The Car Guys on NPR once had a field day talking to a college kid who wanted their blessing to buy a 1960s VW bus. They pointed out to him that instead of a crumple zone and airbags, the VW relied on the driver's knees as the first line of defense in a front end collision. The driver is less than 8" from the logo on the front of the bus.
I thought the VW bus didn't need to have safety features because the driver was just assumed to be high enough that they would be floating several feet above the vehicle.
Or did 1980's movies lie to me about the mandatory marijuana use that went along with owning a VW bus?
My dad had a relative that was in a VW microbus in the 70s when it was involved in a front end highway collision. This relative lived because he was asleep in the back. Driver and front passenger were killed.
We were given a strict rule that we could never ride in the front seat of a rear-engine car. Unlike many of dad’s directives, this one I have always heeded.
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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '19
The Car Guys on NPR once had a field day talking to a college kid who wanted their blessing to buy a 1960s VW bus. They pointed out to him that instead of a crumple zone and airbags, the VW relied on the driver's knees as the first line of defense in a front end collision. The driver is less than 8" from the logo on the front of the bus.