Roger,

Great synopsis. I second your opinion of  Michelin Hydroedge tires
from personal experience.

Glad you and yours are alive.

2010/1/6, Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@gmail.com>:
> dear tire / wheel vendors and tire / wheel buyers
>
> different tires are required for different situations ...
> all seasons are ok for random driving light vehicle on clean roads
>
> studded snow tires for heavy snow combined with freezing
>
> i live in a temperate rain forest of the pacific north west ...
> wet water covered roads are my chief concern 12 months of the year
> moreover wet roads that are also oil slicked from the hot pavement ...
> i have found the hydro edge to be the hands down winner in proving to be
> stable and suitable for the roads i am on the majority of the time ...
> i have also driven these tires across the oregon dalles in a snow storm and
> had no requirement for chains
>
> was our incident made worse by a tire failure ...
> i would suggest not ...
> my regular work is that of a safety manager and i regularly investigate
> incidents .. including MVA
> i write reports about incidents and in this particular case of my own i had
> the opportunity to return to the incident site and take pictures
>
> there are some important facts the site reveals ...
>
> 1. four distinct sideways skid marks on the pavement ... made by all four of
> my fully inflated tires in a sideways drift
> .... these marks run across the tarmac from where the likely patch of ice
> stopped existing then onto the dirt shoulder ...
>
> 2. the van slid down the built up road bank for about twenty feet before it
> rolled ...
>
> 3. although i have not had the opportunity to actually unfold he deflated
> rear tire and look inside of it ...
>   ... i did not feel any distortion or poor tire performance prior to the
> incident (and yes i recall the firestone 721 fiasco of the late 70's ) ...
> and i have had blow outs before at highway speed ... both with a known
> faulty tire and as a surprise ... ...
> no symptoms of tire or wheel failure appeared evident at the time of the
> incident
>
> 4. our van rolled twice ... a complete revolution twice after sliding down
> the embankment from a 65 MPH start leading with the starboard side
>  ... there are clear marks in the dirt where the wheels dug in to tip us ...
>
>
> 5. the front left wheel broke away form the machine in such a way that the
> bearings were still seated inside the hub of the wheel ..
> i have photos of the wheel inside ... this means the axle shaft (spindle)
> broke ... serious impact indeed ...
>
> 6. with out the test facility and the vanagons to try it out on .. i have no
> way to know other than competing apocryphal statements about failure ...
> but i do know that a cast product ... is subject to failure when placed in
> extreme single point impact stress ...
> maybe some of the vendors want to call up myth busters and supply them with
> the tires / wheels and vans to try the various ideas about failure out ...
>
> ... and lastly as i stated to lucas of go westy in a phone conversation ...
> i have no reason to believe that the wheels supplied by them contributed in
> anyway to what happened to our westy
> moreover i have tried the hydro edge tires out in a variety of conditions at
> low speeds to see how the van and myself would react
> ... i have always found the tire performed very well and the van went where
> i wanted it to go ...
>
> and i might add that during the incident ... my first thought was ... do not
> look at the emergency vehicle on the left side of the road ... or you will
> head toward it ....
> i looked far up the road ... tried to steer into the skid ... had no control
> at all ... was soon facing west when i had been previously facing east ...
> i had lost frictional contact with the earth ... black ice ... YET i was
> able to gain enough control to go off the right side of the road and avoid
> collision with the emergency vehicle ...
> through conversations with a Transport Canada Officer in discussion about
> this very incident he agreed that looking where i wanted my vehicle to go
> played an important part in making my vehicle go away from the emergency
> vehicle
>
> more details about our incident ...
> i was avoiding the semi and emergency vehicle off the road to the left ...
> conversation with the semi driver later .. i learned he was off the road due
> to trying to avoid hitting a car out of control in front of him ... a car
> that continued on safely with out even knowing what was in its wake ...
> while they were loading my wife into the ambulance another vehicle lost
> control and nearly hit the police car ( i believe the hand of god stopped it
> from nailing the police car ... which would  have then also struck my wife
> on the stretcher) (every one else had fled the area when they heard the
> other vehicle sliding around ) ...
> conversation with the trooper after at the hospital .. he related that we
> were one of four incidents that night ...
> i reminded him of the one that nearly hit his car and he said oh yes five...
> add to that the fellow who caused the semi to go off the road ... makes 6
> known ...
> conversation with the tow truck recovery people /... that stretch of road
> keeps them very busy ...
>
> so unless the insurance co discovers something different from what the
> evidence appears to relate ...
>
> it is my conclusion that while traveling in an easterly direction at 65 MPH
> on I 80 (in a 75MPH zone) at about 6 pm on december 14 while in an effort to
> change lanes to avoid an emergency vehicle on the left side of the road i
> came in contact with so called black ice and lost my ability to utilize
> friction to maintain control of the vehicle ... resulting  in the vehicle
> leaving the road and rolling twice and coming to rest on its left side atop
> the wild life fence which is some 100 feet from the tarmac ..
>
> Tin can broken ... sardines good ...
> yours
>
>
> --
> roger w
> From Proverbs:
> Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a
> servant who becomes king ...
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--
Chris S.
Disclaimer: "Death and serious injury may occur"