Emergency Light

Something I have been thinking about since my Beetle broke down which lacks the hazard lights, is what to use for an emergency light or some form of making it visible that my car has broken down.

I know on many European cars you have the fold out reflective triangle to sit behind the car,

What do you use? if anything?

I was thinking about making up a portable Emergency Light, something like this, wired to a small battery, so it could sit on the ground behind the car to flash away.


I have also included a picture of the Mercedes Benz version

Well DES
The triangle is the PROPER way to indicate that you have broken down...
I have a couple of Hella Triangles in blue plastic cases...

they were complulsary in Rally cars... probably still are??

and they are used in Heavy transport too...

I feel there are so many flashing amber lamps around these days that no one takes notice of them...
on ride on mowers - trucks parked on the side of the road.
every tractor - grader - piece of machinery - cranes etc
NRMA - Mechanics - Main roads dept - shire council -
- dozers - I hope You don't meet one of those on the road - lol

all have their flashing amber lamps....

but seeing you don't have any flashers Des

it would be better than nothing...

or you could have all lights flashing - like buses - lol
but this isn't good if the engine isn't going.... lol

You could always make Your blinkers to go 4 way...

but that would still be a big drain on your battery..
if the engine isn't going...
12 volts IS the way to go... IMHO...

LEE

68AutoBug wrote:12 volts IS the way to go... IMHO...

LEE

Yes I was driving home from work at 5am the other morning and lamented at some lengths at how far headlight technology has come in the last 50 years, 4x4's running 4 or 6 lights on the front, the newer BMW's, Mercedes, Audi's with the Xeon lights...
Crappy 6 volt electrics really make you concentrate on the road and watching for any stray animals or debris on the road.

But I am going to keep my Beetle original, no 12 volt system for me,


anyway, back on subject, maybe I should just invest in a triangle from a wrecked Volvo or Mercedes then.

bloody euros overkill everything

in aus just put the bonnet up and sit beside it with an open stubby and a depressed look on ur face, everyone will know u broke down

Joel wrote:bloody euros overkill everything

in aus just put the bonnet up and sit beside it with an open stubby and a depressed look on ur face, everyone will know u broke down

hah if only that was true,

My last break down was about 20 meters from an intersection, so people would be coming around the corner or straight off the roundabout and nearly running into me, it was a slight uphill slope so I couldn't push the car out of the way.

I had to get out of my car as I could see people nearly running into me, merging into 1 lane from 2,

Then I just stood there with idiots blowing their horns at me, as if I could do something about it.


When I used to own a Bentley Turbo R, it had a catastrophic engine failure at a major intersection, people were yelling, blowing their horns and screaming at me to move my car, with smoke pouring at the front of the car,

Des

there is a fellow in Adelaide that makes 6 VOLT Quartz Halogen bulbs for Your headlamps....

Do You have bulbs in your beetle Des or sealed beams??

Lee

I'd go with the flashing light. Especially if it's raining or something. Those triangles wouldn't be very easy to see and a car with buggered lights or poorly working ones would find it even harder to see you as the reflectors wouldn't work.

You can get those revolving lights from anywhere like Autobarn or Supercheap. And I reckon just the fact that it sitting on the ground instead of up higher like on a roof would grab more attention. But that's just me. If I saw it I'd know to steer clear. I bought one ages ago when I was about 18. A friend found a blue cover for it so some nights we'd drive around pulling people over and when they go to stop we'd just speed past them. That was until we found out it was a federal offence and we could go to jail if we got caught lol. What were we thinking?!

My 2c

68AutoBug wrote:Do You have bulbs in your beetle Des or sealed beams??

Lee

American spec as I understand, sealed beams.

desh wrote:My last break down was about 20 meters from an intersection, so people would be coming around the corner or straight off the roundabout and nearly running into me, it was a slight uphill slope so I couldn't push the car out of the way.

I had to get out of my car as I could see people nearly running into me, merging into 1 lane from 2,

Then I just stood there with idiots blowing their horns at me, as if I could do something about it.


When I used to own a Bentley Turbo R, it had a catastrophic engine failure at a major intersection, people were yelling, blowing their horns and screaming at me to move my car, with smoke pouring at the front of the car,

some people are idiots. Grrrr.

stevosky wrote:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ST3185&keywords=emergency&form=KEYWORD

Thanks stevosky,

These look like the goods - cheap, not reliant on your car's electrical system working, efficient (LED's) - think I'll buy some to throw in the truck.

Yeah I'll be gettin some of those as well! They look good.

With the reputation of the buggy I'm def getting a couple.

I bought two today. Luckily I have a store not far away so I could just go pick them up. I didn't read the size description on the site so they were a little smaller than what I expected but in a way that's probably better as they store away easier. Either way they're bright as and would do the job well. In a way I can't wait to break down so I can use them...well not really 🤪

dAVo wrote:I bought two today. Luckily I have a store not far away so I could just go pick them up. I didn't read the size description on the site so they were a little smaller than what I expected but in a way that's probably better as they store away easier. Either way they're bright as and would do the job well. In a way I can't wait to break down so I can use them...well not really 🤪

Just like insurance, hope you never need to use them.😊