Man OK after steering wheel pops off while driving

[Liberal_in_LA]

Man OK after steering wheel pops off while driving

Thursday, March 4, 2010


(03-04) 17:38 PST Arlington, Wash. (AP) --

State troopers said a man is lucky to have only minor injuries when he crashed his car into a barn after his steering wheel popped off while driving. Trooper Keith Leary said the 59-year-old man was driving his 1978 Buick on Thursday afternoon on State Route 530 when his steering wheel came off, the car left the road, went down an embankment, up the other side, and crashed into a barn.
The man narrowly missed a power pole and several small barns with baby cows inside.

Rescuers said it's a miracle the man suffered only minor neck pain in the accident. The farm's owner said the car destroyed the farm's refrigeration and milking area and happened right as 140 cows were about to be milked.

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Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/03/04/national/a173846S93.DTL#ixzz0hGMATCPA

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Holy Cow! Will there be a recall?

Will my '85 LeSabre affected?

[MineralMan]

2. This just in: General Motors issues recall for all 23 1978

Buicks still on the road.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. lol. n/t

[protect our future]

12. MineralMan, thank you for the best laugh I've had today! n/t

[Duer 157099]

3. Baby cows? I thought they were called calves n/t

[MineralMan]

6. Uh, that was probably written by a 20-year-old intern

who has never seen any sort of cow. They didn't teach the word "calf" or "calves" in herhis state college journalism classes, and heshe was falling down drunk most of the time, anyhow.

It was a cow barn, and there were "baby cows" in it. What else would a J-school intern call them. Do you expect J-school students to read anything?

[BeatleBoot]

5. I'd drive a 1978 Buick before I ever drove a Toyota.

That's for certain.

[MineralMan]

7. With 1978 Buicks, you have to watch that nut behind the

wheel pretty closely. It can work loose, and who knows what might happen next.

[BeatleBoot]

11. You are so learned MM

So learned.

[DURHAM D]

8. That happened to a friend of mine many years ago. He was driving a Pantera.

Fortunately, he was only doing 90 on an interstate with no traffic. He was able to sort of slide the steering wheel back on to the post and coast off the road.

[spanone]

10. happened to my dad...1956 plymouth

my brother & i were playing in the car & the wheel came off....we stuck it back on

it came off on my dad while we were in the back seat....no one injured.....

if you've ever tried to pull off a steering wheel, it's hard to believe that this one just came off like it did

[Richard D]

9. Nightmare!

[Historic NY]

13. Loose nut behind the wheel!!!

[EvolveOrConvolve]

14. How do we know he was a nut?

He was driving a 1978 Buick!

[Historic NY]

18. he lost his wheel didn't he..

when the nut comes off its all over.

[TexasObserver]

15. "I been drivin' all night, my hands wet on the wheel ...."

Golden Earring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeRa3RtBiIU

[Cleobulus]

16. Had this happen to me while driving an ice cream truck...

the steering wheel popped off, and I was able to regain control by centering it over the steering column and pushing hard on it while turning. For a couple of ice cream sandwiches some workers at Home Depot fixed it for me.

[lonestarnot]

17. I'll bet that was a sight to behold. And I'll bet the buick now smells badly.

[Codeine]

19. When I was 21 I had this happen

in an old Chevy pickup I was borrowing from a friend to move some furniture. I shoved it back on and gained enough steering to pull over and finish shitting my pants in comfort.

[guardian]

20. at least he wasn't driving a Toyota! n/t

[HopeHoops]

21. True - then he would be driving at a high speed with no brakes or steering.

Sort of like how most people drive when they're yacking on a cell phone.

[ThomWV]

22. As far as I know all steering wheels are attached to a splined tapered shaft, and keyed

So if somehow you yanked it off (which considering the myriad of electrical connections that are usually involved seems pretty unlikely) all you'd have to do is slam it back down and you could easily safely drive the car to either a halt or to a repair facility. About the only thing that might stop you from getting it back on easily would be if the nut got jammed inside somehow, but that sounds unlikely because there is essentially no open space inside the steering mechanism.