Joel Walker writes -- >my insurance company, USAA (which is supposedly quite a good >company), rated >the Vanagon as B+ in side collisions, and D (i think) in frontal impacts. >(the best being A+, which is like a Mercedes-Benz, and the worst being F-, >which is a Yugo). their data showed that in frontal impacts (head-on), the >driver would sustain injuries from the steering wheel and most likely have >his feet broken. but in anything OTHER than head-on, the height of the >bus significantly reduced injuries ... the other car would hit the frame >BELOW the passengers or drivers. and this is pretty much borne out by >the wrecked vanagons (and buses!) in the junkyards: not much damage to >the seating area (in the ones i've seen), but lots of damage to the >side-body and the bumper-crush-whatever. I'm wondering -- do front-mounted spare tires (on Buses, obviously, not Vanagons) add a substantial safety factor for front-end collisions? Someone said they do, others say it doesn't make much difference. Personally I like the concept of that extra rubber padding up there. . .it works in Bugs, after all. Anyone have any stats or experiences in this area? (I've haunted my local junkyard too, looking for a decent front-spare mount, but they're about as rare as inside sliding-door handles. . .) pjl '79 Bus '58 Bug
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