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Thu Oct 09, 2025 10:38 am

Mile marker 52 going Westbound is pretty flat.

Google Maps street view:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/RoeoBkamSPL6LcYQ8

I watched the video again and it looks like the accident is right where the rest stop re-enters the I-10 so maybe that is related.

Thu Oct 09, 2025 11:26 am

tasb wrote:

Chiriaco Summit, very steep long hill. I learned to avoid that hill years ago by going through Vidal Junction and Parker AZ. onCA 62 instead. It’s less traveled thus safer for a VW.

Just as bad is the San Jacinto Pass also on the I 10. Coming back from Buses By the Bridge, I would get there in the dark. It felt like I was driving a horse cart while everyone else was running the Indianapolis 500. The alternative was the back way climbing through Big Bear which is fraught with its own hazards. Eventually in following years, I stopped for the night in Twentynine Palms.

Just a comment on Highway 62. That road in my opinion is also very dangerous, especially in the summer. Known as "Rice Road", the section east of the intersection of Highway 62 and 177 all the way to state line has high speed accidents almost every weekend. As you know, it is just a two lane road with soft shoulders on each side with a speed limit of 65 mph. The problem is cars and small trucks pulling trailers will go 80 to 90 mph and try to pass other vehicles leading to disaster. My friend who just retired from the CHP was a pilot that patrolled that area of the desert. He told me a few years ago to stay away from Rice Road that I-10 was safer.

Thu Oct 09, 2025 12:40 pm

Shoyrtt wrote: tasb wrote:

Chiriaco Summit, very steep long hill. I learned to avoid that hill years ago by going through Vidal Junction and Parker AZ. onCA 62 instead. It’s less traveled thus safer for a VW.

Just as bad is the San Jacinto Pass also on the I 10. Coming back from Buses By the Bridge, I would get there in the dark. It felt like I was driving a horse cart while everyone else was running the Indianapolis 500. The alternative was the back way climbing through Big Bear which is fraught with its own hazards. Eventually in following years, I stopped for the night in Twentynine Palms.

Just a comment on Highway 62. That road in my opinion is also very dangerous, especially in the summer. Known as "Rice Road", the section east of the intersection of Highway 62 and 177 all the way to state line has high speed accidents almost every weekend. As you know, it is just a two lane road with soft shoulders on each side with a speed limit of 65 mph. The problem is cars and small trucks pulling trailers will go 80 to 90 mph and try to pass other vehicles leading to disaster. My friend who just retired from the CHP was a pilot that patrolled that area of the desert. He told me a few years ago to stay away from Rice Road that I-10 was safer.

That's our preferred route to BBB since you can drive 55 and the views are great. There are definitely some though that drive really fast on there so you have to be alert.

Fri Oct 10, 2025 6:14 am

I am going to get an orange rotating emergency light for my roof. You can get magnetic ones for under $40. Turn it on when pulling a hill in third gear, or whatever. Remove it after freeway travel. Way more obvious that a slow moving vehicle magnet.

https://www.ebay.com/shop/amber-rotating-light?_nkw=amber+rotating+light

Fri Oct 10, 2025 6:43 am

Lind wrote: I am going to get an orange rotating emergency light for my roof. You can get magnetic ones for under $40. Turn it on when pulling a hill in third gear, or whatever. Remove it after freeway travel. Way more obvious that a slow moving vehicle magnet.

https://www.ebay.com/shop/amber-rotating-light?_nkw=amber+rotating+light I hope everyone that views this thread takes it seriously.

In addition to some clip on orange flags for each corner of my roof rack, I've also got one of those yellow rotating lights that you plug into a cigarette lighter I planned to use. Of course, it's 12 volt.

Do we have any resident electrical wizards that can recommend buying or making a 12 volt to 6 volt converter that would work for both light and motor?

Here is some cheap PVC orange 18x18 flags at Home Depot:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/18-in-x-18-in-Orange-PVC-Laminated-Safety-Flag-SF18-24VPD16/309998005

Fri Oct 10, 2025 7:12 am

Stocknazi wrote: Lind wrote: I am going to get an orange rotating emergency light for my roof. You can get magnetic ones for under $40. Turn it on when pulling a hill in third gear, or whatever. Remove it after freeway travel. Way more obvious that a slow moving vehicle magnet.

https://www.ebay.com/shop/amber-rotating-light?_nkw=amber+rotating+light I hope everyone that see this thread takes it seriously.

In addition to some clip on orange flags for each corner of my roof rack, I've also got one of those yellow rotating lights that you plug into a cigarette lighter I planned to use. Of course, it's 12 volt.

Do we have any resident electrical wizards that can recommend buying or making a 12 volt to 6 volt converter that would work for both light and motor?

Here is some cheap PVC orange 18x18 flags at Home Depot:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/18-in-x-18-in-Orange-PVC-Laminated-Safety-Flag-SF18-24VPD16/309998005

I like Lind's idea. I have an old 12v one, used in a crappy blue '71 Chevy Nova I had, gave the car the "Axle Foley" look. It looks more vintage than the modern LED units.

It is very noticeable when spinning at night. I'm sure there are 6v units out there.

Fri Oct 10, 2025 8:01 am

This is unbelievably sad and tragic.

I drive a 6v Ghia, I'll share my lighting upgrades since it's been requested. Hopefully it helps someone. I drive my car year around, and it's not uncommon that during the winter months I'm driving home from work after dark. The mods below allow me to feel safe doing so, as my front and rear lights rival the brightness and responsiveness of my daily driver (and all are easily converted back to stock should there ever be a need to do so).

The Vintage Car LED headlight bulbs linked below are the best available on the market in my opinion. Expensive? Absolutely. But they're incredibly bright, have a great light pattern, and (here's what makes them worth the price) they only take 3.5v to power (no flickering at idle) so they don't require any additional load equalizers to be wired in. Plug and play into an H4 housing.

https://vintagecarleds.com/shop/bulbs-only/vcm3-bulbs-only/

For my brake lights I used LED bulbs made by James Franzen of Cu Layer, Inc. He designed a bulb for the 356 beehive housing that fits my lowlight Ghia housing perfectly. They work across a range from like 3v to 24v, so no issues with continuing to use them after a 12v conversion. Like the Vintage Car LED bulbs above they're expensive due to their design performance. My experience with Amazon.com and other inexpensive 6v LED tail light bulbs was mixed due to the amp load those bulbs can require. James' use VERY low amps, so there's no issues with current draw and light activation. James is creative and can likely make tailights to fit any application.

www.culayer.com

Video of James' lights working are below. As you can see from the foreground glare, while the car was in my garage, this was recorded mid day in full sun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzmW6pGf8T0

Regarding brake light activation, I'm using one of the pedal-activated switches advertised on this site, linked below. These are great for Type 1 pedal clusters. It bypasses the MC switch and activates the *instant* the brake pedal is touched. If I notice someone too close/approaching too fast a simple touch of the pedal does the trick; no need to actually engage the brakes and slow to build pressure to get my brake lights to light.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2140061

For buses....I have a good friend with a newly, fully restored '65. He could not get consistant brake light performance from the pressure switches on the market today. I suggested he try the Ross Wulf MC switch and it's worked perfectly for him. It uses an adapter and a Harley Davidson switch which requires far less fluid pressure to activate. He gets consistent brake lights with the touch of his pedal now.

https://rosswulf.com/shop/ols/products/vw-quick-brake-light-switch-conversion-kit

Again, hope all of that is of some help. Stay safe out there.

Fri Oct 10, 2025 8:04 am

The vintage lights are pretty cool; too bad the European firetruck/ambulance lights are so expensive. Found some 12V-6V converter boxes (fairly cheap) for our die-hard 6V users:

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-DROK-Regulator-Wa...9&th=1

My plan was to make a mount that clamped onto the roof rack and elevated it up another 18 inches? to increase the visibility even further.

It's annoying to have to do all this just to avoid a negligent driver not paying attention. Willingly allowing oneself to be distracted by a screen should be treated just like a DUI/DWI. It's totally avoidable, no excuses.

Fri Oct 10, 2025 8:31 am

Stocknazi wrote: The vintage lights are pretty cool; too bad the European firetruck/ambulance lights are so expensive. Found some 12V-6V converter boxes (fairly cheap) for our die-hard 6V users:

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-DROK-Regulator-Wa...9&th=1

Electrical isn't my strong suit, but isn't what you linked to for a voltage drop, like a 12v car wanting to run original 6v accessories?

I believe 6V cars wanting to run 12V items would need a voltage booster, like the one linked here: https://www.classiccarstereos.com/negative-ground-6v-to-12v-converter.html

Fri Oct 10, 2025 9:00 am

Lind wrote: I am going to get an orange rotating emergency light for my roof. You can get magnetic ones for under $40. Turn it on when pulling a hill in third gear, or whatever. Remove it after freeway travel. Way more obvious that a slow moving vehicle magnet.

https://www.ebay.com/shop/amber-rotating-light?_nkw=amber+rotating+light

Yep, whenever I'm driving my 6 volt, 40hp late '59 Double Door Panel with round stock taillights at night on the Interstate I'm usually going a maximum speed of about 50mph. I therefore "own" the right lane and others can simply pass me. So to become much more visible years ago I bought a LED amber magnetic-mount rooftop revolving light which is controlled by a remote control key fob on/off switch (4 or 5 years ago it cost about $60 on Amazon). Runs on 6 AA batteries. It really gets your attention and has no cord at all between the light assembly and the on/off key fob. If I see someone bearing down on me I use the key fob to start the bright revolving amber light and it works great to make me and my old Bus much more visible to night time traffic. If no one is around me simply I turn it off again.

Mine looks just like this one currently on Amazon, although in that current ad I don't see a cord or mention of the key fob control? But you get the idea:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162500255208?_skw=amber+r...R-D4z-25Zg

Bill

Fri Oct 10, 2025 9:12 am

lead by saying that my thoughts and prayers go out to our fellow bus driver who has passed and his family.

there was a thread in the bay forum some time ago where they had an amber light and the SMV sticker, yet still got rearended by a semi--at night.
they were OK fortunately.

i'm not arguing against added safety measures, but the simple fact of the matter is that as these antique vehicles become farther removed from modern ones, you as the driver need to be more accountable for your own (and dare i say, other driver's) safety. when was that last time you saw a model A or T Ford out on the interstate? where are you going that is so important that you need to be out on the desolate stretches of interstate at wee hours? i would say that the majority of modern drivers--who are becoming more and more dependent on "nanny" technologies by the day--don't know anything about VW busses beyond "peace and love" or how slow they can actually be.

what i am saying is: consider your own actions when making choices, be it in your travel plans and especially when driving.
stay vigilant, my friends :)

Fri Oct 10, 2025 10:20 am

That's all very sad.

I would also feel uneasy if my bus was almost entirely made up of holes and rust and would crumble to dust in a crash. I love patina, but the thing has to be safe. It would be taken off the road immediately here.

I was working on the roof recently and thought it would be a good idea to lay a few cables for the rear lights. I'm going to build something that I can fold down behind the rear window if necessary. In Europe, American lighting is even more confusing.

Fri Oct 10, 2025 11:21 am

Modern LED bulbs in new euro housings with US-spec lenses:

Added a running light using a Hella reversing light with a red lens and a modern red LED bulb. It comes on the the bus is running.

I have this LED white beacon with a magnetic base for those tenuous interstate drives. Stick it on the roof and I'm a school bus.

https://www.amazon.com/LAMPHUS-Emergency-Powerful-Warning-Vehicle/dp/B01LZO30PI?th=1

Sat Oct 11, 2025 7:03 am

Those roof lights or some mounted up high make a lot of sense. I intend to put some lights up on the rack on top of my camper. My other bus is a 1990 Doka and all Vanagons have the lights way down by the bumper. I have one of those lights like pickup trucks put under the tailgate (a string of LEDs that go all the way across the back) to put up near the bottom of the camper window.
When I ride my bicycle I put the flashing light on my helmet to get it up into the line of sight of drivers. On my motorcycle jacket, I have a reflective stripe across my shoulders and reflective checkers lining the edge of my helmet.

Chuey

Sun Oct 12, 2025 5:43 am

The 58 Corum Rug Bus with a 36hp engine was i believe driving on Interstate i-95 in Florida on a rainy night and was also struck in the rear by a large Ford truck.

We can't control other drivers. Best to do our own diligence to make a slow moving vehicle more visible to avoid an accident and even death.

Mon Oct 13, 2025 7:22 am

It looks like this may be what's needed to convert 6 volt to 12 volt:

https://www.amazon.com/DROK-5-5-30V-Adjustable-Reg...4&th=1

Mon Oct 13, 2025 11:00 am

Stocknazi wrote: It looks like this may be what's needed to convert 6 volt to 12 volt:

https://www.amazon.com/DROK-5-5-30V-Adjustable-Reg...4&th=1

4amp max? How much do taillights require?

Id love to find one that i could use on a 6volt gas heater in a 12 volt bus.

Mon Oct 13, 2025 12:04 pm

Stocknazi wrote: It looks like this may be what's needed to convert 6 volt to 12 volt:

https://www.amazon.com/DROK-5-5-30V-Adjustable-Reg...4&th=1

Careful- That's not what that device does. It won't operate a 12V accessory from a 6V system. Check out this product review:

Quote: I got this one with the wrong impression it'd output up to ~30v. They make it look like it can provide anywhere between 5 and 32, from any voltage between 5 and 30 as well. I was trying to make a bench power supply. So I got a very good 12v 20a power supply to connect it to this unit thinking "Ok, it can range from 5 to 30v at least." Hell no, when I tried to crank it to 14v, it just wouldn't. For a second I thought I had messed with it somehow. I was going crazy trying to figure out what it was. I had to read all the description more carefully. Well, it turns out it says, somewhere it says very casually that the input needs to be more than the output! THIS IS JUST A GLORIFIED STEP DOWN. That's useless for me as I need to power things ranging from 5v to 28v. If this thing is just a step down, IT SHOULD SAY SO! This is so misleading. I'm not an electric engineer. If I was, I'd probably would've known stepping down and up is probably not possible with the same device. I learned it the hard day... if this was only a bit more honest and call it it in the description, instead of casually saying in parenthesis "oh by they ways, it needs more power than the expected output. It should say:

STEP DOWN BUCKLE WITH SCREEN.

Now my whole setup is ruined. I'm just going to try to return it and buy a Bench Power Supplies. How disappointing.

crofty wrote:

Id love to find one that i could use on a 6volt gas heater in a 12 volt bus.

Voltage step down should be fairly easy, no?

Mon Oct 13, 2025 1:57 pm

Were there any follow-up news articles? Anyone know who this was in the van?

Terrible story.

Mon Oct 13, 2025 2:03 pm

Just found this update on FB.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wsyaGZIKX1Jlr3852Qa77JiB_IwsttNm/view?usp=sharing