Teen clocked going 142mph in Indiana... - Page 4

RSVX · #46 12-14-2006, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benebob

What you want a stat now huh?

It is around 45% which is nearly exactly where the rate is for those of a legal drinking age so what exactly is the point you're trying to make with this one.

I think the point presents itself... if you dont see it... well... I cant help you there.

dcarrb · #47 12-14-2006, 10:09 AM

The vast majority of teen traffic deaths in which intoxication is implicated also involve excessive speed. Anybody who's ever been a teenager knows that.

dcb

msvx95 · #48 12-14-2006, 10:46 AM

I think this thread has gotten this kid more exposure and makes him look like he was cool, IMO hes a dumb kid who needs to have his license permanently suspended until he's over 25 years old and a kick in the ass

sicksubie · #49 12-14-2006, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSVX

98.35% of all Stats are made up... but who's counting...

hahahahaha look at my avatar

benebob · #50 12-14-2006, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSVX

I think the point presents itself... if you dont see it... well... I cant help you there.

Your totally right. the stats that are made up are the ones you don't agree with.

Brilliant. Lets have a beer on that one and go drive.

AlcyoneDaze · #51 12-14-2006, 01:32 PM

Look at it this way, if it were the autobahn, it would be legal..
At that speed, I believe you're a better driver, concentrating only on the road and knowing the consequences. Give the kid the benefit of the doubt, he didnt crash out, so lets assume he can drive. He deserves a ticket and the increased insurance that comes along with it. How would you feel if you went to take a top speed run in your SVX on a deserted highway and got your license yanked, thrown in jail, and car crushed because of it..

I'm a little surprised that they were able to even pull him over - when I speed like that (rarely) and blow past a cop, I keep going - I'll be well over a mile down the highway before a crown vic is able to even get up to 130, much less catch me.

drivemusicnow · #52 12-14-2006, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electrophil

No one drives well at 142mph. No car is safe at 142mph.

Not even on a track.

Heck, they go boom on the track all the time. That's why we watch. To see which redneck is gonna go boom.

If some kid/adult/alien/rat with remote control/soccer mom goes out and is clocked at 142mph, take their license. It was no accident, there is no excuse, and that person should not be allowed to drive for a while. Say a year.

I was 17 once, and I don't think I have ever been over 90. And I should have had my ass kicked for that.

Ahh, yup, you poked a sore spot:

Comparing going 142 MPh on a public road to going 142 mph on track is bull****. Then you go and say "no one drives well at 142 mph"

First define safe. Technically driving at any speed could be considered "not safe". I mean who knows, maybe going 15 mph down a residential street is not safe, as you could get rear ended, or have a kid jump out of a bush RIGHT in front of your car. Safe is relative, and specific to each persons acceptance of risk. Second, I have HUGE issues with you throwing a blanket statement out saying that no one can drive well at 142 mph. Tell that to any of the F1 drivers who are within a couple hundreths of a second for 20 laps in a row (with an AVERAGE lap speed of between 100 and 150 mph). DO NOT try and compare public roads and closed road courses to each other as it is quite ignorant. (almost as ignorant as thinking that all racing is for rednecks)

Anyone can play the "what if" game. What if a deer jumped out onto the road, what if a vagrant transvestite is laying in the middle of the lane...

People should take it upon themselves to determine what risks are worth taking, and which aren't. Part of the risk that the kid chose to accept when going 142 mph is the risk of getting a speeding ticket, or losing his license, or hitting something. If he increases risks for those vehicles around him, then there is an issue. For all you know, it was an empty closed access highway without a car in sight. Don't ASSume things that are not negligible.

dcarrb · #53 12-14-2006, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlcyoneDaze

At that speed, I believe you're a better driver, concentrating only on the road and knowing the consequences.

All motorists are entitled to a share the roadway and the expectation that others are driving safely and sensibly. If you lose it at 140 and take me out in the process, it doesn't do me much good that you think you know the "consequences."

dcb

TomsSVX · #54 12-14-2006, 03:09 PM

I hit 160 in my brother's 300zx when I was 18... Lets face it, we are all gonna speed, just let us get it out of our system.... Take a machine up to 160 and trust me, they will never want to do it again

Tom

benebob · #55 12-14-2006, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomsSVX

I hit 160 in my brother's 300zx when I was 18... Lets face it, we are all gonna speed, just let us get it out of our system.... Take a machine up to 160 and trust me, they will never want to do it again

Tom

Chicken! Try 140 at night in a 70s Dino with original spec tires on the sucker.

My knuckles are still white from that ride.

benebob · #56 12-14-2006, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlcyoneDaze

Look at it this way, if it were the autobahn, it would be legal..
At that speed, I believe you're a better driver, concentrating only on the road and knowing the consequences. Give the kid the benefit of the doubt, he didnt crash out, so lets assume he can drive. He deserves a ticket and the increased insurance that comes along with it. How would you feel if you went to take a top speed run in your SVX on a deserted highway and got your license yanked, thrown in jail, and car crushed because of it..

I'm a little surprised that they were able to even pull him over - when I speed like that (rarely) and blow past a cop, I keep going - I'll be well over a mile down the highway before a crown vic is able to even get up to 130, much less catch me.

I'm no German but last I heard there was only something like 10% of the Autobahn that didn't have a speed limit. That's like what 75 miles or something.

Radios are faster than any car ya know.

newsvx · #57 12-14-2006, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benebob

My knuckles are still white from that ride.

And rightly so, Ben!!!

Harry

SVXBart · #58 12-14-2006, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benebob

I'm no German but last I heard there was only something like 10% of the Autobahn that didn't have a speed limit. That's like what 75 miles or something.

Radios are faster than any car ya know.

i'm no german to,but i have driven autobahn couple times and as far as i know it is more like 70% not 10%,and this is 3 or 4 lanes each way highway,
another thing is that german drivers are much more disciplined than eany other nation,maybe because it is very hard and costly to get driving license there They don't enter left lane if they are doing less than 120!

benebob · #59 12-14-2006, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVXBart

i'm no german to,but i have driven autobahn couple times and as far as i know it is more like 70% not 10%,and this is 3 or 4 lanes each way highway,
another thing is that german drivers are much more disciplined than eany other nation,maybe because it is very hard and costly to get driving license there They don't enter left lane if they are doing less than 120!

When was that? My only modern knowledge came from an article in newsweek or one of those crappy national mags. a few years back regarding the overcrowdedness of the autobahn and how it is becoming the LA of Europe but they were trying every tech savy way to ease congestioin such as instantly changing speed limits, center lane additions that can go either way and the like. In addition it said that it was one of the most patrolled roadways in the world and speeding and idiotcism was strictly enforced. It was a far cry from the 60s and 70s articles on it.

UberRoo · #60 12-14-2006, 08:31 PM

I once encountered a black cow standing in the middle of a multi-lane freeway at 2am. Perfectly straight, three lanes, no traffic - black cow / black road. At 55mph, you will not see something like that in time to stop. 55mph is a very reasonable, if not slow speed for such a roadway, even in foul weather. I wasn't driving, but I had been watching the road just as intently as the driver and neither of us saw the cow. It was a clear night too! Fortunately the cow was in the next lane, but how do you avoid stuff like that? Unless you drive at a walking pace, you can't.

All drivers regularly take for granted that the roadway is clear in front of them. We take for granted that somebody won't come shooting out from a side street. We take for granted that a spare tire from a big truck isn't lying in the middle of the road on a dark and rainy night. I damn-well know that 99% of drivers take for granted that the vehicle directly in front of them won't just smash the brakes at random, or that the large truck they're following isn't going to drive over a large object that most cars can't quite clear. (Even with instantaneous reaction time, two-seconds following distance still isn't enough to stop for that.) These risks are invisible and the only way to substantially mitigate them is to drive at an extremely slow speed. We compromise safety for speed. Everybody takes these risks. All of us. Even you.

...but it's okay. It's risk management. Driving at ANY speed is a calculated risk. Heck, just being parked on the side of the road is dangerous. Some people can't do the math - people like soccer moms in minivans driving at a mere 10mph in a parking lot where someone could back out of a stall at any moment - people who drive slower than surrounding traffic and create a moving hazard of themselves - people who have no idea what the safe limits of their vehicles are because they've never explored them. The margin of safety at 142mph with nobody around is approximately equal to the margin of safety at 60mph in heavy traffic, and I'd much rather be in a single-vehicle collision at 142mph than in a two-vehicle collision with a sports car and a big truck. The kid took a risk, but it's mighty presumptuous to declare outright that the risk was higher than any risks you or I take on a daily basis.

Speeding itself is not inherently dangerous. Based on the officer's actions [by not arresting him] it seems apparent that he felt that it was not terribly dangerous. Countless people have done the same thing, but you almost never hear about it because nothing happens as a result. (Well, I suppose a few kids end up with great memories that last a lifetime.) It took me years to purge myself of all the "speed kills" brainwashing I've received. I appreciate how objectively the original article was written, though I'm sure it'll only perpetuate this hysteria about exceeding some arbitrary number.

It sounds like this kid has already been convicted. The letter of the law is rubbish. From the available evidence, nothing he did requires any consideration by the spirit of the law.