Ever been in an accident in a Beetle?

type34inKY · Samba Member Joined: May 30, 2003 Posts: 243

When I was 19 (16 years ago), I bought a '68 beetle for $300. I noticed the air was VERY low in the tires. I stopped on the way home to fill the tank and add some air.

Well the reason the tires were low was because the rear shocks were frozen! I hit a patch of gravel in a turn and the rear end slid out and begain bouncing around... like a basketball. After 3-4 over-corrections, it flipped over... all the way... back onto the wheels. The roof was crushed in to shoulder height, and all of the glass in the car except for the 2 door windows was gone. This was in the middle of nowhere, so I started it up, and drove it home with my head out the window.

When I got home, I put a cinderblock on a 16' 4x4 and I got on the other end of it-- jumping up and down to pop the roof back into a more or less beelte shape. Once I was done, I went to a junkyard and got a windshield for $10, and a new pair of shocks.

I drove that car for the rest of the summer. In the mid-fall, I was stopped preparing to make a left turn when I was rear-ended by someone going ~50mph. The force peeled the rusty pan back so that the seat laid against the rear seat. My head hit near the firewall and the car was knocked into a steep ditch.

Now the car was leaning up against a tree, so even though the seat was parallel to the bottom of the car, the car was perpendicular to the ground. Since I had a bit of a concussion, I couldn't quite work out the physics of why I was looking at the roof, but sitting upright. I opened the door and fell 4 feet to the ground when attempting to step out.

Apparently I was in and out of it for a bit and was taken to the hospital. When I saw the car at the impound lot, the rear fenders were actually wrapped around the underside of the rear tires, the engine pulley was all the way against the case, and the rear bumper was totally flat.

Not that I suggest this as a great way to make money, but I did get quite a few thousand dollars out of that $300 car when all was said and done! Smile

_________________
Philip
'62 Type34
'66 Cabriolet
'76 Custom Beetle
'00 Jetta TDI

neill in the uk · Samba Member Joined: January 06, 2004 Posts: 194

about 4 weeks after my 72 bug was finnished a drunk t-boned me walked away with a head ache and a very bad temper Evil or Very Mad

if he had hit the drivers side my legs would have gotten broke. thank god for new heater channels and a good welder.

Claire · Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 10:28 pm Post subject:

Yeeeeouch! Concussions are no fun. I had a bad one falling off my horse years ago.
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Yellow 181

Custom cars need love too!! Yellow 181

RJBeetle66 · Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 6:06 pm Post subject:

I'm 18 and have been in 2 accidents...none with a Beetle though. At the very least, they taught me the hard way how to be more attentive behind the wheel, and always to keep my distance. Also, when someone is riding me really close, I tend to slow down a little more...sometimes they get the hint that they're just stuck behind me and back off, or at least they wont plow into me doing 70 in a 50. I know I still have a lot of miles left before I'm a "good" driver, but for now I know at least that I can try to be a safe one. Hopefully that will pay off when I get to use my Beetle for the first time this summer!

The time you save by speeding around doesnt really make up for a few hours in an emergency room....definately not fun.
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66 Bug (still no name as of yet)
94 Geo Metro "Molly"
possibly a 65 Chrysler Newport (will have to see about that one)

Volksrods.com alias... BrokenBeetle66

quattlebum · Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 9:31 pm Post subject:

My brother got hit my a fed ex truck in his 66'( it was the fedex drivers fault), the rear quarter panel and fender got punched in and some paint got rubbed off by the bumper of the truck, my brother got a LARGE sum of money due to the accident and repaired his bug for a few hundred dollars and suped it up, made it a pretty badd ass sleeper... then 4 months later a drunk driver hit the passenger door going pretty fast and totaled it, the passenger door was 1-2 inches away from my brother... The driver has no insurance...

from this thread, when I redo my 74, I'm putting in a roll cage and a 5 point harness....

bugninva · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 1:24 am Post subject:

calbug65 · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 4:06 am Post subject:

Anyone see or crash with a fiberglass front clip if so email me some details..
also looking into a nice cage...
Thanks Troy Prescott,AZ

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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65 Bug In The Works
1Pc Front,AirKewld Disc Brakes,CB Narrowbeam/Tierods(Powtercoated)
1835cc(Powdercoated Doghouse/Tins)
041heads,110Cam,Dellrado 34's,
A1 Sidewinder,Compufire DIS-IX Ignition,BMDSerpBelt,95Amp Alt
Custom Sound System & Interior/Dash

quattlebum · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 7:31 am Post subject:

Expect the unexpected... That's what my dad told me when I was learning to drive... It took 1 accident to beat the "I'm the best driver" ego out of me... I do have 1 speeding ticket but it doesn't count cause I was speeding to the emergency room to take care of the crack in my head I got from falling off a half pipe... had blood everywhere, told the cop I needed to go to the emergency room, he ticketed me and drove off... I of course made a formal complaint against the city and police department and the ticket was dropped and I got a formal apology from the cop and the commissioner... anyways...

i drive like a grandma now since the 1st accident and haven't been in one since... *knock on wood*

Hobbes · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 6:44 pm Post subject:

I just got into a Fender-Bender in my beetle. I was turning right at a big intersection and the SUV in front of me took off, and i started to drive forwards as i looked left to see who was coming. Well, apparently the SUV stopped short and i ran into it. There was just a couple scratches on the underneath of their bumper.

It's just the front right fender, and it's like my poor vw has a black eye.

I'm debating replacing both front fenders or getting a one-piece fiberglass front end.

But i don't feel like dishing out $1000 bucks for one.

Claire · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 9:47 pm Post subject:

I'm glad you are OK and the accident wasn't serious!

I spoke to my friend this weekend who lost his dad in a '72 Super Beetle. It turns out that no amount of modern safety features would have saved him. It was a really bad wreck. It was late at night and he was coming home from work and got onto the freeway going the wrong direction. I don't know how that happened and didn't want to ask my friend. But I would guess he went the wrong way up an off ramp.

He hit another car head on at full speed and from my friend's description, was sliced right up the front from the point where his left leg joins the hip all the way up *shudder* the front wheels were actually behind the driver's seat. A really terrible accident.

So my friend just cautioned me to drive very carefully since there isn't anything much in the front of a bug to protect you in a head-on collision, just saying- "You just be really careful in that bug of yours!"
_________________
Yellow 181

Custom cars need love too!! Yellow 181

nicdiva · Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 2:09 am Post subject:

No doubt on expect the unexpected.

Last year I got my driver's liscence, and had been driving my 72 super for about five months before I rolled it. It was a blind corner on a 45 mph highway, I was slowing down, braking into the corner when it suddenly got much tighter so I turned the wheel more and hit the brakes a little more. That was enough to brake loose the 165/15's in the back (doing ~35mph at this point) and I fishtailed it a couple times before the rear overtook the front and I flopped the car on it's roof.

I was wearing my seatbelt, which had a shoulder and lap belt. I had a very slight cut on my middle finger (large papercut style), I have no idea how Confused

, that was it. Might have saved it if I took my foot off the brake, but it was already there and I had been awake for about half an hour, so I kinda panicked.

My super is allright, it's easiest to just cut the roof off and put a new one on there (wanted a sunroof anyway).
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Trashed 69' Beetle

bugninva · Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 6:23 am Post subject:

brookester · Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 10:58 am Post subject:

Riding a sport bike has really helped me become more aware of potential hazards on public roads. You can make eye contact with another driver and they will occasionally STILL pull out in front of you. I always leave myself an out [escape route] while in traffic. Never let yourself get boxed in etc...There's a million of 'em.

It think that if you use the 3 second rule in you regular car, you should extend that distance substantially in your vw.

Go to a parking lot and test your brakes to see how long it takes to stop.
I think if more people in cages really enjoyed driving [like we do] they would be much better drivers.

Claire · Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 11:20 am Post subject:

I like to do that old fashioned safety check they taught us in drivers ed way back when-

Pick a stationary object like a road sign. As the vehicle in front of you passes it, count the seconds out until you pass it like this:

1-one thousand, 2-one thousand, 3-one thousand etc. until you pass it.

You should have 1 second for each 10 mph of speed. For example, at 65 mph it should take you six and a half seconds to cross the mark after the vehicle in front of you.

VERY few people leave that much space and you'll find yourself really having to work to try to maintain that kind of distance. But it does give you lots of room to stop.

And as it seems that so many people here have had accidents in bugs by rolling them over when making a sudden manuever, it seems like a very smart thing to keep a good distance between you and the drivers ahead whenever possible.
_________________
Yellow 181

Custom cars need love too!! Yellow 181

bugninva · Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 4:26 pm Post subject:

Claire · Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 5:06 pm Post subject:

Only 2 seconds to react and stop a vehicle going 65 mph?!!!!!! Not to be snotty, but man... they should turn that into a word problem for the SAT's!!

John is traveling westbound at 65 miles per hour in his rusted-out '72 Super Beetle, 2 seconds behind Lisa in her 2-ton SUV who is also going 65 mph. Suddenly, Lisa drops the mascara brush she was using to apply her make-up in the rear-view mirror and slams on the brakes, throwing her SUV into a tailspin on the freeway. Is John
A) Lucky to be alive & swearing at Lisa for being a dumb... well you know
B) Unaware that anything unusual has taken place
C) Being greeted by St. Peter at the Pearly Gates
D) None of the above
_________________
Yellow 181

Custom cars need love too!! Yellow 181

KantDriveFast · Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 7:50 pm Post subject:

I'll guess "A"...someones been driving in Sacramento???

bugninva · Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 7:50 pm Post subject:

brookester · Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 8:28 pm Post subject:

Probably Watt and Fair Oaks Blvd to be exact. Wink


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