Another life gone to waste because of speeding
08-13-10, 12:14 AM
#31
When i read the article on yahoo, It reminded me alot of me...
I did not know that the car was a lexus gs400 but a few years ago I felt invincible also in my lexus and crashed at 125 into the wall and flipped over but I must say Looking back at that I dont know how I just walked out of there
I also have Evaded police in the 2nd lexus but driving at 130+ I eventually stopped and thought to myself its not worth my life you know I did get punishment which I am doing now But Im glad I didnt kill myself and It is sad in any case and it was not the kids fault.
Its the age and his lesson was harsh for everyone
I did not know that the car was a lexus gs400 but a few years ago I felt invincible also in my lexus and crashed at 125 into the wall and flipped over but I must say Looking back at that I dont know how I just walked out of there
I also have Evaded police in the 2nd lexus but driving at 130+ I eventually stopped and thought to myself its not worth my life you know I did get punishment which I am doing now But Im glad I didnt kill myself and It is sad in any case and it was not the kids fault.
Its the age and his lesson was harsh for everyone
08-13-10, 02:38 AM
#32
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08-13-10, 02:46 AM
#33
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I believe it's the parent's fault first. The kid would not have been able to go 100+ mph if he was given an older, slower car. This particular accident could have been prevented.
A 16 year old is not responsible enough to make wise decisions all the time and that is what the role of the parents should be for.
A 16 year old is not responsible enough to make wise decisions all the time and that is what the role of the parents should be for.
08-13-10, 07:09 AM
#34
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I don't think we'll ever know all of the facts in this sad case. "Good kids" can do dumb things at times. Girlfriend problems, bad day on the links? I'm sure the parents will blame themselves enough...I don't need to pile on. Thankfully, his poor judgement only took his life.
08-13-10, 07:26 AM
#35
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Yeah, I agree. Naturally aspirated 4 bangers for teens!!...seriously. I live in the wealthiest county in Pennsylvania and some of the rides that the kids had when I was in high school ranged from Escalades to IS 300s to S4's.
08-13-10, 07:35 AM
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08-13-10, 07:38 AM
#37
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I believe it's the parent's fault first. The kid would not have been able to go 100+ mph if he was given an older, slower car. This particular accident could have been prevented.
A 16 year old is not responsible enough to make wise decisions all the time and that is what the role of the parents should be for.
A 16 year old is not responsible enough to make wise decisions all the time and that is what the role of the parents should be for.
This ^^ We all love our kids and want them to have better then us but a lexus for a 16 year old. A nice civic will do fine.
08-13-10, 07:40 AM
#38
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drop kids a 4 banger 4 door accord and call it a day
08-13-10, 08:24 AM
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My siblings and I started on a 130 HP Honda Prelude with a 5 speed. Me being the youngest, didn't enjoy this car for very long as it was old. And I think my dad felt much better getting us a 155 HP, AWD Subaru Legacy with a 4 speed auto, which the three of us loathed. But it was the perfect car for a relatively new driver. Slow, steady, and safe.
08-13-10, 08:31 AM
#40
I don't see what difference it would have made if this kid was driving a Civic. Kid was 16 and travelling at 122 by himself. This kid traveling at 95 in a Civic would still represent an extreme amount of danger based on his actions after contacting the officer. So he couldn't hit 130 in a Civic but him pushing a Civic to it's limits would have made it better or safer? It's about the kid in this case, not the car.
08-13-10, 08:34 AM
#41
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08-13-10, 11:31 AM
#43
I don't see what difference it would have made if this kid was driving a Civic. Kid was 16 and travelling at 122 by himself. This kid traveling at 95 in a Civic would still represent an extreme amount of danger based on his actions after contacting the officer. So he couldn't hit 130 in a Civic but him pushing a Civic to it's limits would have made it better or safer? It's about the kid in this case, not the car.
This "it's about the kid not the car" statement is pretty nonsensical. We're talking about simple physics. A car crashing at < 100 MPH is much more survivable than a car going > 130 MPH, and an old stock civic has physical limits such that it either can't get above 100 MPH or it would take 10 minutes to do so, which probably isn't practical on the road (i.e. he would've had to slow down (even slightly) at some point due to traffic or whatnot).
I think many of you are overestimating the abilities of the average 16 year old, and this is a dangerous thing.
All of these "darwin award" posts don't seem to be terribly helpful as well, I think the more pressing issue is the fact that we almost certainly have hundreds of drivers just like this kid on clublexus, lurking (some possibly posting in this thread?) who have driven just as recklessly (or perhaps more recklessly) than this kid before and have simply lived thus far to talk about it (or have maintained silence in this thread for fear of ridicule). Stories like this should serve as a wake up call to drive more sensibly on the roads.
Is it possible that every single person who has chastised this boy for being an "idiot" and deserving to die has driven exactly at or under the legal speed limit forever, never receiving a single speeding ticket ever? Sure, it's possible, I guess. In any case, who said what is less important, what's more important is to recognize that this sort of periodic reckless driving (I'm talking excessive speeds, not necessarily evading the cops) is probably more common than one might think.
I for one am guilty as charged, I've already admitted to having gone > 100 MPH twice in my lifetime (albeit not > 130 MPH), and stories like this help to underscore just how moronic those decisions were.
I'm making a big and special case out of 16 year olds because it's a physiological fact that key areas of the brain (notably the prefrontal cortex) that are involved in many of the attributes that make for a good, safe driver are immature and underdeveloped in this population.
16 year olds can't escape physiology. Sure, most of them appear to at least escape the temptations to speed in excess of 130 MPH in spite of their underdeveloped PFC, and I'd wager this has a lot to do with the efficacy of "fear tactics" during driver's ed courses (i.e. the ones exposed to "fear tactic" movies such as Red Asphalt - a movie showing real human bodies torn to shreds from car accidents - the ones exposed to this movie are less likely to "give in" to the irrational and rash temptations that underlie their physically immature brain)
Last edited by syzygy; 08-13-10 at 11:40 AM.
08-13-10, 11:37 AM
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08-13-10, 11:57 AM
#45
Yes, pushing a civic to its limits would have been multiple times safer, because civics literally top out at 85-90 MPH. They physically won't go any faster than that going WOT in any reasonable amount of time.
This "it's about the kid not the car" statement is pretty nonsensical. We're talking about simple physics. A car crashing at < 100 MPH is much more survivable than a car going > 130 MPH, and an old stock civic has physical limits such that it either can't get above 100 MPH or it would take 10 minutes to do so, which probably isn't practical on the road (i.e. he would've had to slow down (even slightly) at some point due to traffic or whatnot).
I think many of you are overestimating the abilities of the average 16 year old, and this is a dangerous thing.
All of these "darwin award" posts don't seem to be terribly helpful as well, I think the more pressing issue is the fact that we almost certainly have hundreds of drivers just like this kid on clublexus, lurking (some possibly posting in this thread?) who have driven just as recklessly (or perhaps more recklessly) than this kid before and have simply lived thus far to talk about it (or have maintained silence in this thread for fear of ridicule). Stories like this should serve as a wake up call to drive more sensibly on the roads.
Is it possible that every single person who has chastised this boy for being an "idiot" and deserving to die has driven exactly at or under the legal speed limit forever, never receiving a single speeding ticket ever? Sure, it's possible, I guess. In any case, who said what is less important, what's more important is to recognize that this sort of periodic reckless driving (I'm talking excessive speeds, not necessarily evading the cops) is probably more common than one might think.
I for one am guilty as charged, I've already admitted to having gone > 100 MPH twice in my lifetime (albeit not > 130 MPH), and stories like this help to underscore just how moronic those decisions were.
Sure it can, but the point is that the probability of surviving is markedly increased crashing a 4 banger civic versus crashing a 300 HP sports sedan capable of reaching > 130 MPH. That's the only metric that should matter (probability of surviving increases), because it's not sensible to think that education alone will prevent 100% of 16 year olds from driving in excess of 100 MPH and crashing. There will always be a small percentage that does.
I'm making a big and special case out of 16 year olds because it's a physiological fact that key areas of the brain (notably the prefrontal cortex) that are involved in many of the attributes that make for a good, safe driver are immature and underdeveloped in this population.
16 year olds can't escape physiology. Sure, most of them appear to at least escape the temptations to speed in excess of 130 MPH in spite of their underdeveloped PFC, and I'd wager this has a lot to do with the efficacy of "fear tactics" during driver's ed courses (i.e. the ones exposed to "fear tactic" movies such as Red Asphalt - a movie showing real human bodies torn to shreds from car accidents - the ones exposed to this movie are less likely to "give in" to the irrational and rash temptations that underlie their physically immature brain)
This "it's about the kid not the car" statement is pretty nonsensical. We're talking about simple physics. A car crashing at < 100 MPH is much more survivable than a car going > 130 MPH, and an old stock civic has physical limits such that it either can't get above 100 MPH or it would take 10 minutes to do so, which probably isn't practical on the road (i.e. he would've had to slow down (even slightly) at some point due to traffic or whatnot).
I think many of you are overestimating the abilities of the average 16 year old, and this is a dangerous thing.
All of these "darwin award" posts don't seem to be terribly helpful as well, I think the more pressing issue is the fact that we almost certainly have hundreds of drivers just like this kid on clublexus, lurking (some possibly posting in this thread?) who have driven just as recklessly (or perhaps more recklessly) than this kid before and have simply lived thus far to talk about it (or have maintained silence in this thread for fear of ridicule). Stories like this should serve as a wake up call to drive more sensibly on the roads.
Is it possible that every single person who has chastised this boy for being an "idiot" and deserving to die has driven exactly at or under the legal speed limit forever, never receiving a single speeding ticket ever? Sure, it's possible, I guess. In any case, who said what is less important, what's more important is to recognize that this sort of periodic reckless driving (I'm talking excessive speeds, not necessarily evading the cops) is probably more common than one might think.
I for one am guilty as charged, I've already admitted to having gone > 100 MPH twice in my lifetime (albeit not > 130 MPH), and stories like this help to underscore just how moronic those decisions were.
Sure it can, but the point is that the probability of surviving is markedly increased crashing a 4 banger civic versus crashing a 300 HP sports sedan capable of reaching > 130 MPH. That's the only metric that should matter (probability of surviving increases), because it's not sensible to think that education alone will prevent 100% of 16 year olds from driving in excess of 100 MPH and crashing. There will always be a small percentage that does.
I'm making a big and special case out of 16 year olds because it's a physiological fact that key areas of the brain (notably the prefrontal cortex) that are involved in many of the attributes that make for a good, safe driver are immature and underdeveloped in this population.
16 year olds can't escape physiology. Sure, most of them appear to at least escape the temptations to speed in excess of 130 MPH in spite of their underdeveloped PFC, and I'd wager this has a lot to do with the efficacy of "fear tactics" during driver's ed courses (i.e. the ones exposed to "fear tactic" movies such as Red Asphalt - a movie showing real human bodies torn to shreds from car accidents - the ones exposed to this movie are less likely to "give in" to the irrational and rash temptations that underlie their physically immature brain)
Long physics lesson and yet you still miss the point.
Kid makes mistake (speeds)
Kid gets caught (cop)
Kid stops and accepts responsibility (ticket/arrest/loss of license)
If the above had happened, we wouldn't be talking about this story. But we don't know the reason (unless they reveal who they suspect he may have been talking to on the phone during chase/crash) why this kid did what he did. BASED ON HIS ACTION of running from a cop at 130mph for over a full minute this kid was destined to die one way or another no matter what he was driving. It's not about the "g-force of the longitudal axis of a 8 cylinder versus 4 cylinder". If this kid was driving a Civic, he would have pushed it to the max until either the exact same result happened, the cop caught him or the Civic broke down. The fact that a Civic crashing into a stationary semi at 90 mph is marginally safer than a Lexus hitting the same object at 130 is IRRELEVANT.
Yes we've all driven stupidly at one point or another but I can't remember the last "I out the Po-Po" thread so let's not act like running from the police on a public highway is some rite of teenagism we've all been through. Most of us have been taught that there is a certain when you've just been caught and now you have to deal with it. Those who haven't end up like this kid.