Originally Posted by Gary Knox

Fellow Porsche 928drivers (et al - CC'd),

First - a question: IF a Porsche and an 18 wheeler are involved in 2
vehicle wreck on the highway, and one driver is killed, while the other
has only a minor scratch, the driver of which vehicle walked away with the
scratch??????

Your answer _____________________________.
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Now - as Paul Harvey says: "The Rest of the Story":

As I write this, I am supposed to be at Virginia International
Raceway near Danville VA, putting the final touches on my car for the first of
about a dozen spirited 25 minute drives on that fabulous 4.5 mile long track
over the weekend (and, TRYING to remember which direction each of the 17
curves and corners go, how to best approach them at speed, AND
remembering how much throttle to apply to the engine during those
"suck it up" downhill curves/corners). However, by the grace of God and
watchfulness of "my Angel", I'm here typing an e-mail to you all instead.

To make a long story only "sorta long":

I left home at 6:45 AM yesterday morning for Danville. At about
8:30 AM, I was driving down hwy 301 S toward Annapolis MD on a beautiful
clear day, and had just crossed the Delaware state line into Maryland.

Since I was supposed to meet a fellow 928 owner at the Welcome stop
on 301, I had told him I'd call when I entered MD to let him know I'd be
there in about 30 minutes (I never drive while using the cell phone). I
pulled off onto the broad paved shoulder of this wide 4 lane divided hwy
leaving about 3 feet between my car and the edge of the right hand driving
lane. I turned the flashers on, shut off the engine, and put the car in 1st
gear.

As I was punching in the numbers on the cell phone, I glanced in my
rear view mirror and saw essentially nothing but the lower part of the cab
of an 18 wheeler, with the right front wheel heading off the driving lane
onto the shoulder about 30 - 40 feet behind me, heading straight for my car
(probably doing 50-60 mph, or ~ 85 ft/sec). I thought "OH NO",
and by the time "NO" had crossed my brain, my car was impacted HEAVILY.

The impact tore off the left rear wheel, suspension arms, & axle,
tore up the left rear fender and driver's door, bent the roof, broke the
left rear qtr glass and drivers door glass, buckled the floor pan between
front and back seats, broke the windshield, caused the car to jump in the air
and be propelled about 15 feet forward, then skidded another 15 -20 feet on
the paved shoulder.

As I looked to my left, I saw the truck start to veer left into the
passing lane of this 4 lane divided hwy, then swerve back right. In
the right turn correction, the driver lost control and went off the road on
the right about 50 yards ahead of me, down a small embankment and off
towards the wooded area. The cab immediately hit a LARGE tree,
directly ahead of the steering wheel and came to an abrupt stop with the
trailer bed being dislodged from the running gear.

I twisted, turned, etc, in my Recaro racing seat and found I only
had a few drops of blood on my left arm from a very small cut from some
flying glass, but NOTHING else was noticeably wrong. I couldn't open the
driver's door, so climbed over and out the passenger door (it would open, but
won't re-close due to twisted body). A couple that had been following the
truck stopped immediately and made emergency calls. Maryland State
Troopers and both Delaware and Maryland fire/ambulance folks were there in
a few minutes.

After the Good Samaritan couple asked if I was OK, they checked on
the truck driver and reported back that "he didn't make it". The state
troopers later confirmed his demise to me.

When I had a chance to examine everything while the troopers were
doing the 2 -3 hour investigation (with the highway closed), I concluded that
if the truck had hit me 1-2 feet further to the right, I'd probably have
been crushed/killed, as it would likely have gone up over the car. If it
had hit 6-8 inches further left, I'd have had extensive injuries, as the
truck's front bumper/tire would have entered the cabin through the driver's
door. Crushed arm, pelvis, legs, feet, concussion, etc. (or things even more
serious) are the most likely result of that.

When one of the troopers went to see Kitty (after I called her, she
immediately came down to pick me up - took about 1 1/2 hours) he asked
her "Do you go to Church". She answered, "Yes - faithfully". He said
"Keep it up, it works". She then replied "I think my husband had a little
Angel riding on his shoulder", to which the trooper replied "No ma'am it was
a VERY LARGE Angel". I know he was right!!!! Essentially every one of
the 6-8 troopers who were there came up to me and said "Sir, you are a VERY
lucky man". I replied "Yes - I truly know that I am"!!!!

Pictures are attached, so you can see how well protected I was - by
both the German engineers who designed the cabin, and by the Angel on my
shoulder.

Best wishes,

Gary Knox

PS: There IS a safety lesson here - When God looks after us, I believe
he expects us to learn from the experience and to pass those learnings on
to others!!

Where I pulled onto the shoulder there was no "rumble strip"
alongside the driving lane. However, 25 feet further on, the rumble strip
started and continued for miles. IF I had only driven another quarter of mile,
the rumble strip might have saved the car, and the trucker's life. The
rumble strip would likely have caught his attention as he was leaving the
driving lane and BEFORE he entered the shoulder area.
From now on, I continue to pull off the highway when making a cell
phone call, but I will ALWAYS try to pull over onto shoulders only where
there are rumble strips. Please consider doing the same!!

PPS: IF the insurance company makes me a reasonable offer, I'll buy
the car back and have more 928 S4 parts available in a few weeks!!!!!!
Make a list and send it to me- ha.