It all started out well enough. I had to travel to Watertown, MA to get a small item.

I figured it would be a nice ride in the MINI. It was pretty much un eventful except for the rock blast at the 95 - 128 junction. I get on Rt20 East, the last leg of the journey, not a quarter mile from the highway I see a car facing the wrong way in my lane. Good thing I started to slow down because my next sight was a coil spring laying in the road! I slammed on the brakes but could not swerve to avoid it and it made quite a racket as it hit everything under the car.

I stopped, checked for oncoming traffic, then backed into the driveway that I was next to. I looked under my car but the only mark was a slight rust spot on the plastic spoiler from when I hit the spring. Nothing hanging and no leaks.

At that point I began to figure out what happened and ran back to the car that was in my lane. It was an elderly lady (crying), she was on the phone to her daughter. The car, a late 90s or early 00s New Yorker had a right rear suspension failure. When it broke the lady lost control and wound up on the wrong side of the road. The I came along and ran over the spring that came flying out. I called the police so they could get someone there for her safety and then her daughter showed up so I took off. I was a bit pissed that I ran over that spring but I think I was very lucky that it just rolled along under the car, not damaging anything, including the plastic gas tanks. It is also a good thing that I did not come along sooner because we could have wound up much worse.
I got home and the thing I got was DOA. Not good. Rather that go all the way back to Watertown I took it back to the local store and they got me a replacement that actually works. So, in the end, the day wasn't a total waste and the MINI doesn't appear to be any worse for wear.

 

Wow, scary... You never know when things suddenly loom into your path... deer, downed trees, dump trucks. It's amazing what I have avoided hitting with the MINI.
Sorry you ran over that spring. Ugh. Good thing the lady was okay.

 

Hey ...thanks for stopping to check on her. The world needs more folks like you.

 

The MINI inspires us to partake in adventures and excursions others pass up. Although your experience was probably more adventurous than expected, thankfully everyone is ok. That must have been some suspension failure. I'm having a hard time imagining how the spring completely detached and ended up in the road. I guess that's why we're always told to be careful when working with wound springs!

 

Thanks for stopping for that lady! I always stop if it looks like someone needs help. You never know when it's going to be your grandma stranded like that!

Glad the MINI's safe, too.