RJT>> But that's _not_ what the speedometer said,  when I came to rest.  It
 RJT>> was *WAY* up there,  and thta's why I say that what the car thinks was
 RJT>> going on is nonsense,  and may or may not have any bearing on the
 RJT>> reality of the situation...

 WC> Somewhat similar situation.
 WC> Entering Gulf BLVD in Madeira Beach from a side street with a
 WC> light rain my Cadillac fishtailed badly though I was
 WC> travelling but 5 - 10 MPH.
 WC> Appears there must have been oil on the road.

 WC> Speedometer ran WAY up on the scale there as well indicating
 WC> something like 55 - 60 about a second before the car got
 WC> traction and indicated something like 6 MPH.
 WC> Never hit the brake as that's the wrong thing to do in that
 WC> situation.

sounds like both of you experianced wheelspin when the drive wheels lost
traction... the speedometer cable was connected to something that was also
attached to the drive wheels and thus the speedometer measured and
displayed the speed that the drive tires were spinning during the loss of
traction... it all likely happened so fast, that you didn't even had any
real time to remove your foot from the gas pedal...

)\/(ark