• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Ryn Gargulinski

Creativity on Fire

  • home
  • Shop Art
  • Shop Books
  • about
  • Services
  • contact

What's with all the rollovers?

OK, Mitch. This one is for you.

Avid TC.com reader and commenter Mitch posed a question through my e-mail:

I’m from Santa Cruz – You know, Highway 1, Big Sur, 1,000 foot cliffs straight down to the waters edge.

My question is: How come we never have any “rollovers” in our news?

Yet, I’ve been (in Tucson) five years and every day there is a rollover.

He also noted many of the rollovers happen on Interstate 10:

There’s one road, its wide, paved AND a straight shot from here to Phoenix, How do Tucsonans do it?

The thing was constructed so a 747 could land on it for Pete’s sake. (Who IS Pete by the way)?

To answer Mitch’s inquiries:

1. Why aren’t there rollovers in Big Sur?

There are few, if any, rollovers in places that have highways abutting sheer cliffs that drop to the sea, such as your former Highway 1 in Big Sur and my former Highway 101 in southern Oregon, for a simple reason.

The vehicles don’t have time to roll over when they lose control. They simply smash, crash and then dash through the guardrail right down with a splash into the water.

No room to roll/Photo by Ryn Gargulinski
No room to roll/Photo by Ryn Gargulinski

2. Who is Pete?

The “Pete” from the term “for Pete’s sake” goes back to the Bible, according to Phrases.org.uk, which offers this explanation:

“For Pete’s Sake” – The phrase is simply a polite version of a common and profane expression involving the name of Christ. We’d surmise that the original ‘Pete’ was St. Peter.” From “Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins” by William and Mary Morris.

The explanation is kind of boring, as I was hoping Pete was a tad more mysterious. But it also falls into line with a phrase I used to think I heard as a kid in church. When congregation members said en masse, “Thanks Be To God,” I actually thought they were saying “Thanks Peter God.” I thought it cute God had such an earthy name like Peter.

Any other rollover theories out there?

follow rynski:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Google+
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Email

What do you think?

Filed Under: blogski, danger, death Tagged With: crash, death, pete, rollover

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. RADC MAXIMUS says

    June 8, 2009 at 11:29 am

    “Any other rollover theories out there?” Hmmm…van overloaded (at least 3-4 times the recommended occupancy), Probably bald tires, perhaps improperly inflated, Paranoid Paco behind the wheel, drivin’ like a bat out of Hell, feverishly checking his rearview mirror more than the road ahead, Juanita yelling at the guy with the shoe in her eye, etc… Gee, I dunno, that’s a tough one Rynski. 🙂

    Log in to Reply
    • Rynski says

      June 8, 2009 at 11:34 am

      hahahahahhahahahahaha!

      I especially like the “shoe in her eye” theory!
      Now why didn’t I think of that!

      p.s. you had me laughing aloud on that one.
      p.p.s. I also meant rollovers IN GENERAL, not nec. overloaded fleeing immigrants.

      Log in to Reply
      • RADC MAXIMUS says

        June 8, 2009 at 11:52 am

        I in NO WAY mean to make light of this ever increasing tragedy. Just that when you hear or experience something often enough, it has a numbing effect. I said this in the old Citizen, that when applying for a drivers licence, there should be a REACTION TIME test. Liberal of course. There are quite a few things that are considered impairment under the law. Reaction time of 3 toed sloth? Here’s your license!

        Log in to Reply
  2. Max says

    June 8, 2009 at 12:46 pm

    The rollover crashes here are almost always vans full of illegal aliens running from the authorities. They are overfilled and traveling at ridiculous speeds when they roll.

    Log in to Reply
  3. Leftfield says

    June 8, 2009 at 8:48 pm

    Driving at an unsafe speed, driving under the influence of America’s drug of choice; regardless of the immigration status of the driver, these are probably behind most of the roll-overs. We can reform immigration law, but getting America off drugs, that’s a tough nut.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Footer

Stay in the loop

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Etsy
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2021 · Author Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in