[EmergencyNrse]

Here's a commercial that we should be playing over here in the states:
Something teens should see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_QZV8ts ... re=related

 

[mdlott]

OUCH!!!! I agree, new drivers need to see something vile and revolting to bring awareness to their mortality. Studies have revealed, as I recall, that humans don't fully develop risk management skills until their early twenties. That's painful to watch, but I bet it would save many lives.

 

[Xiclotl]

Obviously that -ing dog's fault. Sue the owner!

 

[Docindahouze]

have you guys seen the pics of the teenage girl who was driving dads porsche who crashed into a concrete wall at 100 mph? It was not pretty. Edit: if you can still find these pics on the net I would show these to your kids so they could see how what REAL irresponsible driving can get them. I agree with what some of you are saying. Saying speed kills is like saying guns kill people. Guns dont kill people, people kill people. Same goes for driving in a car, you could end up killing someone, yourself or both because of irresponsible driving.

 

[TippinTaco]

have you guys seen the pics of the teenage girl who was driving dads porsche who crashed into a concrete wall at 100 mph? It was not pretty.

Yep that was a long time ago. Destroyed the car.. and her. Kids these days dont care. they feel watching movies gives them the experience to drive fast and hard. Where I was from it got so bad the local LEA rented the drag strip once a month for teenagers to bring their cars to race. Had to have a waiver signed and helmet and what not.

 

[Campeck1911]

Or you could actually train skilled drivers in the first place.
as in how to regain control of an out of control vehicle in different condition
training on the highway
training at night
and then add some MORE training.

Then speed won't kill anymore, because it already doesn't. Under-trained drivers behind the wheel kill.

If you can't recover from your rear end coming around in the rain at 50 mph. You shouldn't be on the road. Which might even mean I could use some more training. But if that's what it takes then that's what it takes.

 

[Fallschirmjäger]

If "speed kills" then why does Germany with an advisory 80mph speed limit and many, many miles of unlimited speed autobahn have virtually the same number of deaths per 100,000 miles that the US does with our 55 to 70 mph highways?

From the video, it wasn't speed that killed anyone, it was irresponsible, untrained, inattentive drivers.

 

[smn]

It's not the speed, it's the sudden stop.

 

[Jmark]

If "speed kills" then why does Germany with an advisory 80mph speed limit and many, many miles of unlimited speed autobahn have virtually the same number of deaths per 100,000 miles that the US does with our 55 to 70 mph highways?

From the video, it wasn't speed that killed anyone, it was irresponsible, untrained, inattentive drivers.

Better roads and drivers.

 

[rmodel65]

It's not the speed, it's the sudden stop.

low speed limits actually contribute to wrecks on our interstates.... and the designs of our roads(hardly any curves) automatic accessories like automatic transmissions etc cause the drive to be less attentive and concentrate less on the road

 

[Sine Nomen]

That video was about as moving to me as a string of 'accidental' shootings with the tagline "Gun Kill."
Face it: speed doesn't kill. Mistakes causing collisions are what gets you. I have successfully controlled a vehicle on public roadways in excess of 160mph without any death or destruction. I've also made mistakes at less than 30mph that have totaled multiple vehicles and sent people to the hospital.

I agree that the best 'solution' is for more and better training for drivers. If I ever have kids, I can assure you that by the time they're old enough to take the wheel alone, they will have had enough in instruction and practice with a variety of vehicles in a variety of situations that will have the skills needed to handle most any situation. I have no illusions that any amount of training will eliminate all 'foolish' behaviors. I know I (and most of you) have done some incredibly dangerous things at times and mostly got away unscathed. I still believe good training will a. give one a little more perspective on risks and when something is dicey vs. outright suicidal, and b. give some chance of recovery when it's obvious that you're in over your head.

That also makes me feel the need to mention that we just need to accept that no matter how good or cautious drivers are, bad things are still going to happen. You will always be able to find horrible pictures and make horrible videos. It's unreasonable to think you can prevent every tragedy and unfair to punish everyone for the misfortunes of a few.

I've posted this picture here before, but it fits again now:
This was a sad and scary situation. I walked away from it a better driver and person...

 

[AzB]

low speed limits actually contribute to wrecks on our interstates....

Really? I call BS on that one. Lowering your speed gives you far more time to react and if a collision occurs, there is far less damage. So you're claiming that if everyone drove 8mph there would be more fatalities? :lol: :screwy:

I remember reading a study a while back that tested driver's ability after questioning them on how they perceived their ability. The vast majority of people that thought they were excellent drivers were the ones that did poorly on the test, and had statistically higher incidences of crashing.

The people that saw themselves as average generally drove more slowly and had far less crashes.

Not true in every case, of course, but it was a large majority. Makes you think. I know we're all excellent drivers here, but I'm sure some of us have some bad habits. I used to be a speeder. Becoming a professional racer calmed me down quite a bit on the streets.

Clearly, driver training is the biggest issue. But it will never, ever be confronted because it is the most expensive and time consuming solution and has never been seen as a big priority by the masses, even though 48,xxx people die every year and over 200,000 are seriously injured on US roads.

Thanks for the original post, it's a great reminder of what's at stake. Just like we take great pains to be safe with our firearms, we should realize that driving is far more deadly and try to be safer.

Az

 

[AzB]

I have successfully controlled a vehicle on public roadways in excess of 160mph without any death or destruction. I've also made mistakes at less than 30mph that have totaled multiple vehicles and sent people to the hospital.

Looks like you're part of the problem. :shattered:

Glad you're ok.

Az

 

[Campeck1911]

That video was about as moving to me as a string of 'accidental' shootings with the tagline "Gun Kill."
Face it: speed doesn't kill. Mistakes causing collisions are what gets you. I have successfully controlled a vehicle on public roadways in excess of 160mph without any death or destruction. I've also made mistakes at less than 30mph that have totaled multiple vehicles and sent people to the hospital.

I agree that the best 'solution' is for more and better training for drivers. If I ever have kids, I can assure you that by the time they're old enough to take the wheel alone, they will have had enough in instruction and practice with a variety of vehicles in a variety of situations that will have the skills needed to handle most any situation. I have no illusions that any amount of training will eliminate all 'foolish' behaviors. I know I (and most of you) have done some incredibly dangerous things at times and mostly got away unscathed. I still believe good training will a. give one a little more perspective on risks and when something is dicey vs. outright suicidal, and b. give some chance of recovery when it's obvious that you're in over your head.

That also makes me feel the need to mention that we just need to accept that no matter how good or cautious drivers are, bad things are still going to happen. You will always be able to find horrible pictures and make horrible videos. It's unreasonable to think you can prevent every tragedy and unfair to punish everyone for the misfortunes of a few.

I've posted this picture here before, but it fits again now:
This was a sad and scary situation. I walked away from it a better driver and person...

Looks like we both learned the same lesson...in the same car.

slid off the tail of the dragon.

 

[Sine Nomen]

You can't see rennlist photos without being signed on...

 

[TippinTaco]

You can claim what you want in regards to racing your car on public roads but just as mentioned above you sir are part of the problem. If every kid in this world had your mentality of every driver has his day, then we should just let the USA become one huge Autobahn. But LUCKILY thats not going to happen. So what if you raced your car to 160... I dont care if you're the worlds best race car driver and have won 500 races yaddi yaddi yaddi. Fact is no matter how great you are, theres 500 idiots that arent so @#[email protected][email protected]# great right next to you, switching lanes, causing issues, cutting people off, causing pile upes and the list is endless. You should've learned from your accident or drive a car that has a rev limiter on it. And bet your @#$ on it, the man that kills my daughter/son in an accident because of your type of mentality, I'm going to put a bullet in you. ANYONE driving at high rates of speed, while performing maneuvers that shouldnt be done on certain roads, should take it to the track and keep it off the roads. You will be the person responsible for a parent or child to not get to go home to see his family. If you want to go 160 go to the track. :rant:

 

[Sine Nomen]

You can claim what you want in regards to racing your car on public roads but just as mentioned above you sir are part of the problem. If every kid in this world had your mentality of every driver has his day, then we should just let the USA become one huge Autobahn. But LUCKILY thats not going to happen. So what if you raced your car to 160... I dont care if you're the worlds best race car driver and have won 500 races yaddi yaddi yaddi. Fact is no matter how great you are, theres 500 idiots that arent so @#[email protected][email protected]# great right next to you, switching lanes, causing issues, cutting people off, causing pile upes and the list is endless. You should've learned from your accident or drive a car that has a rev limiter on it. And bet your @#$ on it, the man that kills my daughter/son in an accident because of your type of mentality, I'm going to put a bullet in you. ANYONE driving at high rates of speed, while performing maneuvers that shouldnt be done on certain roads, should take it to the track and keep it off the roads. You will be the person responsible for a parent or child to not get to go home to see his family. If you want to go 160 go to the track. :rant:

Wow, I just don't even know where to begin...

I never said anything about racing on public roads.
What's so bad about the autobahn?
I've never driven a car to 160 and certainly never raced at that speed.
I hit 160ish (the speedo wasn't very accurate) of a 600cc sport bike. It took about 3 miles to get there.
There was no other traffic on the road on a cool morning. The road was in good condition with about 1/2 mile visibility. Note: I haven't mentioned any speed limit present, nor even what country this was in. Does the law really have anything to do with the argument of safety?
I have learned from every crash I've had and also from the many of non-crashes...
The car pictured did have a rev-limiter, It was limited to 6500rpm.
I think you may have meant a speed limiter. It didn't need one, it only had enough power to push it to about 130mph, well within what the rest of the car could handle.
The truck I mostly drive now is speed limited at 105, care to ask how I know?
Do you really want to say in a public forum that you would murder someone over an automobile crash?
What maneuvers shouldn't be performed on certain roads that are appropriate in racing?
You really think I'm going to kill someone? Really? Think maybe they should just go ahead lock me up or you should just shoot me now?
Racetracks are generally not a safe or ideal environment for sustained high speeds. They're also particularly useless when the goal is not just to go fast, but rather to get somewhere quickly; they have a tendency to always take you back to where you started...

 

[Campeck1911]

Those 500 idiots should be taken off the road until trained properly. As said above. Why punish all for the shortcomings of a few.

Or I suppose in this case it would be why punish the few for the shortcomings of all. ugh.
USA driving privileges need a HUGE overhaul.

People who drive fast are NOT the problem.

I can't tell you how many times I have been cruising at around 90 in the leftmost lane of the highway (normal for ATL if you haven't noticed) and some giant SUV puts it's blinker on 1k feet up ahead. and hesitates, and hesitates, makes a move then jumps back in it's lane, hesitates some more, and then when I am 30 f**kin feet away jumps in my lane with them doing about 30mph less than me. THOSE are the people that shouldn't be on the road. Going fast is not inherently dangerous to anyone but the unskilled, unable to turn their heads, and unable to make up their farkin mind about changing lanes.

 

[politenessman]

Speed does not kill. Inappropriate use of speed (or lack thereof) kills.

The problem with highway driving is not the speed you go at but the differential between the faster vehicles and the slower vehicles.

Autobahns do have speed limits too - usually around intersections, it helps to diminish the differential in speed between those joining the highway and those already on it - IIRC 1km from the on ramp, and the speed limit is unlimited again.

German police will ticket you for going too slowly on the Autobahn, because it is dangerous.
They will also ticket you for going too fast (despite the lack of limits) - 120mph in a relatively new Audi is ok, but in a Ford Escort; not so much.

A British road safety officer once told me the best thing to fit to a car to increase driver awareness and promote safe driving is a 6" steel spike in the center of the steering wheel.

 

[AzB]

I can't tell you how many times I have been cruising at around 90 in the leftmost lane of the highway (normal for ATL if you haven't noticed) and some giant SUV puts it's blinker on 1k feet up ahead. and hesitates, and hesitates, makes a move then jumps back in it's lane, hesitates some more, and then when I am 30 f**kin feet away jumps in my lane with them doing about 30mph less than me. THOSE are the people that shouldn't be on the road. Going fast is not inherently dangerous to anyone but the unskilled, unable to turn their heads, and unable to make up their farkin mind about changing lanes.

And yet you don't see the value of slowing your behind down?

:shattered:

Az