By Tommy Dougherty on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 11:16 pm: Edit

Hey folks... check out these photos of my '97 Disco.

Me & the family were going home from the VA state fair on Monday. We were traveling in the right lane on I95 going about 55mph and I had to do some quick manouvers to avoid getting nailed by a car from the left rear side. We wound up skidding sideways right, then sideways left, then right again, then we rolled and we finally came to rest upside down on the shoulder of I95. (We were all hanging by our seatbelts, which saved our lives.)

All of us - me, wife and my 2 kids - got out without anything more than some glass cuts. (The kids got out with no injuries or cuts at all.)

Amazing stuff. Paramdeics couldn't beleive anyone walked away from that crash. They thought we were witnesses because by the time they arrived, we were sitting on a guardrail holding our kids.

Now I just have to find me a new Disco. Thank god for those steel roll cages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Photos-> http://www.tombec.com/rover

-Tommy

By John Cinquegrana (John_C) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 02:38 am: Edit

Holy cow! I'm glad you and the family are ok. You must've been freaking out especially with the kids in the car. You must have held them in your arms for hours after the rollover, I know I would.

I've been in a rollover situation with my wife and know the feeling, fortunately our 10 month old daughter wasn't with us.

Good luck and let us know if you get another Disco or not.

John C.

By Carl E. Cedeholm (Cederholm) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 03:33 am: Edit

That's insane!
Glad to hear you and your family are OK.
That truck did you well.
Make sure to post photos of your new one.
Carl

By KJ on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 03:47 am: Edit

Chilling. So glad everyone came out O.k. And Tommy, you didn't ever mess up your hair! ;)

Karen

By gp (Garrett) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 03:54 am: Edit

yes. pretty amazing that you all walked away.....literally. good to hear that. makes my accident when i totaled my disco look pretty lame.
and makes the purchase of another Discovery that much of a no brainer.

By Daniel on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 04:00 am: Edit

That is unbelievable.
Good thing you were driving a real truck, not some toy truck...
Glad to hear that everyone made it out O.K.

By Tommy Dougherty on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 04:48 am: Edit

I'm definately getting another Discovery.

As far as messing up my hair, that photo was taken the day after, at the impound yard where it was towed. We had our digital camera with us the night of the accident, but it was thrown from the vehicle and it wouldn't take pictures... I tried! You would not believe the site of a overturned rover on the shoulder of I95 during rush hour (5:15pm). Totally unreal.

Many people who I've shown the photos to who have jeeps and other such vehicles plan on getting rid of them now to buy a rover.

-Tommy

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 05:00 am: Edit

Man that had to be one scary ride.. Glad to hear that everybody walked away unharmed. I still think that the front is a little close to where people's heads are but, much better then other vehicles would have done. Ouch, that makes me hurt just looking at it.

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 05:05 am: Edit

A) VERY glad that you and the family were essentially unscathed.

B) Thanks for sharing the pictures... After showing those to my wife, she'll quit trying to get me to get rid of the Disco and instead she'll insist on keeping it!

Again, I'm glad you're all fine!

-L

By William Turner (Wturner) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 05:10 am: Edit

I love Rovers to death, and take every chance I can to dog jeeps, but...

I had some friends that were driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee, DRUNK, and ran off the road, over corrected back on and flipped over on the roof. They sustained no more damage to the jeep or to their bodies than this case. They did, however, roll only 1/2 times, onto the roof and slid. I don't know how many rolls you did.

Only thing to say bad about the jeep is when they over corrected they were half way off the road, so they came back onto the road sideways, when the back tire hit the thicker road (sort of like a sidewalk curb) it broke the wheel off causing the flip. If the wheel had never broke they may not have flipped, and the Rover wheel would have been less likely to break, so it may have just slid.

By Steve (Steve2) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 05:30 am: Edit

holy f*ing poop! those are some incredible pics. reminds me of when my buddies mom flipped her audi a6 avant quattro on h1 a little over a year ago and she broke her neck - (now mostly recovered).

the 'A' pillar collapsed from 2x rollovers at 65mph on rainslick roads, and she unded up off the hwy upsidedown in a mud and sand ditch in a position not readily visible from the road. luckily someone saw the accident and was able to call the highway patrol.

there is something to be said in having the roof further away from your head i think.

i'm just glad you guys are ok. this just reaffirms my belief that i am driving a very safe car.

steve

By Heather on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 07:27 am: Edit

What a blessing no one was hurt!!! The pics are unbelieveable!!!

By Roverine on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 08:34 am: Edit

A true blessing no one was hurt ... my best friend lost her son & another young girl in a frwy roll over about 5 years ago. They were in a Bronco when some jerk teens were racing each other on the frwy. One of them clipped the Bronco in a sudden lane change (hit & run - the teen racers were never found).

So very glad you're all okay, and thanks for sharing those pictures - the Rover has some good structural integrity!

Kim

By Erik Olson (Jon) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 09:50 am: Edit

Wow, good news about you and your kids! A testament to the strength of the Land Rover. Now, will the replacement be a D1 or Series 2? A fellow NCRC member "upgraded" to a 110Tdi after his rollover!

Cheers,

Erik

By Moe on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 10:00 am: Edit

Good to see the family made it out intact and unhurt. Well done.

I bet you wanted to throttle the driver that made you swerve? That is a tough decision to make: nail the offending car or try to avoid the collision . . . and still have have to deal with the out of control Disco.

Tommy, nice job in keeping control long enough slow the speed.

By pjkbrit on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 10:21 am: Edit

Wow...lucky, lucky, lucky. Glad you were all OK...the worst of it was probably calming your kids down after the trauma....are those wheels for sale????
Pete

By KJ on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 05:18 pm: Edit

Tommy,

I was just funnin' with you about your hair looking perfect, clearly the pic was taken later. I just looked at the wreck pics again and it's a scary bit of business. I'm incredibly glad to hear you and your family walked away. We know a family who years ago was struck in the roof by an airborne big-ass sedan. MAJOR wreck, and but for the roll cage the paramedics said they could well have all been killed. That was a major factor in me pursuing my own Disco purchase all these years later. Kiss your wife, hug your kids and let us know what color your new disco will be (G).

Karen

By Bud Lane (Hrrovr) on Friday, October 05, 2001 - 04:07 am: Edit

Well, boys and girls, there is one REALLY excellent reason for Soccer Moms to be driving Disco's. We seem to be able to come up with all kinds of reasons why our vehicles are better than the "others". Many of those reasons are subjective at best. But to see folks walk away from a roll-over like this makes all the other reasons significantly less important. Oddly enough, when we bought our first Land Rover, an 89 Range Rover, it was because I had just witnessed two teenage boys disintegrate when their Nissan pickup was broad-sided by a dump truck. We were just about to purchase a compact car at the time. I immediately decided that my family wouldn't be riding in a small car. I grabbed the classified ads and found, for the first time ever in that paper, the Range Rover. Two weeks after the purchase, my Bride informed me that she felt more "secure" sitting above the traffic and liked the heavy feel, and that she never wanted to drive anything else but a Land Rover. And so she does, complete with Soccer stickers on the rear window and mud from the Alpine loop on the frame as she makes her trips to the Mall and the soccer field. Drive safely. When some one asks why you drive a Land Rover, point them towards Tommy's pictures.

Bud

By wags2034 on Friday, October 05, 2001 - 06:38 pm: Edit

i'm sure many people have viewed these photos and have not posted. Myself, when I first viewed them I was upset to see a Rover so messed up. But after really thinking about it... I was so very grateful that you and your family walked away from this. No matter the make and model of the auto, you still have your family! Good luck to you and God Bless.

By R22tech on Friday, October 05, 2001 - 07:00 pm: Edit

wow..............

By Tommy Dougherty on Monday, October 08, 2001 - 07:01 am: Edit

I'm looking for a Disco II right now. Got a family friend who's an auto wholesaler - and he's going to some auctions for me.

I'm glad that everyone (myself included) realizes how these things hold up. I knew they were tough, but I had no idea until this accident.

Take Care,
-Tommy