sane_Man]

A real comedy of errors.

(03-27) 11:32 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The 10-vehicle pileup on the Golden Gate Bridge that injured seven people happened after a pickup truck veered into the path of another car traveling north, causing both vehicles to swerve into southbound traffic, the California Highway Patrol said today.

The crash at 2:40 p.m. Wednesday brought traffic in both directions to a standstill and renewed attention on when a median barrier that could have prevented the pileup will be put in place.

The incident began when James Myers, 34, of Petaluma, who was driving a Toyota pickup north in the far-left lane, cut off a Volvo in the next lane that was driven by Ibrahim Shiheiber, 19, of San Francisco, the CHP said.

Shiheiber swerved from the middle lane to the far-right lane to avoid a crash but lost control. His Volvo swerved back to the left and hit the Toyota, sending both vehicles through the plastic cones that separate northbound from southbound traffic.

The Toyota was hit head-on by a Honda CRX driven by Paul Reller, 54, of San Francisco, authorities said. Michael Wahl, 41, of San Anselmo, who was riding his Honda Shadow motorcycle southbound, then hit the CRX and the pickup truck.

The Volvo sideswiped a southbound Land Rover driven by Richard Sexton, 34, of Nicasio, and a Toyota Prius before colliding head-on with a Lexus, the CHP said.

A southbound Mazda then hit the Lexus, which was driven by Stefanie Buchalter, 35, of San Francisco, the CHP said. The Land Rover was then broadsided by a Jeep Cherokee driven by Lynne Throop, 67, of Petaluma.

Shiheiber, Reller and Throop suffered major injuries, Wahl suffered moderate injuries and three people suffered minor injuries, the CHP said.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/27/BAKGVRHTV.DTL

Sucks to be the Hundah rider.

 

[dandrewk]

They interviewed the rider tonight on KTVU news. He basically extolled the needs for a barrier. He was riding behind the car that got hit by the spinning toyota pickup, then crashed into truck.

His lower leg was bandaged up pretty heavily, and it looked like he had a serious wound, like he banged it pretty bad. I wonder if he was wearing armored boots.