Sobering sight today...
Sobering sight today...
I was taking a spirited drive in the Berkeley hills this afternoon on Bear Creek Road past Tilden Park (it's great: no traffic, twisties and sweeping turns, and a 50mph speed limit).
On the last fast section before you hit all the ranches, I noticed a particularly dark set of treadmarks crossing the double yellow and ending right in a tree off the shoulder. I think "man, that guy must have off'd himself;" and then I see there's a makeshift memorial in front of the tree with all sorts of signs and letters and trinkets. I slowed down and took a look - apparently some kid from a local high school lost control while driving and careened into the tree. From the width of the treadmarks it seems like he barreled into it sideways.
The whole image was pretty disturbing. On the way back, I noticed that the treadmarks started a few hundred feet earlier - he must have been wide on the previous left sweeper, guttered into a narrow ditch, popped out past the double yellow and overcorrected, sending him back across the road. Must have happened a few weeks, but I couldn't find anything about it on the local news sites.
On the last fast section before you hit all the ranches, I noticed a particularly dark set of treadmarks crossing the double yellow and ending right in a tree off the shoulder. I think "man, that guy must have off'd himself;" and then I see there's a makeshift memorial in front of the tree with all sorts of signs and letters and trinkets. I slowed down and took a look - apparently some kid from a local high school lost control while driving and careened into the tree. From the width of the treadmarks it seems like he barreled into it sideways.
The whole image was pretty disturbing. On the way back, I noticed that the treadmarks started a few hundred feet earlier - he must have been wide on the previous left sweeper, guttered into a narrow ditch, popped out past the double yellow and overcorrected, sending him back across the road. Must have happened a few weeks, but I couldn't find anything about it on the local news sites.
I think it's far too easy to get a drivers license in america. Probably not an experienced driver going too fast. I see those all around here. A guy a new died in Napa last year going too fast for the conditions. $hit happens.
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Originally posted by HomerJay
I think it's far too easy to get a drivers license in america. Probably not an experienced driver going too fast. I see those all around here. A guy a new died in Napa last year going too fast for the conditions. $hit happens.
I think it's far too easy to get a drivers license in america. Probably not an experienced driver going too fast. I see those all around here. A guy a new died in Napa last year going too fast for the conditions. $hit happens.
Cheers, Joe
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 349
From: Sacramento
Yeah,
I somehow survived my teens and early twenties too. I was a reckless mess of adrenaline and poor driving skills too. I lost a couple buddies as I was growing up. One was on a Triumph motorcycle and the other was killed by a drunk driver. Life its here then its not
I somehow survived my teens and early twenties too. I was a reckless mess of adrenaline and poor driving skills too. I lost a couple buddies as I was growing up. One was on a Triumph motorcycle and the other was killed by a drunk driver. Life its here then its not
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it's only by chance that i didn't get myself hurt when i was a teenager. raging hormones and cars can be a really bad combo. now i know how to cautiously find the limits of a car but back then i would just barrel in to turns and get way too squirelly. i had some really close calls. a realistic driving manual that recognized the propensity of teens to do stupid sh&t would have the words "slow in, fast out" in bold.
gee my parents tricked me and made me a car with 90 horsepower....man i wasnt goin anywhere with that...but after killing my suby in lost gatos i am a very safe driver now. im looking into auto cross schools and will improve my driving skills before i attack any twisties.
chris
R.I.P. Suby duby doo (my old wrx)
chris
R.I.P. Suby duby doo (my old wrx)
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 870
In the UK, insurance for under 21s for anything with over 80hp is prohibitive and this tends to limit what young adults can drive. As a 20 year old, my first car was a 1.6 Ford Escort. Most insurance quotes were in the $2000 a year region for basic liability. Bear in mind, this was 15 years ago!
The drive test is an hour long as well. I think that only 30% of people pass first time or something like that.
The drive test is an hour long as well. I think that only 30% of people pass first time or something like that.
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Electronic tracking of driving
My son is now 16 and driving on his learners permit. He is pretty level headed and seems to know right from wrong.
Never the less, I am going to purchase and install one of these when he has his 'solo' license:
http://www.landairsea.com/products/p...-tracking.html
and install it in his vehicle (whatever used, econo-box he gets) to have 'reviews' with him about his driving habits.
(If you don't want to click on the link, it's a GPS locator, with flash card memory and software that can store (up to) 5 years of driving data. THe software has the local (national?) maps on it and when the flash card data is overlayed on the map, it shows a speed color-coded display of where and when.)
Why? Because I remember how I was [\idiot] driving [idiot\] when I was his age.
Never the less, I am going to purchase and install one of these when he has his 'solo' license:
http://www.landairsea.com/products/p...-tracking.html
and install it in his vehicle (whatever used, econo-box he gets) to have 'reviews' with him about his driving habits.
(If you don't want to click on the link, it's a GPS locator, with flash card memory and software that can store (up to) 5 years of driving data. THe software has the local (national?) maps on it and when the flash card data is overlayed on the map, it shows a speed color-coded display of where and when.)
Why? Because I remember how I was [\idiot] driving [idiot\] when I was his age.
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,402
From: Bay Area
Car Info: 02 WRX wagon=dead; rollin' in a Craptastic Camry!
sad but true...
Originally posted by HomerJay
I think it's far too easy to get a drivers license in america. Probably not an experienced driver going too fast. I see those all around here. A guy a new died in Napa last year going too fast for the conditions. $hit happens.
I think it's far too easy to get a drivers license in america. Probably not an experienced driver going too fast. I see those all around here. A guy a new died in Napa last year going too fast for the conditions. $hit happens.
Teen age kid gets relatively new car bought by parents and it just feels too damn smooth. Next thing you know it has gotten away from you and you crash...
My first car was a '71 Nova with a 350! It's a good thing it handled like a boat on wheels.
That kept me from going way too fast. Before I was let loose on my own, I also had hundreds of hours with my folks in the passenger seat. The day I got my license, my dad and I went to a parking lot and he, um, "showed" me how easy it was for a car to get out of control. Then he let me practice. Humility is good.
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