Date:         Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:33:49 -0800
Reply-To:     Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: VW bus and beetle on Yahoo's 10 deadlies car list. Any thruth?
In-Reply-To:  <89604.77667.qm@web45312.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
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 RE: Deadliest Cars
I agree that the writer shows a lot of ignorance in the comments on several
of those vehicles.  For example if he was going to talk abou the swing axle
on the 300 SL then what about the Triumph Spitfire and it's swing axle.  I
couldn't even enter an Autocross or go on the track for training until I
showed that I had the Empi de-cambering bar installed.
But, and here is the rub, without the author finding the facts or citing the
right reasons, the VW Bug earned it's place on that list.  The insurance
company statistics in the '60's had the Bug at the top of the list, highest
single car accident rate of anything on the road in North America and
highest single car accident fatality rate.  I saw those figures myself in
what was supposed to be a confidential copy of a summary report from the
part of the insurance industry that kept track of such things at the time.
That was before the government agencies were keeping track of such numbers
and making them public.  And a footnote paragraph in that report cited
driver attitude and, if I can recall the wording, 'handling characteristics
under adverse driving conditions' as the reason.  Basically, many young
people thought they were driving a sports car until they overcooked it going
into a curve.  I know a lot of you on these lists drove Beetles during that
time (I didn't) so comments on handling would be appropriate.  All I know is
what the statistics I saw in 1968 said.