Ever been in an accident in a Beetle?

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!"
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Yellow 181

Custom cars need love too!! Yellow 181

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.

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*

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

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....

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)
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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

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.

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

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Philip
'62 Type34
'66 Cabriolet
'76 Custom Beetle
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73ladybug · Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 5:19 am Post subject:

74 Beetle · Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 2:44 am Post subject:

Yes, I was rear ended in traffic at about 15MPH. Luckily I was about to pop it out of gear and get on the brakes to avoid rolling foward or doing transmission damage.

No damage to my car either, my bumper saved my engines life, I do believe.

I also spun my beetle to avoid another accident on a hill in the rain, that was scary but I had no choice but to spin her because there was no way I was going to stop in time.
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1974 Orange Bug - Daily Driver

low62vdub · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 11:41 pm Post subject:

is it ilegal to make your own roll cage???

Claire · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 9:01 pm Post subject:

What caused the brakes to fail? Was it a sudden failure or had they been going bad?
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Yellow 181

Custom cars need love too!! Yellow 181

73Standard · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 6:14 pm Post subject:

Yea, that wreck was lots of fun. I do not recomend using a dump truck to help you stop.
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73ladybug · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 5:58 pm Post subject:

Seb67 · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 3:59 pm Post subject:

You know what the amazing thing about that picture is? The driver side door still opens! One lucky bastard. Shocked

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1964 Type 1

PEPPE · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 1:57 pm Post subject: a

when i was 22 i fall in sleeping and drove by 1302 to a road light and then to a wall at about 30-35mph. i was wearing no belts and fortunately had no injury apart from some har cut by the broken rear interior mirror

Claire · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 1:46 pm Post subject:

Wow... makes me want a roll cage AND air bags! I'm glad your hubby is OK!!
_________________
Yellow 181

Custom cars need love too!! Yellow 181

73ladybug · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 1:19 pm Post subject:

My husband was in an accident in August of 2004 in our 74 Super. The brakes failed and he hit a stopped dump truck at about 45-50 mph. The car actually broke the axle on the dump truck, and went up under the truck right to the windshield. You can see where the paint is rubbed off.

He broke the steering wheel and the steering column with his chest:

He had to be air-lifted to the hospital. The cop said he thought he was dead when he came up on the car. Miraculously, he had no internal injuries. He had to have his knee stitched because the windshield wiper switch broke off and stuck in his knee. He also tore something in his leg from stomping on the brakes, and couldn't walk. He had to use a walker for a while, but recovered quickly.


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Ever been in an accident in a Beetle?
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