A car can be as dangerous as "a loaded gun,"

Professur

Professur

Well-Known Member
Reckless driving must be stopped by drivers themselves, McGuinty says

Tue Jun 19, 6:31 PM

TORONTO (CP) - A car can be as dangerous as "a loaded gun," and as much as the government has done to crack down on street racing and reckless driving, the responsibility ultimately lies in the hands of those behind the wheel, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.
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McGuinty was commenting on a Monday morning crash on the busy Highway 400 that killed a truck driver and snarled commuter traffic until late that night. Three men face a total of 11 charges in the crash, in which police blame speed and dangerous driving.

David Virgoe, 48, of Stroud, Ont., was identified Tuesday as the driver of the tractor-trailer who died in the crash. Virgoe leaves behind three children and five grandchildren.

Family members told the media Virgoe was a very safe and experienced driver who drove that stretch of highway each day.

The crash was the third major accident in four days on the busy north-south highway, and the second fatal one.

"There is no excuse for this kind of tragedy to unfold on Ontario highways," he said.

"We'll continue to talk to our police and ask them what it is more that we might do to make our highways safer, but at the end of the day there's one individual who sits behind the wheel in a car. It's like a loaded gun," McGuinty said at an auto industry funding announcement.

The premier also said he has no intention of revisiting the issue of photo radar. He said the best advice the government has received is that photo radar won't help.

Prabhjit Multani, 20, and Nauman Nusrat, 19, the two men accused in Virgoe's death, appeared in Barrie court Tuesday and were remanded in custody pending a bail hearing set for Friday.

Witnesses said two or three cars were speeding and weaving in and out of traffic when one caused the tractor-trailer to lose control. The big rig ripped out a guardrail and careened back across the highway, tumbling down an embankment and into a ditch.

"This is happening every day on our highways and I hope our justice system pulls through and sends a message out," said Ontario Provincial Police Const. Dave Woodforde.

Drivers are hailing Virgoe as a hero for veering away from traffic and saving lives in the process.

"That truck driver decided at some point in a split second that he was going to save the lives of at least a dozen people on that highway," said Brian Patterson of the Ontario Safety League in an interview.

"That guy's a hero in every measure - he's got to be commended for what he did because we would have had significantly higher carnage."

Standing beside Highway 400 early Tuesday, Const. Woodforde agreed that some drivers are failing to heed warnings to slow down on the highways.

"We are running a radar here (and) they're still not getting the message because we're clocking people at 125-130 kilometres an hour," he said.

"They just don't seem to get it."

McGuinty's words come as the Vatican issued a set of Ten Commandments for motorists, warning that cars can be "an occasion for sin."

Among other things, the unusual document warned about the effects of road rage, saying driving can bring out "primitive" behaviour in motorists, including "impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing, blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility or deliberate infringement of the highway code."
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Any bets about whether they thought they were good drivers???? I'm sure those grandkids are convinced.

Source
 
A car can be as dangerous as "a loaded gun,"
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A car is more dangerous because it is a much larger projectile and because you don't have to intend to shoot it. Just by momentum you are a (un)guided missile.
 
Damned straight. Put 'em right behind butter knives but ahead of hammers.
 
30K plus a year are killed by autos with 2 to 300K injured.

yep ban cars
Arm everyone.
 
Those two guys deserve to rot in hell! People who can't go with the flow of traffic should not be behind the wheel of a car...whether the general speed of the highway was 110km/hr or 50km/hr those guys should have been following the flow. On a highway there is no need to be weaving from lane to lane (well, there's really no reason on any road). You get on from the right, if you're getting off in a short distance stay to the right, if you're staying for awhile move to the left and then when you exit comes up move back to the right...it's not fucking rocket science.

Also, that article has a statement saying that it was the third major accident in four days on that highway...it wasn't a fucking ACCIDENT! It was STUPIDITY!
 
80.7782 miles per hour Oooh scary!

What is this, some kinda twisty poorly maintained two lane road?
Welcome to the 21st century Canucks.
Wait til you get a load of all the rest of the crap we got in store for ya!
 
Impounded street racing hot rods crushed
By GREG RISLING


RIALTO, Calif. (AP) — Charles Hoang winced when the whoosh went out of the tires. Daniel Maldonado took pictures with a digital camera as glass exploded and rained down to the ground.

The cars the teens had so meticulously souped up and tricked out were crushed Wednesday as part of a crackdown on illegal street racing in Southern California.

“That’s my heart, my dream,” said Hoang, 18, of Chino, who was surrounded by friends as his 1998 Acura Integra was put into a compactor. “That’s my girlfriend, the love of my life. The cops can crush my car, but they can’t crush my memories.”

Authorities destroyed six vehicles Wednesday at an auto graveyard, hoping would-be racers think again after looking at the mashed machines. Illegal street racing is responsible for or suspected in 13 deaths in Southern California since March.

The thrill-seeking, adrenaline-pumping activity is rampant in Riverside and San Bernardino counties east of Los Angeles where rows of tract homes line wide streets that attract racers. Nearly 1,000 people — drivers and spectators — have been arrested for investigation of street racing activities over the past two years in San Bernardino County alone.


Police said they have managed to reduce illegal racing and related fatal collisions, but know the underground hobby still thrives.

“We are making a dent,” said Ontario police Cpl. Jeff Higbee. “But it’s summertime and ... we expect to see more activity.”

Hoang said he was caught late last year racing his prized car, on which he spent at least $10,000 to get into top shape. The 350-horsepower engine topped out at 160 mph, Hoang said, swearing it could beat a Corvette or even a Ferrari.

When police popped open the hood, Hoang said, they found a stolen transmission. Hoang flashed a receipt for the transmission he bought from his father who runs an auto shop and doubted the item was hot.

“Everything on that car was practically brand new,” Hoang said as he watched his car get moved to auto death row. “They should take out the stuff that matters, auction it off, and give the money to charity.”

Because racers put heavy stress on their vehicles, they often burn out or blow up parts. Higbee said the need for the expensive parts has created a “theft mill” where additional cars — usually Hondas or Acuras — are stolen and stripped of the necessary replacements.

Most of the cars police examine are illegally modified. Sergio Zavala, 18, was pulled over in his 1993 yellow Honda Civic for a broken tail light in December. He had purchased a B-20 Vtech engine with a double-overhead cam a couple months before, and after a police investigation, was told it was stolen.

Zavala, who admits he’s been involved in street racing, estimates he and his mother spent about $10,000 on improvements to his car.

After watching his Civic demolished, Zavala is left without a car as he plans to attend a fire academy in the fall.

“It’s heartbreaking to see this,” said Zavala, who graduated from high school last year. “This is where all my time and money went.”

Maldonado also said he put plenty of time and effort working on his 1992 black Honda Civic. He was stopped in November by police in what Higbee described as an area where racers gather.

The 18-year-old mechanic said a vehicle identification sticker apparently fell off and without it, police suspected some of the parts were stolen. Maldonado stood several feet away from his car as it was pounded into a heap of metal.

Maldonado said he has taken the advice of police by racing legally on one of several race courses around Southern California. For the money spent in fines and other penalties — on average about $5,000 for illegally modified cars — Higbee said street racers could compete about 250 times a year at a legitimate track.

“If you have to race, take it to a legal venue,” Higbee said. “But as long as they keep racing illegally, we keep crushing their cars.”

All three men who saw their vehicles destroyed said they believe illegal street racing will continue to prosper across the region.

“It will never go away,” Maldonado said. “If it’s in your heart, you will continue to do it until you can’t anymore.”
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Source

And then we apply the three strikes rule.
 
That VIN sticker falling off... something stinks about that. There's a VIN plate at the bottom driver's-side corner of the windshield. The VIN is stamped into several places on the body... on parts not replaced by body kits. It's not like the only place on the whole car you can find a VIN is the data sticker on the inside of the driver's door.
 
Winky said:
80.7782 miles per hour Oooh scary!

What is this, some kinda twisty poorly maintained two lane road?
Welcome to the 21st century Canucks.
Wait til you get a load of all the rest of the crap we got in store for ya!
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It's actually a pretty well maintained, large highway. The issue is that they were WEAVING IN AND OUT OF TRAFFIC and CUT THE TRUCK DRIVER OFF! Plus if everyone else on the highway (it's a very busy highway) was doing say 65MPH then doing 80MPH WOULD be dangerous. I myself at times hit 130km/hr or so but only when other traffic is also going that speed or there's not really any other traffic around.
 
Couple comments about the article Prof posted...

1 - The kid with the "stolen transmission" presented a receipt from his father's auto shop?? How does that prove ANYTHING?! If it is stolen the guy (and his dad) could have still known about it and fabricated the receipt, not like it's a receipt from a stanger!

2 - The 18 y/o whose MOTHER gave him money to trick out his car?! WTF is wrong with that woman?! Who gives their child money so he can better break the law?
 
Professur said:
Try it on a Quebec road and start counting the car parts left behind.
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Oh I wouldn't drive 130 on a road I wasn't familiar with...that would be suicide (for me and/or the car). The 401 and 403 however I am VERY familiar with, and I am also pretty familiar with the 400, the 409 is too damn windey to go much over 100.
 
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