Speeding

[mickq]

If I remember right, the guy in the Evo was on his P's and had owned the car for 7 to 10 days.

How the hell is a P plater allowed to drive an Evo? It would be easy to simply have a law that you cant buy a car more powerful than you are allowed to drive. If I remember right there is nothing stopping an L plater from buying a Lambourghini.

If they forced a legal driver to buy it, then they can force that legal driver to be responsible for ensuring people who drive it have an OK license....and that will make people very unlikely to buy fast cars for new drivers.

I am reasonably sure that P platers are not allowed to drive EVO's unless they get special permission, normally due to it being the only family car and work requirements in remote areas. So he may have been breaking the law and taking his chances - and lost big time. Similar to some new motorbike riders I have seen that ride R1's and similar. They are death waiting to happen.

The main problem in that crash was a person with little experience driving a fast car, and having no idea of his limits, the cars limits, and what can and does happen out on the roads, such as the taxi suddenly pulling out. The accident still could have been fatal even if he was going 80, although more speed obviously doesnt help. 80kmh accidents involving direct hits are frequently deadly. Its right on the threshold of what is generally survivable.

I wouldnt say the main problem there was speed, it was inexperience and the often-seen invincibility that a lot of new drivers feel on the road.

I know I had the same invincibility when I was young. I remember driving at 160kmh in side streets....and that was in my 1.2L 20yo honda Civic! If I had a seriously fast car, I have no doubt I would not be here today. As it was the only thing that kept me alive was luck and nothing more. I didnt know what I didnt know. As far as I knew I knew everything about driving.

These days I still may speed, but I am much more selective and in general do nowhere near the speeds I could do. I have excellent awareness of whats around me, who is near enough so that if they do a random move they may suddenly be right in my path etc. I have spent a lot of time learning to predict worse case scenarios and having an escape strategy - something I learnt riding motorbikes in traffic. You need to be several steps ahead...and even then....

I have converted my lust for desire for speed into a desire for acceleration...which is a good thing as you can accelerate quickly and still not break the speed limits, which helps lower the risk overall. Even so quicker than expected acceleration often catches lazy innatentive drivers out. Its amazing how many drivers assume other cars are as slow as theirs.

I will be interested to see what happens to the taxi driver. While the speeding drivers were certainly contributing factors, in my book there is NO EXCUSE for the taxi turning in front of oncoming cars. The law states he must give way to all oncoming traffic. The distance they appeared to be away is irrelevant - if he took the time to watch them for a second or so, he would have realised they were approaching faster than he expected and should have waited. Speed=distance/time --> you can not judge the speed of another vehicle without taking some time to look at it to see how much distance it travels over a second or so. So many road drivers are stupid and dont realise that. They have a glance, see the car 4 street poles away which normally is ok at that place, and pull out. They are accidents waiting to happen.

120kmh is faster than the 80kmh limit in that area, but its not so fast over the limit that a reasonable driver paying a decent amount of attention could not determine the time it would take for the oncoming cars to reach him. It would be different if they were doing 100kmh+ over the limit as some people may have trouble judging it.

A waste for everyone involved...gate to think how many lives that whole event touched.

Edited 15/02/07 11:51 AM by mickq

[Blonk]

I wouldnt say the main problem there was speed, it was inexperience and the often-seen invincibility that a lot of new drivers feel on the road.

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But I am sure he crashed on X-Box a coupla hundred times and that didn't hurt!!

[tab]

Oh Blonky....you actually had a few sensible posts in a row there. What went wrong?

[andyturbo]

mickq, the driver of the evo was 23, his quite well known around this area. I dont belive he was on his P's..and im pretty sure of this as a mate of mine is good friend with him.. The driver of the other car ellegedly racing, the RX7, was on his P's. The media may have had this confused

Edited 16/02/07 07:40 AM by andyturbo

[Skooby]

Fark I grew off Lum Road also (Sunnybrook rd)  ... But on topic that said to hear what happened Andy, Not worth putting lives on risk at such a young age.

Rob...

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Off topic, I used to tandem skateboard down Sunnybrook drive with a good mate that lived in Threadbow cres before they put the traffic islands in! Now that was excessive speed wobbles! I was in Darnley grove, just over FTG rd.

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Small world. I grew up on Earlwood Drv (across from Wheelers Hill High). My mates and I built a small BMX track on Darnley in a vacant block. Many many years ago now..

Back on topic. Unfortunately excessive speed is not just reserved for those that are young. On Saturday there was a horrific accident at the 5 ways intersection in Clyde (sth gippsland hwy).

The road was closed for over 10 hours while they cleared the carnage. Two males in their 30's were killed when their car slammed into the trailer of a B double that was making a turn. The truck driver said that the road was clear when he turned at 4:45am. What he couln't have known was that the car was rounding the bend at 180 km/h.

Just a tragic waste of life. I can't even begin to imagine what possessed the driver to think that the speed was justified for the open road. Not only did he put his passengers life at risk, but others that use the same road. They had to use a crane to lift the trailer off the car. It was only then (some 8 hours after the accident) that they could pull the deceased driver and his passenger from the car.

The following night when we were driving home along the same road I had the cruise control set to 100km/h. There was not one car that didn't pass me, some slower than others, but they were all exceeding the limit. People seem to think the speed limit signs are a recommendation speed and not the maximum speed limit for that road.

I was talking to my wife about this as we were driving. I believe that the 'shock' ads on the TV no longer work. The condition of some of our roads is appalling (sth Gippsland Hwy/Bass Hwy anyone?) and is not even fit for the 100km/h speed limit posted. Re-education needs to be across the board, not just for the younger drivers.

I've written a letter to my local councillor and have asked others in my area to do the same about the condition of the roads and to install speed measures on some of our roads (roundabouts, chicane curbs etc). I received a reply the other day stating that the budget will not allow for the roads to be fixed entirely and to contact the state government. I wrote back and asked if the 'budget' would allow for saving lives and what value they put on people's lives. I thought the handball was an absolute disgrace and it has only fuelled my anger further.

Ultimately we don't need the government to tell us what is right and wrong - I'm sure we're all old enough to make those decisions on our own. If each and every one of us told our mates to slow down, they'd in turn tell their mates and so on. If your mate is acting the fool on the roads with you in the car, tell him to slow down or you'll get out and walk. Life is not something that can be returned for a new one when it stops working.

Sorry to hear about your loss andy. It's unfortunate that you have had to learn the lesson through another persons death, but maybe the message will be heard by others too..

[sex on wheels]

Speeding is part of "High Risk" behaviour, which is connected to certain types of Psychological profiles...there is a lot more to it than the age factor, experience etc. Some people are actually "impaired" in this part of their brain and hence all the training under the sun will most likely fail, without a proper assessment and behaviour modifiying programme put in place.

If you have a friend, son or daughter who has always liked doing scary and high risk things...like people who get involved in "extreme sport things" or as little kids liked jumping off the roof the house, riding their bike like a madman, playing chicken on their skate board on the road in traffic, things like this can be indicators of someone who will be addicted to speed in their cars as adults.

There should be a psychological test to get a "driver profile" before issuing licences, this would go a long way to knowing who needs some behavioural management courses, before letting them hit the road on their own.

Men seem to fall into the "need for speed" category much more often than women, I believe it is a Testostrone driven factor as well.

Can someone PLEASE tell me WHY MEN have a great need to drive up the ass end of the vehicle in front of them all the time and love to leave braking till the last minute, just to ensure those ABS brakes reallllly do have a shudder effect

[tab]

I think we need a new sub-forum for you and phantomchic.

[sex on wheels]

Mate,

This is the age of equality - better get use to it

[Blonk]

Mate,

This is the age of equality - better get use to it

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Some are just more equal than others..........

[Skooby]

Can someone PLEASE tell me WHY MEN have a great need to drive up the ass end of the vehicle in front of them all the time and love to leave braking till the last minute, just to ensure those ABS brakes reallllly do have a shudder effect

Can you please tell me WHY WOMEN insist on putting their makeup on or brushing their hair whilst driving in peak hour traffic?

Edited 20/02/07 06:43 AM by Skooby