Young bloods crashing supercars

I was just driving home and saw a group of supercars parked alongside the road I live off of. This road is no tail of the dragon, but it's curvy like a lot of the roads in Western NC.  I just saw a Mustang had gone off into the trees on this same corner last week. I drove a little further, and I see a Lamborghini (pretty sure it was a Hurecan) off in the trees down a steep embankment. A group of young guys was milling about. Looks like one of them had run out of luck. There were McClarens, Lamborghinis, Porsches.
 

It made me think about the crazy stunts I pulled  when I was their age, and how I'm glad I didn't have the money for these new supercars. You can't really have fun with them on public roads. I was also wondering how these guys afford them. A lot of the cars had "CLT Racing" stickers on the side, so I assume they are from Charlotte, up here to enjoy the twisty roads. Everyone was laughing so I assume the driver was okay. It was a weird scene.
 

Anyway, not sure why I posted this. Just thought you all might enjoy your Miatas and slow cars that much more having read it. Drive safe out there.

Supercars?

I just saw a horrifying clip the other day of a big accident happening during a driving tour run by a "supercar tour" outfit. I would imagine the experience for a lot of folks is similar to a teenager hopping on a 600cc sportbike for the first time; lots and lots and lots of power without the experience or sense to use it responsibly. Warning, the clip is not pretty, and one of the couples died.

https://jalopnik.com/couple-dies-after-ferrari-lamborghini-and-campervan-cr-1850907539

and this is why I am thankful I only had acces to my mother's Pinto.............which was bad enough. Pretty sure you're not supposed to drive a Pinto down gravels roads at 90.

Given the way I road motorcycles it's a miracle I'm alive.

In reply to pointofdeparture :

Oof.  I saw that day of and didn't realize someone had died in it.

Funny enough, I'm actually in Charlotte now with an exotic car driving experience.  These cars are literally lethal weapons in the wrong hands.  Their capabilities are usually beyond the skillset of the average driver and they can also foster a false sense of confidence.  A public road is a bad place to explore what they can do... 

According to the article, the couple from Switzerland who died in the red Ferrari were in their 60s. The driver of the Lamborghini was described as a "Tycoon" from India. These were NOT young bloods sewing their wild oats. These were older, affluent people who should have known better. The innocent victims in the RV were injured. I don't know about the legal system in Italy but there will be one heck of a lawsuit over this one. Since they were not locals to the area but tourists from other countries, I would imagine the local prosecutors might want to sock it to the surviving driver for terrorizing their roads. They are considering homicide charges for him, even though both drivers could be considered at fault.

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

Fair point, but I feel like the world has shown us time and time again that age doesn't always correlate to wisdom or restraint. Hell, it often creates a sense of hubris that rivals the young bloods...I know plenty of folks going on twice my age that I sure wouldn't trust behind the wheel of a 700HP supercar, at least.

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

Affluence doesn't make you a better decision maker or driver.  It does give you access to faster machinery though.  I thought about a thread about people that drive triple digit speeds in public and how that should be handled, but I've never started it.  I see it sometimes and it isn't great for them or for anyone else trying to use the road for transportation. 

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

I wonder if what I saw was some sort of similar thing (exotic car experience). These guys were BABIES and I had a hard time imagining they had the cash to be able to buy all these cars. But I also know there are a lot of young folks making a lot of money out there. 

As a sort of spinoff to this:

As a racer I am amazed at the number of people who do so called canyon racing or the like. With track days so widely available this make so little sense to me.

TURO makes it incredibly easy for these guys to rent these cars for a day, with insurance.  It also makes it so that they can buy these cars on credit and rent the car out to make enough money for the payment.

In reply to Tom1200 :

Track days are unfortunately not as easily accessible in some areas. Think about it this way, an 18 year old kid has his own car and sees that a track 2 hours away has a track day on a Saturday morning for $200, but a very nice twisty road that is empty at night is a quick 15 minute drive away. That kid will end up going on the twisty road 9 times out of 10. Track days are definitely a better and legal way to race, but sadly they are not always available for everyone. I'm not defending people doing touge, it just makes sense to me as to why someone would go on a mountain or canyon road instead of a track.

Wait. You mean all those track days I went to people were racing me?   Did I win?  ;-)

pointofdeparture said:

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :.

I know plenty of folks going on twice my age that I sure wouldn't trust behind the wheel of a 700HP supercar, at least.

Totally.  Very often, my worst guests are men over 60.  More than half of them have quite diminished skills.  They are very jerky and those cars require very smooth movements.  If you don't, you can get in trouble in a HURRY. 

dean1484 said:

Wait. You mean all those track days I went to people were racing me?   Did I win?  ;-)

Yes you did win and so did everyone else.  You had fun in a safe designed for purpose environment.  You didn't endanger yourself or others = winning.

In reply to Nidos :

eh no it doesn't.  It's not comparable at all.  Not if you've actually done track stuff.  it never will be.  trying to put canyon carving BS in the same sentence as an actual road course event is grasping at straws.

CyberEric said:

I wonder if what I saw was some sort of similar thing (exotic car experience). These guys were BABIES and I had a hard time imagining they had the cash to be able to buy all these cars. But I also know there are a lot of young folks making a lot of money out there. 

There are also a lot of idiot new-money parents who think buying expensive toys for their kids is a great way to show off all that newfound wealth.

Vancouver is full of young people in supercars. Mainland Chinese immigrants have an expression called "immigration jail" where they have to spend a minimum of time in Canada over six years to maintain permanent residency. They do not want to move because they have a business in China but they want to keep the option. The mom and dad will commute back and forth and the kid will be signed up in a Canadian university and installed in a very expensive house and given an allowance and a car. The car is often a supercar and we wind up with bored 18 year olds street racing in Lambos and Ferrari 's with predictable results. I see them all the time in traffic and stay out of the way. 

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

pointofdeparture said:

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :.

I know plenty of folks going on twice my age that I sure wouldn't trust behind the wheel of a 700HP supercar, at least.

Totally.  Very often, my worst guests are men over 60.  More than half of them have quite diminished skills.  They are very jerky and those cars require very smooth movements.  If you don't, you can get in trouble in a HURRY. 

I am over 60 and I KNOW my reflexes aren't what they used to be. I respect my Mustang and only push it hard on the autocross course where there isn't anything to hit if I spin it. Somebody in my office said he never knew a Mustang owner who hadn't crashed within a month of getting the car. I have owned the car several years now and it has still never been wrecked. I do see how easy it would be to get in trouble with the car. Supercars would be even more so.

When I was 15 one of the neighbor kids got a Porsche for his 16th birrthday. Within three months he managed to kill himself in the car and seriously injure two passengers who were in the car with him. All three were drunk. This was back in the late 70s. Things really haven't changed that much. Only the cars have gotten faster.

Pretty much never hear about this happening to a solo driver; it always seems to be group activities. It's human nature, a unfortunate mix of: ego, bravado, oneupsmanship, and trying to create exciting videos for one's channel.

I've told people that the only reason I survived owning Midlana (1,800 lbs + 500hp mid-engine) was due to being old - and not kidding about it. Had I been given it at 18, it probably would have ended badly. On a related note, as much as I always wanted a sportbike, I stayed away, knowing that I'd get myself into trouble on that as well.

It looks like the camper hit something head on? What happened?

I got hit head on by a 458 about fourish years ago by a douche "borrowing" daddies car. Still have the scars. 

Way more money then skill and part of the reason I think we need graduated licensing in the states for bikes and cars. Especially with the electrics out now that are heavy and super fast. 

The whole bunch participating should at the minium, lose their drivers license and be sent to remedial driving school for 5 years.

NermalSnert (Forum Supporter) said:

It looks like the camper hit something head on? What happened?

What I think happened is that the red Ferrari was attempting a multi-car pass, including the camper.  The dark blue / black car made a pass attempt at the camper at the same time, not realizing the red Ferrari was steaming up the left lane.  The red car got bounced into the woods on the left side of the road; the blue /black car got bounced into the quarter of the camper, spinning it 90d and overturning it.