I would like to address the drag-racing issue.

Hey, when you find out, post an update on that story. I'm curious as to what kind of trouble the stang driver gets in--or what charges are pressed. I'm wondering how they'd "prove" he was racing to begin with.
I'm also curious about the ages/alcohol level of the fallen, as well as any other details. It's an interesting story....

My feelings are nicely reflected by patalive. Driving requires two eyes, one brain, two hands and two feet. Alter-abled people can drive fine wiht one or two of these missing, except for the brain part. You MUST know what's happening around you.

I'm no angel. But no one is endangered by my driving decisions.

And I think some of you are lost on that big African river....deNile. Oh, and one more thing....young persons cannot accurately assess risks. I am advised that research has recently demonstrated that the part of a teenager's brain that assesses risky behavior, is cold under a CAT scan. Not develpped, not working. On adult CAT scans, this brain area is quite warm and active.

I'm not criticizing young people, I'm really not. I have been there and done that, and I wish I could help some young person understand their inability to protect themselves from serious danger.

1.2gees: This is not a value judgment or a reflection on your intelligence of anything like that. It is simply a fact that you are in far greater danger than you can see.

It's the Circle of Life (Lion King). Either old people (like me) are unduly scared of driving, or young people feel inappropriately invincible. I was a young person, and I know the answer to this one.

------------------
'83 SC

Just a note - Last year (2000) 21 high school students here in Atlanta died behind the wheel. Just this past week, another died driving home in a Jaguar. He was only 16 and had his drivers license for 3 months.

Atlanta is now looking at changing driving age. What these fast drivers didn't realize is that the effect of how they drove and what happened to them, is now having an an effect on everyone.

Steve

Kids do feel invincible, Hondas can safely exceed 100 mph (smoother up there than any US-produced car I have driven), and SUVs do need to be banned. On the subject of SUVs and irresponsible teenagers/parents:

Does it scare anyone here to know that a person that has had no training on how to handle a vehicle with a high center of gravity, lousy suspension and tires, and about 4000-7000 pounds of mass, is traveling at 70-80 mph (or more!) on the freeways?

Placing a unexperienced driver in a truck (not car) like that, and arming them with a cellular phone and a couple of rugrats, is not much different than giving Johnny a Mustang GT for his 16th birthday. Johnny is going to hurt someone, just like the soccer mom is in the safe-for-me-but-deadly-for-everyone-else lethal weapon. I wouldn't be at a pistol range next to either of these people and their gun, but it sucks sometimes to have to share the road with them and their vehicle.

But that's just my opinion...

------------------
Cheers,
JerRed
1973 911T, 2.4 CIS

JerRed,
I agree. Just based on my own unofficial statistics, the catastrophic SUV accidents I had to deal with were much greater in proportion than any other among young people. As soon as the roads got wet, emergency service had us out hooking chains to frames, rolling SUV's back right side up. Most sobering was the Explorer with bald rear tires that flipped at 70+ on the highway. The driver side A and B pillars crushed, severely injuring the driver. The pizza that the 2 kids in back were chewing was splattered all over the roof of the SUV. I don't know if the driver lived; the 2 passengers were just shaken up. The kids were just happy to be out on the town on Friday night. A little training on how to manage the vehicle (and some maintenance on the tires by their parents) could have potentially saved a life.

Hmm we're now way off drag racing. Guess this was really all about mixing dangerous vehicles with hormones with little or no experience.

-d

PS Ahmet- you made it sound like you were leading a race, not trying to escape a crazy bastard hell-bent on pulling you over and
accosting you. Your verbiage or my understanding of the situation; one of the above was lacking.



------------------
Dave
1972 911T (E motor) RSR replica project
http://members.nbci.com/dtwinters/garage/

Why do you think they take 21 year olds and make fighter pilots out of them? Kids don't know fear and have little understanding of their own mortality. You can shove their face in a corps and they'll just say "it won't happen to me".
SUVs do scare me in my little car. I'll tell you what is more scary though - putting an 18 year old with no previous experience on a 150HP crotch rocket. My idiot younger brother totalled one of these death machines and lived to tell about it. The gas cap damn near ripped his dick off (but that's another story).

OUCH!
-

I don't know whats more pathetic, The need to take a superb handling sports car and race against pimple faced, hat backwards wearing, limp bizkit listening, pants hanging, kids who spend their allowance/part time job at Chick-fil-a to soup up their 2000 mile between engine blow Honda/Altima/Ford/Mustang/?....or.....for us to feel sorry for you because they blow your doors off in their straight line drags where the only skill involved is to mash the gas pedal since shifting may be too involved.

89911 - - - YOU silver-tongued devil, you!
-
You captured the complete essence of my thoughts on this subject!
-
Chuck

I was just wondering how many of us own SUV's. I don't think you can compare the deaths associated with reckless driving to vehicles that are top heavy and do have a potential for accidents, especially if they have Firestone tires on them.

On the other hand statstics show that a teen dies behind the wheel every 94 minutes. I don't think they are driving SUV's. The majority of the teens today want to drive low riding fast cars. The problem is they don't know where to draw the line.

I do a lot of driving here in Atalana. With a highway speed of 55, most of the people who I see zipping in and out of traffic, or racing another are younger people - both men and women. And what happens is they drive like maniacs, only to have to slow down a mile up the road because of traffic. What gives? I have seen them go from the extreme right lane (5 lanes of traffic) and cut in front of everyone to make the exit, causing everyone else to slam on their brakes.

Again, the younger generation is very agressive when it comes to driving on the highways and secondary roads.

I am not sure what it will take to slow them down, but you can be certain that one or more of them will become a statistic.

Steve

I have seen that individual states are starting to increas the age for handing out driver's licenses. As our population increases so will all the restrictions. You cannot stop a kid from acting like a kid as long as licenses are handed out freely or, in Illinois, purchased.

For the most part, only older folks own 911s, so they're not going to be involved in much street racing. We buy these cars cause they're cool, quick, and sporty. Everyone has brief "bursts of fun" with their cars (unless you're a poser), but as adults we choose these times very wisely. Personally, I just grin and shake my head when a young kid wants to race. This car is way too cool for that. Ever hang out with the old hotrod croud? These guys usually have 500+ HP motors stuffed into little bitty old cars. They idle into the Dog-n-Suds being very cool with their rumpety rump cams and all. You never see them get on it. You think they use all that power just to get to the 'Suds? Hell no. They know when and where to have their fun. These are the big boys, no kids allowed.