I have a wife and 5 daughters. They all drive old Volvos because I've always believed that they are probably the safest vehicles on the road today. My biased safety opinion has now been put to the test --- my youngest daughter had a one-car accident the other afternoon.

She rolled our 1990 240 wagon off a narrow winding road, down a tretcherously steep hillside and ending-up in a dirt field below --- she was shaken by the experience but otherwise unharmed.

The emergency responders and legal authorities all shared this observation with us: it was lucky that she was driving a Volvo.

We have an AAA membership that covered getting the Volvo out of the dirt and towing for the first few miles towards home; my son-in-law put on the spare tire and drove it the rest of the way to my house. I'm using it for parts and my 16-yr old is driving a 1989 240 sedan.

In case you wondered: when questioned about how the 245 ended-up being driven off a curve on a dangerous road and tumbling down a hillside, my 16 yr old explained that she "thought she saw something."

My heart pounds hard as I picture it. True that the cerebral cortex is not fully-formed until the age of about 24 or 25; however, she is an A++ student and a talented athelete... particularly smart & unusually fast reflexes. Tonight she is playing in the Powerpuff Football game; the annual pre-Homecoming tradition that pits the junior girls vs the senior girls. We'll be there.

Buckle-up. Picture yourself or someone you love having an instantaneous startle reflex like that, and, title this story "Why I like the Volvo."