I want to know if it's ever been proven that a Volkswagen Beetle (older style) can be tossed on it's side or roof by driving across a bridge with high winds. I've been told that it's happened.

Just one of the many reasons I'm not a Beetle fan is because they DO feel like this is possible when a big gust of wind hits them.

However, the simple fact is this is NOT true. If it was, it would've been illegal to sell them for anywhere NEAR as long as they did as it would be a SERIOUS safety hazard.

Then how come I know of a retired State Trooper that has seen it happen more than once? He even helped the owner, among other people, help push it back over.

quote:

Then how come I know of a retired State Trooper that has seen it happen

So that means there is a police report on file.
What is the troopers name and state of employment?

I would like to find the reports on these incidents you are referring to.

quote:

Originally posted by CC03:
Then how come I know of a retired State Trooper that has seen it happen more than once? He even helped the owner, among other people, help push it back over.

then why did you start a thread when you already knew the answer?

I don't know him personally... he is retired from Illinois State Police. I don't know if there's a report or not. He may have been off duty. That's why I started this thread, to see if anyone else has heard of this happening.

I SEVERELY doubt, no matter WHAT the driver claims, that wind was responsible unless he was driving through a hurricane(not likely in Illinois), or was out driving near a tornado.

Remember, people sometimes LIE about what caused a crash to keep from getting cited for a moving violation. It happens all the time, and unless there's clear evidence to the contrary(such as eyewitnesses) the police, more often than not, HAVE to take the driver's word for it.

Unless its an absolutely ludicrous story like "the aliens did it."

quote:

I want to know if it's ever been proven that a Volkswagen Beetle (older style) can be tossed on it's side or roof by driving across a bridge with high winds. I've been told that it's happened.

Happened to a Yugo.

" In 1989, a tragic accident captured the front pages of state newspapers. Leslie Pluhar's 1987 Yugo, a small car, plunged from the bridge more than 150 feet to the straits below. It was the first vehicle to fall off the five-mile span since it opened. Gale force winds blowing from the northwest helped lift her car off the roadway and over the side. In 1990, a Senate committee recommended replacing the bridge's 36-inch high outer railing with a 48-inch railing that curves inward toward the bridge deck."

http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=156

You can knock it over easily by hitting the side walk hard - like any other car, too.

Smaller size may not be all that significant to being blown over in a wind storm. Tractor-trailer rigs seem to be more susceptible to being blown over in wind storms simply because they present a large surface area to side winds.

quote:

Originally posted by ponytail61:
Happened to a Yugo.

" In 1989, a tragic accident captured the front pages of state newspapers. Leslie Pluhar's 1987 Yugo, a small car, plunged from the bridge more than 150 feet to the straits below. It was the first vehicle to fall off the five-mile span since it opened. Gale force winds blowing from the northwest helped lift her car off the roadway and over the side. In 1990, a Senate committee recommended replacing the bridge's 36-inch high outer railing with a 48-inch railing that curves inward toward the bridge deck."

http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=156

The key to that story is GALE FORCE WINDS. That means there were either gusts or sustained winds(more than likely gusts - most people wouldn't go out in sustained gale-force winds) far, FAR higher than normal - speeds approaching hurricane or tornado generating levels.

"Gale force" is fairly subjective, but is generally accepted as any level of wind that can cause severe damage. I'm more than a little certain that the myth as told focuses on normal situations rather than the more extreme circumstances which generate gale force winds. There is no doubt abnormally strong winds can flip vehicles or send them flying, but in normal weather conditions it just won't happen.

quote:

The key to that story is GALE FORCE WINDS. That means there were either gusts or sustained winds(more than likely gusts - most people wouldn't go out in sustained gale-force winds) far, FAR higher than normal - speeds approaching hurricane or tornado generating levels.

"Gale force" is fairly subjective, but is generally accepted as any level of wind that can cause severe damage. I'm more than a little certain that the myth as told focuses on normal situations rather than the more extreme circumstances which generate gale force winds. There is no doubt abnormally strong winds can flip vehicles or send them flying, but in normal weather conditions it just won't happen.

The OP stated strong winds which is exactly what gales are. They are not tornado or hurricane force winds.

"A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong. The U.S. Government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34 to 47 knots (62.7 km/h to 86.9 km/h or 39 miles per hour to 54 miles per hour) of sustained surface winds.[1] Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are expected.

Other sources use minimums as low as 28 knots (52 km/h) and maximums as high as 90 knots (170 km/h). The 90-knot (170 km/h) definition is very non-standard. A common alternative definition of the maximum is 55 knots (102 km/h).[2]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale

"Strong wind" or "high wind" does not automatically equal gale force winds. A gust of wind powerful enough to knock me over could easily be termed as a strong wind, but that doesn't mean it would be classified as "gale force."

As your information directly states, the definitions are conflicting. What is and is not a strong wind or gale force winds are VERY subjective. However, the end result is that for a wind to be strong enough to flip a car it would have to be well into the strength that most would classify as gale force.

If the OP meant to imply winds that powerful, I would expect he'd have stated as much.

To put it into a better perspective, lets use the example of my father. He's a windsurfer - he needs "high winds" in order to have fun on the water. But he's certainly not going to go out into anything that could be potentially classified as "gale force."

I hope I've made the distinction clear enough.

I also heard a similar myth; that happened 40+- years ago near New Kensington, PA; A women going fast down a hill, and across the bridge, got lifted up and over the side of the bridge. I was terrified as a little girl to go over that bridge.