Greenfield Woman Survives Mattress Explosion Under SUVBy Diane PathieuStory Created: Feb 3, 2010Story Updated: Feb 4, 2010GREENFIELD - A mattress got stuck under her car, and it exploded.She and her passenger lived to tell about it.Now back home safe and sound in Greenfield, Kathy Rich has quite the story to tell."I was in the left lane the car ahead of me," said Rich."It was really packed, there were so many cars on the freeway, and all of a sudden I saw this car swerve a little bit. It caught the far end of this mattress, and I was next and went right over the center of it."Kathy was on I-494 leaving the Minneapolis area on Sunday night with her friend Marsha Rodgers, when it happened.Kathy accidentally drove over a mattress on the freeway, and it got lodged under her Toyota RAV-4.What happened next was nothing short of a miracle."We heard this bouncing and plunking, and we thought 'Good, we made it over it,' " said Rich."Little did we know that all these cars were tooting their horns, waving us off the freeway, and I turned down the radio and I said to Marsha, 'You know what? I hear a swishing sound. I bet you I hit that radiator.' "Kathy pulled over to the shoulder, with seconds to spare."By the time we stopped, my friend opened her door and the flames just shot up," explained Kathy."It was like, 'Oh, my God, this thing is on fire!' People behind us were shouting at us to get out of that car get away from that car. It's going to explode."It did explode, right before their eyes."I was in a daze i couldn't believe this car was blowing up in front of me."Kathy and Marsha walked away without a scratch. The car was totaled, but she couldn't be more relieved."It wasn't until I saw the pictures on the internet last night that I realized, 'My God, I am so lucky to be alive because this thing could have exploded while we were still in it!"Kathy's RAV-4 does not fall in the Toyota recall category.
This was on the same page as the mom shoots son story. video here: http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/83465197.htmlNow, a show of hands. Who thinks the mattress exploded, other than the author? Who thinks the heat caused by the friction of the wedged mattress scraping along the highway caused it to catch fire and that eventually made the fuel in the car explode?Thought so. What do they teach in college?
Kathy's RAV-4 does not fall in the Toyota recall category.
...and yet the press wants to make a connection.... Tell me....what vehicle should I be driving to avoid the problem of exploding matresses?...
H1 Hummer comes to mind.