There is no such thing as safe. All cars with air bags ABS reinforcment create a false sense of security.

They say a road has dangerous curves. We blame the curve , not the driver. We blame the vehicle.

I have seen Vanagons hit so hard no one could have survived. A 50 mph side impact in any car is most likely fatal.

Tests are for selling points. Many people die in cars that are so-called safe.

I saw a Vanagon take a head-on impact from a pick-up rolling down a hill with no brakes.

The pick-up knocked a Yugo out of the way before it hit the Vanagon. No one was hurt.

He hit the Vanagon, which was stopped , doing about 20. The people in the Vanagon all walked a way, though one was limping.

(his horn did'nt work-he was yelling at people out his window who were still in the street minutes after a parade as he rolled towards them)

50 mph is very high speed. If you don't think 50 is fast , ride a motorcyle and watch the telephone poles , how fast they go by then imagine yourself hitting one.

Exposed on a bike you realize how vulnerable you are. We like cars because we think they are safer.

Enclosed in your Escalade you are invincible.

I see people in the safe cars speeding.

Make the road straighter, the car "safer", so now that must mean it's safe to go faster.

This is one of the arguments for the speed limits-cars are more safe than they were 20 years ago.

Well, I differ to beg. The Ford Model T had a top speed of 45 mph, but there were few places you could reach that speed safely in 1908. By 1927, America had a Federal Hwy system where the top speed was 50.

There are far more serious and fatal accidents because of speed. The guy that ran the light was speeding and probably dialing a number on his cell phone.

If you are buying a car to be saferm buy a semi-truck . Be the biggest car on the road.

Pull a trailer so that will be the rear impact zone.

Put a platform on the front of the Vanagon with 50 gallon drums filled with water on it. Reiniforce all the Vanagon walls with steel plate.

Buy a used Sherman tank.

Dead -man's curve has been re-aligned into dead-man's alley.

It hard for me to recommend any car and the Vanagon for safety . But then that's me- I don't feel safe in any car.

There Yugo.

Please feel free to beg to differ with me- that's what discussion is all about

Merry Christmas-

Robert

1982 Westfalia

--- BJ Feddish <bfeddish@NETREACH.NET> wrote:

> Both of these topics have me interested. I > have an '04 Element and an 83.5 > Westy. Last weekend my whole family was in the > element and we came really > close to being broadsided at a light at 50 mph. > The other driver never saw > the red light. I'm still getting chills > thinking about what would have > happened if we were hit in the Element. I was > thinking maybe we would have > fared better in the Vanagon, I don't know. My > question is though, are the > newer (1986+) Vanagons safer than the 80-85's? > > Thanks, > Bryan > > (Feel free to cc me, I'm in digest mode...) >

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