Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:46 — 35.4MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | More
Ron Richman, an attorney in San Francisco, recently received a phone call from the eldest of his two sons, Sam, a lawyer in Los Angeles. The father immediately heard something in his son’s voice that wasn’t right.
His instincts were accurate. The younger Richman, 29, had been driving his 2014 Subaru Impreza hatchback with a friend as a passenger on Santa Monica Blvd. at 30-35 miles per hour. He was hit from behind by a car witnesses estimated was traveling about 80 mph. The Subaru Impreza then hit a bus.
Sam Richman suffered a concussion, bruised lungs and kidneys, deep bruises from his seatbelt, a sprained ankle and a concussion. Sam’s friend, whose name is not being used via request, suffered two crushed fingers, a sprained left hand, bruises and a black eye. Both are recovering well.
The elder Richman, who lives with his wife Kathleen in Foster City, California, is our guest in Episode #129 of The Weekly Driver Podcast.
Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss the accident and its aftermath with Richman. We talked about how a used Subaru Impreza helped saved the lives of his son and his son’s friend.
Subaru Impreza impressive
“My son said he never saw the car coming,” said Richman. “The next thing he knows he’s is hit from behind, spinning the car around and into oncoming traffic. His car then hit an oncoming LA Metro Bus. The bus driver was able to slow down some and swerve, avoiding a head-on collision.”
Richman, who drove to Los Angeles with his wife to assist their son, further explains:
“The Subaru had front and side airbags, front and back seats, all deployed. The side airbags truly did their job, but as little as I know about car design and crumple zones, it appears the car did exactly what it was designed to do, absorb the impact and protect the driver and passengers.”
“After seeing the car, I was just shocked, and amazed that my son and his friend were able to walk away from that crash with relatively minor injuries.”
Richman, who supplied the images in this post, also explains how talking about what happened has helped him.
The Weekly Driver Podcast encourages and appreciates feedback from our listeners. Please forward episode links to family, friends and colleagues. And you are welcome to repost links from the podcast to your social media accounts.
Please send comments and suggestions for new episodes to James Raia via email: [email protected].
Every episode is also available on your preferred podcast platform. All episodes are also archived via the link: www.theweeklydriver.com/twd-podcast.
Hosted by James Raia and Bruce Aldrich, The Weekly Driver Podcast dives deep into the highways and byways of the automotive world. Each week, we put you in the driver’s seat, exploring unique, unusual, and often untold stories from across the industry’s spectrum.
Article Last Updated: November 26, 2023.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
