Car drives off after collision
The police are looking for witnesses after a near-miss accident at the Brüglingerstrasse/Münchensteinerstrasse junction shortly after 5pm on Friday afternoon.
A driver lost control of his car while trying to avoid a collision with another car, and crashed into a traffic island. The second car drove off without the driver stopping to check whether the other driver was okay.
Anyone with information is asked to report to the traffic police on phone number 061 699 12 12.
A fleet of VW beetles goes through customs – just like 70 years ago
The first VW beetles passed the Lörrach customs in early May 1948. Yesterday (Saturday) this event was repeated once again.
In early May 1948, the first contingent of 25 VW beetles travelled along the empty German motorways from Wolfsburg to Frankfurt and on to Lörrach – on their own four wheels. On the Swiss side of the border fence, the first merchants were waiting patiently for the grey and black cars. The invoicing of the cars was also an adventure: After paying the custom fees, the merchants paid for the cars in cash, in order to drive them home to deliver to the first customers.
A total of 25 beetles, built between 1948 and 1953, were reminiscent of this border crossing when they passed the border once again at the Lörrach-Stetten/Riehen crossing to mark the celebrations of «70 years of VW in Switzerland». The event started at 1.55pm when beetle Nr. 1 rolled over the border. The other cars follow after a short ceremony and then were parked on the roadside for a short photo shoot.
Back then, after the Netherlands and Belgium, Switzerland was the third largest importer of Volkswagen cars. However, it wasn't just a result of good negotiations that AMAG got the business: At the time the contract was signed in 1948, AMAG was the second biggest car import company in the country and therefore served with the best preconditions for importing the beetle. It was soon clear that there would be a high demand for these new cars in Switzerland. And it also seemed clear that the VW beetle was the ideal car for the mountainous countryside. The beetle drove on fertile ground and anyway had a legendary reputation.
The VW beetle was built from 1938 to summer 2003 and is one of the most sold cars in the world, with a total of 21.5 million. The record was exceeded in 2002 by another VW-car, the Golf. The «pretzel-beetle» is a mock term for the first VW beetle. It got its name because it took so long to be built and had a middle bar in the rear window which slightly resembled a pretzel.
The cars which arrived yesterday continued their journey to Lucerne at 2.30pm.
Police looking for SUV driver following traffic accident in Weil am Rhein
The police want to speak to the driver of a dark coloured SUV which overtook a red car on the B317 between Weil-Ost and Weil-Otterbach near Nonnenholzstrasse on 1 May.
The car was heading in a westerly direction at around 10.30pm and the police believe the occupants may have information about an accident which took place around the same time. Several people suffered injuries in the crash.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the traffic commissioner in Weil am Rhein, on +497621/98000.