Date:         Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:24:31 -0700
Reply-To:     levi hawkins <b1levi@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         levi hawkins <b1levi@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Vanagon Crash Pix
In-Reply-To:  <f0510030ec34b64d4b1c0@[218.101.117.116]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

I was rear ended by a semi on the freeway between barstow and vegas, about 2 am couple years back. I was going about 55, he was at maybe 65+ (coming up fast) and must have fallen asleep. I saw him coming but assumed he was doing the usual wait-till-the-last minute and then pull around me maneuver. I braced for impact, held the steering wheel as tight as I could, and when it hit, the back of the vanagon was picked up and set down side to side a couple times. Came close to being flipped over the first time the rear came down at a slight angle. Lucky the front of the truck was straight up and down. I drove away, and did no repairs to this other than a new rear bumper, and new brackets that hold them.

Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ> wrote:

Both the front and rear ends of these vehicles appear to be built to
take large impacts. They use the other vehicle, seemingly anything
smaller than a locomotive or stranded battleship, as a crushzone. I
remember one listee years ago who said he was stopped on a highway
behind a line of cars and was hit by a moron in an Econoline which
was travelling at unreduced speed (55mph or so) and shunted him into
the Honda in front. The Econobox and Honda were totalled and the bus
was still drivable, and he intended to repair it (he suffered
whiplash injury, so the bus was retireved by the truck operator who
took the wrecks away, and who commented on the low extent of damage
to the VW). He never did get back to the list to tell us how he and
the van were getting on.

T3 occupants are probably more likely to suffer whiplash, seatbelt or
head injuries (from hitting the dash or B-pillar) than deformation of
the bus' structure.

Hmmm... something to note is that inertiareel belts do not
necessarily stop heads reaching the dash... not only do the belts
stretch, but they also compress in the reel. Newer belts with clamps
hopefully don't suffer the latter fault. The further forward the dash
is, the better the chance of avoiding headstrike with any given belt.
Rear-engined VW vans are good in this respect.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut
‚ Opinions stated are mine, not of the University of Otago
"There is water at the bottom of the ocean"  - Talking Heads


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