Mr Gilmour Defies Unlucky Friday 13th Thanks to his VOLVO

23rd April 2009

Did you know that 38 tonnes is the upper legal weight limit for Commercial freight vehicles on the roads in the United Kingdom?

Well  Jim Gilmour didn’t until Friday March 13^th when he was driving his Volvo S40 to Ray Chapman Motors for its very first service. I am sure the complexity of the Department of Transport’s legal road user requirements, were the last thing on Mr Gilmour’s mind as one of these eight axle 38 tonners hit him squarely  on his side of the car just above the wheel arch. In fact, I am not sure that  anything at all  serious was going through his grey cells as he was spinning through 180 degrees, wiping out a signpost and coming eventually to rest facing the wrong way on one of York’s busy main roads.

What did happen after this un-called for fairground ride, was that Mr Gilmour , “ a little less composed than his transport”, collected his thoughts and was able to take in the fact that Volvo’s renowned safety features had left him able to take in the following information.

His seat belt retentioners had held him firmly in place whilst the airbags and inflatable side curtains  gave him full protection . He was then able to open his door  without any trouble.

Jim was carted off to hospital because he had let his legs flail around whilst he was spinning and had managed to pick up a knee injury. He was given a thorough going over at the hospital and amazed everyone including himself that there were no other injuries. No Whiplash; No Chest Injuries; No Concussion; indeed none of the trauma that one could expect from such a collision.

The S40 was thoroughly checked out after the accident  and although the Insurers considered it to be an un-economical repair job, we are thrilled to report that it rose to Volvo’s exceedingly high safety standards and because of the strong safety cage, had there been any other passengers in the car, they would have been equally protected and safe plus the fact that all doors opened with ease which is usually one of the attending emergency teams biggest problems. Access to the injured.

Here at Ray Chapman Motors, we are blindingly aware that safety is the most important criteria when choosing a new car and we are very grateful to be able to write a report where our customers have benefited from Volvo’s constant search for  ultimate safety features. Jim Gilmour has helped us and Volvo by sending a report of his accident to Volvo UK and has kindly allowed us to let you know how this information will be used  to benefit future drivers. If you have any similar  experiences then we would like to hear about them.

I finish with the following summary of events as sent to us by Jim, who has had the luckiest of escapes on the unluckiest of dates.

“It is not the kind of experience that anyone would want, but everyone from dealer through importer  to insurer has made the whole incident as straightforward and easy to manage as possible. Significantly, the whole package seems without equal. Ray Chapman Motors showed an un-matchable standard of customer service and attention to detail. Volvo Cars U.K. took enormous interest in the incident and provided exemplary care. Volvo Owners Insurance moved with great speed to equip my wife with a courtesy car and managed the whole claims experience in a pro-active and generous way.”

“My wife and I are very grateful that we have dealt with such a quality system through the portal of the team at Ray Chapman Motors.”

“I simply believe that I owe my life to the design and build quality of my Volvo. I have already ordered another.”

Everyone of the team at Ray Chapman Motors wishes Jim a speedy recovery  and look forward to continually looking after him, Mrs Gilmour and their NEW VOLVO.