Maybe the CEO was right?

[fbhjr]

It started off as a normal commute.
I got up, drove my car out from under the tree in the parking lot.


Drove past the construction site where I still hope it will turn out they
are making a park.


But, as I drove down 495, I noticed that the headlight cover that had been
held on with tie wraps was loose and blowing in the wind.


When this first happened several months ago, I found that shutting the
popup headlights made the wind hold the cover on better.  I only keep them
open because the right one doesn’t always want to open.  But, I thought it
was better to have it reluctant to open tonight than have the cover break
off and go flying down 495 this morning.
So, I shut the lights.

This proves it has been a long time since college where my senior project
was in fluid dynamics.

Yes, if the cover was down flat when I started, the wind would continue to
hold it down flat.
But, if it is halfway lifted and I then retract the headlight still
somewhat supporting it from under it?
No, that does not make it fall back flat.  It makes it flap back even more.

Many years ago, in this same car, my wife and I were driving down the same
highway.  A construction truck in front of us dropped a ladder and a cinder
block off of its back onto the road.
I managed to dodge the ladder, but not the block and it did a fair bit of
damage to the car.
The insurance company told me I was to blame because I still hit the items,
they didn’t hit me.  The fact that I didn’t hit the cars to either side of
me to avoid hitting the block actually seemed to count against me.

I reflected on that as I thought about the flapping piece of metal at the
front of my car.
My thoughts were that if it hit someone, I’d be responsible.  But, if
someone else hit it, then it would be their responsibility.
So, the key was to make sure if it was going to come off, it didn’t hit
anyhow.
I managed that by driving in the left lane so if it fell off it would land
in the median.
Eventually I had to get off of the highway, but it stayed on for the lane
change.

I did get to work with it still on.  So, I pulled off the flap and put it
in the car.
But, the rusted bracket for it looked pretty bad.

I decided it should come off.


Some wire cutters did the trick and it came off fairly easily.


Now I just have to worry about now getting in it.


If I can figure out how to hold the cover on again, that would work.  But,
I don’t want it coming off on 495, or any other highway.

Comments

[64tbird.livejournal.com]

Us motorcyclists appreciate when pieces of metal don't fly off cars ...

[evrgreen.livejournal.com]

YUp, you got that right! I hit a part of an aluminum extension ladder on I-93 while riding my motorcycle. The ladder had fallen off the back oa a truck, been hit by another truck and broken, and one of the parts came into my lane where I could not avoid it. I managed to stay upright and not hit the sharp metal with my tires, but it did punch a hole through the lower fiberglass fairing on my bike. The insurance company said that it was my fault as it became an obstacle in the road as soon as it hit the road. If the ladder had fallen off the truck and hit me/my bike immediately BEFORE it hit the road, then it would have been the fault of the truck driver&his insurance company. Of course, I had a $500 deductible on the insurance policy, and the replacement fairing part was $495...

I would think with your skills and basic tools in a metal shop you could make a replacement bracket out of sheet metal - maybe not as complex a shape but with the critical bends and mounting holes. Or, there has got to be an auto-wrecking yard or two around Worcester you could check out to pull the healdight assembly off a scrapped Saturn (they do run a long time, but not forever)!

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Saturn stopped making these headlights in 96.
So it's pretty hard to find them, even in scrap yards.

[evrgreen.livejournal.com]

This is when having an emergency containment forcefield or "structural integrity field" would come in handy on automobiles! Well, they're now being equippped with radar and other distance sensing systems, so at least we're on the right track...