Re: [AMC-list] Bunsey Family Tragedy

[Jim Weil <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

First of all, my heart goes out to the Bunsey family, and my sincere
sympathy to all the friends that share this tragic loss.

Marc, I salute your determination to save your mother from another
potential tragedy. I hope to still safely drive my AMX after I turn 70
(sh*t that's only 11 years from now!). Maybe I'll give my kids a copy of
your letter, just in case.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Jim Weil
Glendale, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: amc-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:amc-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Marc Montoni
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 1:54 PM
To: amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [AMC-list] Bunsey Family Tragedy


I've known Tom for many years, and he was a friend.  A few weeks ago, he
sent me a check to purchase a 3-speed with overdrive, and I've been
prepping it for shipping.

Now I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes, alternately looking at the
check he wrote me in his own handwriting, and photos on the web of those
two beautiful little boys who died with their mother and father, and of
course thinking back on all the conversations I've had over the years with
Tom.

Tom was full of AMC wisdom, and always lent a friendly hand to anyone who
needed information.  He was good with conversions -- he was one of the
first folks to write up a Ford 5-speed conversion in his AMX.  I still
remember that writeup many years later, published in one of the AMO
newsletters.

I think I will remember the sound of Tom's radio-announcer dulcet voice
from our phone conversations for a long time.

Guess I won't be cashing that check, either.

I'm seeing very foggy right now, but for the moment, all I can say is rage
is what I feel right now, and I hope they prosecute that bastard who wiped
out Tom and his family, so he can't hurt anyone else.

The Bunsey family is now the third time in less than a year that a friend
(or several of them) was stolen from me by an elderly driver who shouldn't
have been driving.  In anger, today I tallied up on paper all of the times
I've been in accidents.  I was at fault in two very minor accidents when I
was on my learner's permit in 1980 (I backed into someone behind me at
about 3 mph when I went too far into an intersection; and I drove into a
ditch one night, with no damage), with only one exception, all of the
other 7 accidents I've been in in my entire life has involved an elderly
driver hitting *me*.  The one exception was a woman who was yakking away
on her cellphone who rear-ended me.

Seniors may appear to be "safe" drivers because they rarely have
accidents, but I'd be willing to bet that's because seniors know already
that they're becoming dangers to other, and they voluntarily cut way back
on their driving.  Drivers over the .08 legal limit -- despite what MADD
will say -- are less likely to get in an at-fault accident **per mile they
drive inebriated** than seniors older than 70 while perefectly sober.

Remember all those "little old lady" Rambler stories we grew up with?
Those 20-year old cars that were owned by 80 year-old grandmas, who had
driven the car all of 30k -- only 500 of it in the last year?  Well, there
ya go.

I took my mother's keys away from her when she was 72, as soon as I
discovered she had put multiple dents on a car I'd bought her.  She had a
locksmith make a new set.  Then I pulled the coil wire.  She tricked some
guy into reconnecting it.  Then I disabled it in a way it would have taken
a professional mechanic a day of diagnosis to figure out, and that finally
did it -- she started taking the bus to her destinations.

Let's take what happened to Tom and his family as a call to action.  If
you have aging parents who shouldn't be driving, get them off the road.
Find a physician who is diligent about getting incompetent drivers off the
road, take your relative to them for assessment, and be proactive by
telling him *why* you think they are unsafe and should be off the road.

By the way, I don't believe the deaths can be attributed to not wearing
seat belts.  Jeeps were never known for their crash protection; and of
course they didn't get air bags until 1995.  The chassis is a
French-designed, light semi-unibody, and they come apart pretty easily in
a crash.

http://www2.nbc4i.com/mgmedia/image/500/0/53142/madison-4x-crash/

Ask a cop.  Collisions where one or more of the vehicles are traveling at
a high rate of speed (above about 45-50 mph) *often* involve fatalities,
regardless of belts, crumple zones, front or side curtain air bags, and so
on.



P.S.  I'll miss ya, Tom.



------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARC MONTONI
Harrisonburg VA
http://FreeVirginia.blogspot.com/
Freedom.  Responsibility.  www.LP.org
Cu vi parolas Esperanton?
I'd rather push a Rambler than drive a Toyota.
Visit www.AMCRC.com or www.AMONational.com .
http://RichmondRambler.tripod.com/
http://Hasdrubal.tripod.com/Index.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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