Just the other day, Ida was driving along a country road that we frequently use. As she approached a small bridge, she noticed an obstruction protruding from the road in her lane. She decided that she would try to straddle the object instead of risking a tire, should a tire strike it instead. As she approached the object, she noticed that it was much larger than she had anticipated, but it was too late. BANG! The object was some kind of structural cover plate that covered something that surveyors use when doing their work. Someone had left it off and Ida ran into it. It punctured the transmission pan and buckled the driver-side floorboard. She stopped immediately, thinking that it would be better to have that hunk of metal with her to take to the county courthouse to deal with the situation. Stopping, she put the car into reverse and backed up. She picked up the 20 lbs of steel plate and stuck it her trunk. When she went to go forward again, she smelled burning transmission fluid and decided not to go anywhere. The transmission fluid was leaking all over and got sprayed onto the hot exhaust pipe. That gave off the burning transmission smell. Upset at the thought that she never should have let her AAA expire this year, she knew that she could call someone to help her. As it ended up, everyone was unreachable. Finally she reached our son, Aaron, who got a truck and towed the damaged vehicle back home.Some things to consider:

Some things to consider:

1. It was nice to have a cell phone!!!
2. Keep your AAA roadside assistance paid up; one never knows when one will not be able to contact friends or family to help. Without AAA, most tow services will charge you a minimum of $100, no matter where you get towed. Usually the bill is higher per mile, almost like a taxi. AAA’s measly $60 per year membership has three free tows included in it… well worth the price, at least for our family.
3. Never make an attempt to straddle any obstruction in the road at 55 MPH or higher, unless you are absolutely sure that your car will clear the obstruction. At cruise speeds, you cannot make rapid maneuvers without risking damage to yourself, your car, or someone else’s person and/or property. Seeing a 1/2 ton pickup truck straddling the object may not necessarily mean that your passenger car will also clear it.
4. Have an idea of what the clearance is from the ground to the lowest structure or component under your car. Also know what the distance is from the ground to the top of the roof of your vehicle. Some parking garages have height limitations.
5. When you damage your car like that, do not attempt to continue driving until you have stopped and assessed the damage. Driving further could cause more serious damage. Had Ida continued to drive, she could have ruined the transmission. But seeing how she knew what burning transmission fluid smelled like, she elected not to continue driving.
6. When stopped by the roadside, females are vulnerable, it is good to call police to at least wait with you until help arrives.

We cover some of this information in our video, “[1] Basic Car Maintenance For Pretty Hands!®“. Our next video, “Roadside Assistance For Pretty Hands!®” will be covering many topics related to what happens when you break down and you have to pull over. We’ll let everyone here know when it is produced, you can bet on that!

As it stands right now, the car isn’t a total loss. The county agreed to pay our insurance deductible, but that is all. We found out that the county has “Sovereign Immunity.” Isn’t that interesting? They can screw things up royally, and don’t have to worry about liability. Hummmmm…