« Intoxicated Dukes of Hazzard Jump in Dorr, MI with Dispatch Audio »
« Chris Radtke »
« 723 subscribers »
« 2,269,707 views Jan 17, 2022 »
« This accident happened January 13, 2022 on US-131 at the Dorr exit, 142nd Ave. »
« Intoxicated driver missed both the highway and the exit ramp and jumped the overpass via the grassy hill, clearing both guardrails and crashing on the other side of the overpass. Included is the security camera footage from the nearby gas station and a drive-by of the scene, with the edited county dispatch audio as well. »
« Below is a link to the mlive article about the event. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapi... I drove by there last weekend (end of March 2022) and my dashcam got a video, the tracks are still there and clearly visible over 2 months later! Click here to watch that video https://youtu.be/Unm8qZlIENg Also, click here for a short clip of the jump with sound effects and music. https://youtu.be/VsAl1n10Y1U »
This reminds me somewhat of one of my own motoring experiences, “just down the road” from
Memel in the Orange Free State, whilst touring South Africa in a Nissan E20 based motor-caravan, during March / April 1980. I must stress that during the whole of my life, I have NEVER been intoxicated, and on the very rare occasions that I have consumed a single alcoholic beverage (typically a half-pint of cider), I have always left a minimum of 24 hours before driving.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memel,_Free_State
Using an old South African road map dating from about ten years earlier (when my father as team medical officer cum deputy manager, of the British Southern Areas Judo Team, were on a South African Judo Association sponsored tour of major towns & cities in South Africa and 1965~80 UDI Rhodesia – of which I have a full-sized flag), we stopped in Memel to enquire about the location of the campsite marked on the map. The only person we could find who was likely to speak English, was a white farmer who was only in the town that day, with one of his daughters whose leg was in plaster, to visit the local medical practitioner. He replied, “There’s no campsite around here man, but if you like, you can camp on my “land”, it’s just down the road”. What he modestly described as his “land” proved to be a vast estate measured in square miles rather than acres, which comprised land as far as the eye could see in any direction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo_South_Africa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Rhodesia
As in other vast, sparsely populated countries like Australia and the USA, “just down the road” commonly meant 50 miles or more, travelling at 50 mph. Not knowing where we were going, I had to follow behind our benefactor’s Mercedes saloon at circa 50 mph. The first half of the LONG journey on extremely good quality, straight tarmacked road, was uneventful, but once we turned onto the graded-aggregate road (i.e. no sealed surface), our wheels and those of any on-coming traffic, stirred up a large cloud of fine red dust, that caused one to cough violently if one made the mistake of leaving any windows or ventilation vents open. This meant that I could not follow directly behind the Mercedes, but had to lag behind at a reasonable distance to minimise the likelihood of the windscreen being broken by flying stones and simply follow its dust cloud.
https://www.khplant.co.za/blog/article/ ... way%20road.
https://www.khplant.co.za/blog/article/ ... principles
Despite my care to avoid the worst of the dust cloud in front and possible collision with the rear of the invisible Mercedes, the lingering dust cloud obscured my view of a raised cattle-grid, which was not sign-posted in advance, resulting in the Nissan E20 becoming airborne for what seemed a long period of time [much like the
Dukes of Hazard, Dodge Charger “General Lee”], before we landed with an almighty jolt, which I feared might have damaged the suspension, but I could not afford to stop at that moment lest we lose sight of the Mercedes, or at least the Mercedes’ dust cloud. Fortunately, the Nissan E20 seemed none the worse for wear, which I was thankfully able to confirm once we had safely arrived at our destination close to the farm house, having crawled under the front & rear of the vehicle with my torch; facilitated by the usefully high ground clearance.
When the estate-owner’s family learned that we were visitors from Great Britain (a rare event in that part of the World in those days | South Africa was subject to boycotts & economic sanctions associated with apartheid), we were afforded every hospitality, including the slaughter of a sheep for a barbeque (I have a photograph of it being skinned by the black servants), at which we were honoured guests. Our contribution to the feast was some
custard made up in the motor-caravan; a culinary delicacy that the children had never tasted before!
In rural areas, away from the major towns and cities, where foreigners seldom if ever travelled, we were feted whenever it was learned that we were a family from Great Britain, independently touring South Africa. In the archives of the local newspaper, in the small town of Heilbron, there is probably still a feature article, dating from 1980, about the Skeet family, written in Afrikaans; of which I might still have a cutting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heilbron
_________________
Regards.
Nigel A. Skeet
Independent tutor of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering, for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.
https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=308177758
Upgraded 1974 Triumph Toledo 1300 (Toledo / Dolomite HL / Sprint hybrid)
Onetime member + magazine editor & technical editor of Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club
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