Rescuers save driver hanging from I-4 rail - SUV bolt stops fall

Orlando Sentinel ^ | July 11, 2002 | Jeff Kunerth and Sandra Pedicini | Sentinel Staff Writer

[Cincinatus' Wife]

For 45 horrifying minutes, Christine McMichael teetered inches from doom inside her SUV snagged on an overpass guardrail on Interstate 4.

McMichael, 28, was apparently driving home to New Smyrna Beach when her green 1999 Ford Explorer careened into the guardrail about 5 p.m. Wednesday as she passed over State Road 46 near Seminole Towne Center mall.

The only thing that kept the Explorer from falling to the roadway below was a tiny wishbone-shaped bolt near the vehicle's right front tire that caught on the guardrail.

[goldstategop]

To the anti-SUV wackos: An SUV CAN save your life one day!!!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Brave little SUV bolt!!

[per loin]

The article is a bit short on the cause of the accident.

[Caipirabob]

MY guess is that the first thing she said when she suddenly realized she was hanging over the edge of a bridge was: "I'll call you back..."

Really, some people are too stupid to walk and chew gum at the same time, but that won't stop them from talking on the phone while operating a SUV.

No charges were filed Wednesday, and the cause of the accident is not yet known.

Check her cell phone records. The charge will be DWS:Driving While Stupid.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

All she would say was, "I really don't want to talk."

[Fresh Wind]

Richard Baehr of Orlando had been on his way out of the RaceTrac on S.R. 46 when he saw the Explorer flip in the air and come crashing through the guardrail.

Combine an idiot driver with the cell glued to her ear, and a vehicle with a lousy suspension and brakes, and this is what you get.

[exnavy]

Some of the comments here are very interesting. I'm going to assume that anyone ridiculing the use of cell phones in moving vehicles has never done anything while driving except steer and pedal.

After all the number one cause of accidents is adjusting the music. Number two is eating something. The liberals have done a good job of brainwashing even some FReepers into class warfare.

[JudyB1938]

You must have missed this:

< From inside the dangling car , which had flipped about 8 feet in the air before landing on the edge of the bridge, McMichael called her husband on the cell phone. >

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Sanford firefighters lower a bucket toward Christine McMichael's car Wednesday. The car was hanging so precariously rescuers feared a slight vibration might cause the vehicle to fall.
(DENNIS WALL/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
July 11, 2002

Christine McMichael is pulled to safety by Sanford firefighters. She was shaken but not seriously injured.
(DENNIS WALL/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
July 11, 2002

Christine McMichael talks on her cell phone after getting back on the ground. She was able to sit still in her vehicle that was hanging by a small bolt.
(DENNIS WALL/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
July 11, 2002

[Alouette]

It looks like she is missing half a finger.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Makes my stomach flip-flop.

[Ditter]

Lighting a cigarette fits somewhere with adjusting the radio & eating, into the top 3 things that cause people to lose control. I don't find talking on a cell phone any more distracting than talking to a passenger in the car. Its looking up numbers in that big telephone book that cause me problems. ;9}

[mewzilla]

If she hadn't been driving an SUV, she probably wouldn't have flipped her car. Roll-over rates are higher for SUV's and minivans in single-car MVA's than they are for passenger cars. So safety is a relative term.

[exnavy]

LOL

[mombonn]

My heart is pounding just reading this and seeing the photo. That was one VERY lucky lady.

[Dimensio]

Shh! The important thing is that a function of the SUV saved her life! That makes SUVs life-saving vehicles ... you're not supposed to question whether or not the accident would have happened (or would have happened in as sever a fashion) had she not been driving an SUV.

[RoughDobermann]

"Honey, I'm hanging from a bridge. Call 911," she said.

Is her cell phone one of those weird ones that won't dial 911?

[InvisibleChurch]

They'll say that the SUV tried to commit a homicide/suicide, but that it was the overpass guardrail (installed by the 'wise state') that prevented a tragedy.