Unbelievable....

[skip68]

Look at his computer skills, his fast research on ANY topic, and he's got nothing better to do after his car gets done!
Mrs.Skip68


Relax Shakey!

Mrs.Skip68

[Troy]

Look at his computer skills, his fast research on ANY topic, and he's got nothing better to do after his car gets done!
Mrs.Skip68


Relax Shakey!

Mrs.Skip68

Uh yeah, except maybe what paint to use on a grill... Sorry, I had to!

So any way, someone posted it at Moparts and Cody just picked up on it. That means at least one other person on the planet thought it was newsworthy enough to tell anyone and everyone who wasn't already involved. That's what we do here in OT I guess...

As for the story itself, yep, you can kill yourself in all sorts of ways - whether you have 500 HP or not. I've crashed harder on bikes and skis by doing stupid stuff (usually involving a long fall) than anything else. Unfortunately, kids do stupid stuff and learn from the experiences. Hopefully they learn enough to think it through before anything really bad happens but, sadly, that's not always the case. At least in a modern car you have crumple zones and air bags - old cars aren't as forgiving. One of my cars has the dents in the dash and squished steering column to prove it. I *only* had 318s in my cars when I was younger and they were plenty powerful enough to get into lots of trouble.

Troy

[terrible one]

Ouch.

That's a bummer.

[Brock Samson]

wasn't there allready a post on this a week ago?.. 

[Mike DC]

At least in a modern car you have crumple zones and airbags -- old cars aren't as forgiving.

Yeah, new cars definitely keep you alive better in a streetgoing wreck.  But I think they also isolate you from your true speed too much.  I think sometimes modern kids may be going faster when they actually wrecked than people used to. 

There's always a few guys who pile up a car at 100+ mph in every generation, but they're the exceptions.  On the other hand, I think it's amazing how often modern drivers can still wreck a car at 75 mph on a windy road in the pouring rain when they hadn't even intended to do anything stupid.  One minute they don't even feel like they're near the car's limits, and then the next minute they're upside down in a ditch. 



Bottom line --  People keep trying to go faster in cars until it's enough to scare themselves. 
If the car is buiilt not to scare you as much at a given speed, then you'll push it faster. 

[Charger_Fan]

"Young & dumb"...there's a reason for that saying.
Some are just more dumb than others. There was definitely a time when that saying applied to me & I could have easily been that kid on at least 8 different occasions that come to mind. Quite often, a kid doesn't think of the possible severity of his actions as he's doing stupid stuff like that, and I bet there's a good chance the passengers in the car were prodding him on the whole way.

The 2nd dumb thing in this story would be the parents of the passengers going after Joshua's parents. No, they shouldn't have given him the keys to a fast car, but suing them isn't going to accomplish anything. Like some others have said here, he could have easily taken a few passengers to their graves by driving ANY car past it's limits...the parents can only warn a kid so much, then it's ultimately up to the kid whether he takes any of those warnings to heed. We all have to learn from our mistakes & with some of us, the mistakes need to be repeated a few times before it really sinks in.

Anyhoo, RIP Joshua & friends.

[FLG]

That just sucks. Im 19 and i see the way some of my friends drive, weaving in and out of traffic. Though i believe its the kids fault, i think having a fast sporty car is also a problem if the person doesnt know how to handle such a machine. My daily driver being a 95 pathfinder has kept me out of trouble, and having the 73 charger though it has the potential of going fast...it being my baby, i really dont want anything to happen to her, and even if i was a careless kid i dont think theres too many people who would try some of the maneuvers with the charger that these new sports cars can do. Im not saying were all going to go the speed limit, on a straight run i have put the pedal down to the floor...but i dont do this on a daily basis and would never consider doing this on a road i am not familiar with, i know people who regularly drive 100+ mph on the highway regardless of time or road conditions and its only a matter of time before this driving catches up to you. Some people get lucky, and some dont.  But thats what happens when you put an driver who is unexperienced behind the wheel of a fast car, yes this CAN happen with any car...but how many people really want to see how fast they can go in a 95 Nissan pathfinder?

God bless

[charger_mike75]

You can get yourself in trouble even with a 4 banger (ask my wife)    I have to agree that new cars insulate you from how fast your going, I drive the wifes car and can't keep from speeding, you just can't tell. then I get in my charger and I'm drivin like grandpa because I feel like I am going to fast. Must be all the noize. My first car was a 73 satellite custom w/ a 318 and my dad lectured me on the fact that I better watch it on the street cuz it would get me in trouble even though it was wore out.

[Lord Warlock]

Bottom line --  People keep trying to go faster in cars until it's enough to scare themselves. 
If the car is buiilt not to scare you as much at a given speed, then you'll push it faster. 

This is true.  You have to at least attain a speed that unnerves you in some way in order to avoid it again.  You'd think loss of control at 120 would do it for most, but it happened, and lived thru it (cool head prevailed) It just took a few years before i went that fast again.  But i'll be the first one to admit that I've taken every car i've ever owned (that had a v8 or more than 250hp) to see what the fastest it would go.  I'm way more likely to attempt this in a modern car than the old charger though, the charger served his time and survived...kind of... I still haven't tried it with my newest car though, I haven't had the chance opportunity on an interstate more than 65 miles out of town (everything within 65 miles is city limits-big city) its supposedly speed limited at 155 and thats not as fast as the previous car was so I don't feel a need to make an attempt that won't push the envelope a little bit more. 

The charger had its own way of scaring you, if it wasn't the tunnel vision above 125, or the door gap that widened enough to see pavement thru the cracks, or even the little thought bubbles that seemed to pop up out of mid air and inform me that the back brakes had never been rebuilt since i'd owned it, or even the speedo which went whacko above 120, varying 15 mph either way ..bouncing from 130 to 150.  Back then it used to give alot of visual queues to avoid speeding.  Today i don't expect the charger will ever exceed 90 again except on a track, the other cars are just much safer to drive that fast. 
The strange thing is that when i was a kid, i'd get tunnel vision at around 125 or so, you'd actually notice the field of view shrink, but this didn't seem to do the same thing in a newer car that sat lower, more aerodynamic, and had all wheel drive and wide rubber.  Even 160 seemed to be ok.  Maybe its just that my eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be.   

[FLG]

Warlock,

For me its the fact that at about 100-110 the charger seems to be displacing so much air with that big flat nose, and in my case with bad door seals that it begins to sound like a propeller plane then a car 

[Forza]

The worse part of this whole thing is in his thread on the m5 board he states he would never put other peoples lives in danger but that's exactly what he did. I don't care how good of a driver you are, you dont cram 4 of your buddies into a car and go 120-130mph. The only times I have ever gone at those speeds was when I was alone on an empty straight road. Even then it's dangerous but at least if something were to go wrong it would only be me paying the price.

My condolences to the families of the boys but he should have never been driving that car to begin with.

[TheGhost]

What a shame... Cody, My God pay close attention to this one. Chargers can be just as dangerous. .

Just a reason to post another one up so he can boost his post count. 

I didnt post it to raise my post count.


I always hated the fact that I have a 383...Ive always wanted a 440 or 426 but after hearing this story...Im happy with my 383 for now.

You hated having a 383?  Dude, I started with a slant 6.  The biggest engine I've driven for more than a few blocks is probably the 302 that was in my dads old farmtruck.


Don't mean to sound harsh, but the kid was an idiot.  Fastest I've taken a car (senior year in High School) was just over 100.  Got scared of losing control, so I backed down after only going a mile at that speed.  Considering the shape the car was in, I guess I'm lucky I didn't wreck.  Fastest I've had the Barracuda is 80 on the interstate.  May not be as exciting as doing 120, but I've seen people die young, and I want to live a nice, long life.