1. ENGINE THREW A ROD RESULTING IN CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE JULY 10, 2009: WHILE TRAVELING THE I805 S IN SAN DIEGO, CA, THE VEHICLE ENGINE EXPLODED WITHOUT WARNING CAUSING LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL. NO WARNING LIGHTS WERE ILLUMINATED, THERE WERE NO NOISES, NOTHING TO INDICATE WHAT WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. I WAS HEADING TO WORK AT APPROXIMATELY 1PM, WITH CRUISE CONTROL SET TO 65MPH, WHEN I BEGAN TO NEAR MY FREEWAY INTERCHANGE. IT'S AN AREA WHERE TWO FREEWAYS MEET AND MERGING TRAFFIC IS MOVING MUCH SLOWER. CRUISE CONTROL WAS DISENGAGED AND THE VEHICLE GRADUALLY BEGAN TO SLOW FROM 65MPH. MERGING TRAFFIC WAS TRYING TO MOVE RIGHT TO LEFT AND I WAS TRYING TO MOVE LEFT TO RIGHT; ONCE I SAW MY OPENING, I PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO SPEED UP. INSTANTLY THERE WAS A LOUD EXPLOSION AND THE VEHICLE JOLTED. MY FIRST REACTION WAS THAT I HAD BEEN REAR ENDED OR HIT BY ANOTHER VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO 'BUCK' AND THREW ITSELF INTO THE LANE TO IT'S RIGHT. SMOKE WAS BILLOWING OUT FROM UNDER THE HOOD AND BOTTOM OF THE VEHICLE. THE INTERIOR HVAC SYSTEM PULLED SMOKE INTO THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT DURING THIS TIME. I MANAGED TO BRAKE AND MOVE TO THE SHOULDER, DURING THIS TIME THERE WERE BURSTS OF POWER AND THEN DECELERATION. WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS FINALLY UNDER CONTROL, MY NEXT THOUGHT MOVED TO THE FIRE DANGER IT POSED TO THE SURROUNDING FREEWAY EMBANKMENT AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS ABOVE. I ALLOWED THE VEHICLE TO COAST DOWN THE HOME AVE EXIT RAMP AND PARKED IT IN TH