Rumble seat fatalities????

[31 Model A]

Does anyone have or know if any statistics or record of incidents/fatalities regarding people while riding in a rumble seat back when rumble seats were the in-thing?

Ed

[C26Pinelake]

What do you mean when they were the in thing ? They still are ( lol ) !
Go to a car show and see how the people flock to a car with a rumble seat. My car always has a flock of people looking at and talking about a rumble seat !
I am sure there is but I have yet to hear a story about a fatality in a rumble seat. A lot of amuseing, romantic and nostalgic stories but no fatalities !
Wayne

[TonyM]

This has been discussed on the V-8 forum:

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36158

[Patrick L.]

Rumble seats aren't safe !? Oh my gosh.
I can't think of too many safety items on these monsters. Kinda goes along the character of these critters.

[TonyM]

What I don't understand is guys buying a trunk coupe and then trying to convert it to rumble, and then no one rides in the rumble anyways. If you want a rumble seat car then buy a rumble seat car. SAVE the trunk coupes.

[Stretch Cab]

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Not exactly a fatality but my dad was driving his/my roadster one day and a guy comes running up to him yelling so he stopped. The guy got all emotional telling the story of how the rumble lid slammed on his thumb cutting it off. I guess we need more warning labels.......................................

[Bob-A]

My dad told once that back in '38 I beleive. He was racing a Harley up a hill road in his '32 DeSoto roadster. As he tried to go around the Harley
he clipped the left front fender of a '32 B Ford in the opposing lane. Which caused the DeSoto to roll a couple of times. He and a friend were thrown clear from the car and only received minor scraps and brusies. However,
another friend that was riding in the rumble seat was no where to be found. That is, until they heard a muffled cry: "Hey, let me out of here!"
The missing friend was locked in the closed up rumble seat without any injuries! Which was very fortunate for the guy because his nickname was
"Hardhead". A result of a metal plate in his head from an earlier car wreck.
Besides dad losing his beloved DeSoto roadster which was a total loss. He also had to buy the '32 B he had run into to make things right. Only the left front fender was damaged on the Ford.

Bob-A

[Kevin in NJ]

safe is very relative in these old cars.

One average you are driving the cars slower around town. So really the biggest problem will be getting thrown at low speeds. Did rescue squad for a bunch of years. Jeeps, no seat belts and 25 MPH streets. Took a few down from minor accidents where they got thrown and broke limbs. Those that were in the car were uninjured.

With rumble seats you need to do 2 main things to make them somewhat safer.
Seat belts to hold them in place for one.
Something to keep the lid from going forward is the other.

Mine is set up with seat belts so far. At some point I am going to do something about the rumble seat closing. I am thinking something like a 5 point harness that goes down to the bumper brackets, but I have not got that far. I need to put seats in the back and work out the physics.

A third thing running through my mind is some kind of simple padding at the front edge. I want to get the top on as I think the top on the cabriolet will act as a pad.

Will any of this work?

I am pretty sure putt putting around town it will have an effect. As some might be aware I run a stock car and have no fear running 60 MPH so there is a whole different prospect. Lets not find out what happens.

[Tim Armstrong]

They can be dangerous if the girls father catches you!

[SSsssteamer]

It was about in 1947 that our neighbors were going to town Oak Harbor, WA, with their rumble seated coupe. Their car was a larger car than a model A Ford and our neighbors last names were Muzzal. The car had just passed our house on the Scenic Heights Road and they were rounding a blind corner with the teen aged son in the rumble seat. A car from the opposite direction cut the corner and both cars hit head on. No injuries to any of the cars' inside occupants, but the Muzzal boy in the rumble seat was killed instantly. The newspaper said that the rumble seat lid had closed on impact and it was the lid that broke the young Muzzal's neck. It was so tragic. I was just a small kid at the time, but I will never forget it.

[700rpm]

I have quit letting peoplemride in the RS, except for short rides around the block. Traffic is Portland is getting too intense. I'm going to convert my rumble back to a trunk. Someday.

[C26Pinelake]

Originally Posted by 700rpm

I have quit letting peoplemride in the RS, except for short rides around the block. Traffic is Portland is getting too intense. I'm going to convert my rumble back to a trunk. Someday.

I don't know if the parts are inter changeable but if they are I will trade you a trunk package for the rumble seat package, even up ! Wayne

[ronn]

Tony,
often the trunk cars sell for a bit less then the rumble, hence the conversion if everything else about the car is what you want. Often interior and exterior colors are a bigger factor or overall condition.

[DougVieyra]

"No one gets out of life alive !" Driving a car (seat belts/shoulder straps, air bags, etc., etc.) is one of the most dangerous games in our modern world. Before the advent of the automobile, the same statement could apply to the horse / horse & buggy. Mobility is a dangerous activity. Falling down stairs, crashing your bicycle into a tree, etc. - all lead to risk taking.

Riding in a 'Rumble Seat' is no exception. However, in today's world, I suspect that there are FAR more "rumble-seat injuries" sustained while the occupants are entering and exiting the rumble-seat, while the car is still stationary !

A ten year old boy can slip of the fender step-plate and crash to the ground. He gets up and looks to see if anyone saw his awkwardness, brushes himself off and leaps into the rumble-seat. Not so resilient is the 40 or 50 year old adult who wants to show he 'still has it'. Now we are talking broken bones, scrapped shins, ripped skin, and possibly a trip to the Emergency Room.

No fatalities in this, but the scenario is much more likely than a fatality.

- Doug Vieyra, 71 year old Rumble-Seat rider (on occaision).

[Patrick L.]

Riding in a 'Rumble Seat' is no exception. However, in today's world, I suspect that there are FAR more "rumble-seat injuries" sustained while the occupants are entering and exiting the rumble-seat, while the car is still stationary !
end quote


I can't seem to figure out why, but, it seems to get harder to get in and out of those things as the years go by. But, it remains the favorite place to sit.

[31 Model A]

Originally Posted by Patrick L.

But, it remains the favorite place to sit.

Nostalgia!!! Reminiscing!!! while the memory still can............

[Keith True]

We have a family friend that just passed away at 90 survive two ship sinkings by torpedo,one heavily damaged by a kamakazi plane that somehow managed to crash but not explode,and some other mishap on the way home.After the war he logged all his life,and ran a sawmill by himself.Before he died he told us his only serious injury was some kind of severed tendon or muscle from riding on the edge of a rumble seat on the way home from Boston.(about 50 miles)He said there were 6 of them perched around the edge of the opening,but they all had their legs hooked over the edges to stay on board.When he got down he couldn't walk,and his military doctor found he had done some severe damage on the rumble gutter.That injury pained him until the day he died.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Gregg was 6' 6 1/2" & very athletic. Before his untimely death last March, he sat in Vermin's rumble & declared, "NEVER AGAIN"!
Maybe a manikin would be in order??---Wonder how the name RUMBLE came about???
4 friends of mine went for a walk in breakfast, in a coupe----They opted for an IN THE CAR breakfast @ Mc Donalds!
Bill W.

[Royce P]

My dad had a '30 roadster with a rumble seat. I survived and always begged to ride in the "wayback machine". It was wonderful!

[31 Model A]

I've never rode in a rumble seat but I once got into Sarah's and I guess it could be fun if you're not six feet plus and the front two people didn't chew tobacco.