500hp Cars And Teenagers.. Interesting Story From An M5 Forum...

[Kimberley Scott]

Bullsh*t, what is power? A $700 toyota crown can spin a wheel in the wet, get airborne. You are never going to get inexperience until you try something, mabye you are talking about commonsense.

Scotty

[illusionzzz]

Wow terrible story!

I think it really depends on the individual person. Regardless of age the only way to get experience driving a powerful car, is by driving a powerful car. But I guess lots of experience driving anything may help...

I had my BA with around 300rwkws just as I turned 20 now i3 years later ts got about 370rwkws...

[RAP1D]

If I had the car I have today, 15 years ago, I would most possibly not be here today...

Power is one thing, but having a car that can move extremely fast befor you can realize whats happened requires some experience.

I'd hate to see a young guy nail it on the freeway and get sideways instantly... seen it happen with older drivers, these cars have huge power that we all take for granted.

[Mat]

Bullsh*t, what is power? A $700 toyota crown can spin a wheel in the wet, get airborne. You are never going to get inexperience until you try something, mabye you are talking about commonsense.

Scotty

I do agree with you 110%. Ypu can die in a gemini making 50rwhp. Its just easy since there are a lot of people under 20 driving around in some pretty quick XR's.

I think most importantly it highlights the need for genuine risk assessment. And I dont mean just look around for cops. Think outside the square and look at things like other traffic (cause lets face it Australia doesnt have a gated aircraft community- at least I dont think so lol), bends, uneven road surfaces, mates in the car etc etc.

I bought my first car (WRX) at 19/20. Worked hard for it (big F.U to woolworths to!), got a few speeding fines and then dad sat me down and taught me some of lifes more serious lessons. I can remember him buying me brake pads for a track day and telling me that if the car ever had an issue with brakes / suspension / tyres to let him know so it was fixed ASAP.

I think its time guys like Harold Scruby and Grant Dorrington were removed from their positions of "power" and everyone starts to focus on real road safety issues. Better driving training for everyone, track days before they get a license, better roads, teach kids risk assessment both on the track and in traffic (which I think would help with them in future workplaces etc). Experiencing something is one thing. Commonsense / risk assessment is another!

We all make mistakes but 200kms+ with 4 mates in the car isnt a mistake. Its plain stupidity. But hopefully a few people can learn from it anyway!

Edited 29/02/08 01:13 PM by Mat

[fnp]

I'm now 22 with 300rwkw. I consider myself to be a fairly decent driver (regular track days to get the urge to boot it out, don't really drive quickly on the road) but I feel sure if I had this same car five years ago when I first got my license at the very least I would have gotten myself into serious trouble or at worst killed myself/someone else. Trouble is you don't really see it until a few years down the track, first time you give a car full welly in a straight line you think how hard can it be, nothing to it at all... then the car does something unexpected that's never happened before, and by then its often too late.

[iTec]

what a sad story!

I completely disagree.. with the power & youth argument I was 22 when I got my car. "power + inexperience + self preservation" meant I learnt how to drive my car properly before I pushed it to the absolute limits, and because of that experience I am now a much much safer driver then I was before I got my car. you learn real quick that a 2ton car in the rain with 200rwkw is not an easy thing to drive, that it does not handle like the WRX on colin mcrea rally and that the braking distance you think you need from 100k is probably slightly more then what you might have thought it was.

if you dont have the self preservation then you may die in a car, running in front of a bus or something else just as stupid.. end of the day it is not the car that kills but the right foot.

also kids in hypo cars die regularly, but if you notice in most cases it is not the kids who own the car but there parents, there is no respect for the car because they are not paying for it. If a kid forks out 2k, 10k, 20k ect for a car he is going to treat it diferently then grabbing dads keys and taking it for a spin. chances are they will also learn the dynamics of the car on a daily basis.

a kid in a 500hp car is alot more likely to sh*t his pants before he gets anywhere near the extreme capabilities of the car if he has some brains! unfortunatly it is the 1% without the brains that spoil it for everybody.

[Superdan]

I learnt how to drive my car properly before I pushed it to the absolute limits

unfortunately, it's not the case with the people that end up in these stories!

I 100% agree with you mate, it's the kids that don't have to pay for/clean/maintain/deal with the car, they just get the occasional fang-around, in which time they wish to make the most of it by "pushing it to the absolute limits"

Dan

[turbotrana]

How about that bloke in the yellow twin turbo Ginotto V8 thingo going down opposite way of the dragway for a demonstration run, hitting the wall at the end of the track cause he couldn't pull the thing up and killing himself.

He graduated to big power very quickly and it bit him on the backside.

[senna_T]

it didn't help that they decided to do the run towards a wall!

[Dillz]

With a good mixture of old and young people on the site both groups having high powered T's I can see this becoming a debate, which I don't believe is a bad thing.

How many of us can say they have had at least one experience in a car where they have felt completely powerless and out of control? Age and experience isn't always a factor but I do believe if it could go either way then a 40y/o with 20 years experience driving high powered cars or just cars in general for that matter will have alot more chance of getting themselves out of trouble then an 18y/o that's been driving for 3 months.

I'm only 22 years old and I'll be the first to admit that I do stupid things every now and then but also that I've gotten alot better since I was 18. A mate of mine got his P's when he turned 21 last year having not driven on his L's for about 12 months, he is on his 4th minor accident so far all being his fault, but thank god only minor injuries. He doesn't even ask anymore if he can drive my car because he knows it not going to happen any time soon. If he had bought a T when he got his P's I have no doubt in my mind that he wouldn't be here today.

3 Years ago I would of said these new P plate laws were ridiculous but know in reflection I believe they are a great idea.