Baton Rouge — Cars are an everyday irritant. They require constant maintenance and stop working altogether if you do not fill the gas tank when the needle points at the big "E". They are also prone to spontaneously explode at red lights.
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| Dramatic reenactment of Leif's 1990 Corolla exploding. |
"Our Founder was driving home from work Tuesday night when his 1990 Toyota Corolla sputtered and died at a red light," said Founder Spokesman George Spielfisch at a WCSL press conference. "The vehicle then exploded."
The Founder was unharmed by the incident.
According to official reports, Leif started his car in the office parking lot at around 21:00. It started a little rough and made chugging noises. He proceeded to drive west toward Sherwood Forest. A half mile later, he stopped at the Sherwood Forest red light. The engine sputtered and then stopped.
He made several attempts to restart the engine but failed. A helpful fellow driver behind him at the light honked repeatedly and at great length in a fervent attempt to assist the Founder. The Founder got out and single-handedly pushed the car over to the side of the road to get out of traffic. He made one last attempt to restart the engine before walking to go find a public phone, at which point the vehicle exploded.
The cause of the car's failure is unknown but experts suggest it was a clogged fuel filter. They point out that Baton Rouge gas stations have recently had to change to a reformulated gas to follow EPA mandates. This may have loosened up some rust or dirt in the fuel tank which then clogged up the fuel filter.
The Toyota Corolla was 14 years old.
