Testimant to BMW Safety(And why you don't give a 16 year old kid a 360 HP V8)

[Invadermoose]

Just because these things always make me kind of angry. I was 16 and 17 driving a 600 rear wheel horsepower Camaro everyday. Age has nothing to do with how much of a bad driver you are. Some people think "hmm if I floor it the car might slide out from under me and I'll hit a guard rail and die.. Probably shouldn't do this on a public road" then others think "DUUUDEE THIS CAR IS SO FAST LEMME FLOOR IT AND MAYBE ID GET MAD CHICKS MANNNN". I think it's a lot more to do with how they've been trained or even raised in the past with how much of a reckless driver they are.
See, I love cars, when I drive, I actually drive it. I don't sit there and mash the gas pedal, log into Facebook, call my friends, make a smoothie, or whatever else people are doing in cars. The only accident I've ever been in was someone backing into me while I was parked and not even in my car. I can say this, I've driven 45,000 miles in my life and I'm 18 been driving since 16. My only cars were a 600hp Camaro and a 08 e93. It's not just age

[Singletrack]

Originally Posted by Invadermoose

Just because these things always make me kind of angry. I was 16 and 17 driving a 600 rear wheel horsepower Camaro everyday. Age has nothing to do with how much of a bad driver you are. Some people think "hmm if I floor it the car might slide out from under me and I'll hit a guard rail and die.. Probably shouldn't do this on a public road" then others think "DUUUDEE THIS CAR IS SO FAST LEMME FLOOR IT AND MAYBE ID GET MAD CHICKS MANNNN". I think it's a lot more to do with how they've been trained or even raised in the past with how much of a reckless driver they are.
See, I love cars, when I drive, I actually drive it. I don't sit there and mash the gas pedal, log into Facebook, call my friends, make a smoothie, or whatever else people are doing in cars. The only accident I've ever been in was someone backing into me while I was parked and not even in my car. I can say this, I've driven 45,000 miles in my life and I'm 18 been driving since 16. My only cars were a 600hp Camaro and a 08 e93. It's not just age

You are the exception not the rule unfortunately. Most people are not good drivers; and neither are their kids. ; ) Most people give poor or no instruction. Likewise, most kids, and people really, learn the limits by failing. I'd rather have them fail in a reasonably powered Honda, than a huge, fast BMW. That is just me though.

My daughter will be in karting, as well as various driving education before she ever drives a large, powerful, German car : )

[In Extremis]

Originally Posted by py0413

years ago I used to hang out with my friends in a cafe which a friend of mine owned. It was at a high-end district of the town and late at light you get to see people coming with their nice cars and bikes. One thing I realized was that when those teens gather, they always talk about how much they spend on their mods, how fast they drove their expensive cars on the street. I still remember one of the 16 yr old boys told my friend (the cafe owner) that he was going 180km (in his highly tuned 996 tt) on the street of Downtown Vancouver at 2am the day before. And his friend crashed into someone's home in west-end while street racing some BMW in his E55. None of them talked about going to a track or attend some professional driving school.

However, there would be another group of guys who were in their late 20s or early 30s, they would than talk about going to a track down Seattle or somewhere in USA. People in this group didn't rev up their engine when they arrive or leave; they don't turn up music like they own the city; and they don't take off in a way to show you they've got fast cars.

So age matters? to me, YES.

These two groups seem like apples and oranges to me. The rich punks like modded sports cars so they can show off. Most will grow into adults who still want to be a " playa." They only appreciate straight line speed or being able to drift around in front of friends. The other group are true enthusiasts who are at that point because they have a genuine passion for motorsport.

Studies have shown that late teen male brains do not anticipate fear in the same manner as an adult. I still believe it comes down to individual maturity though and certainly not the car. Horsepower may have contributed, but most of my friends who had accidents during my teen years had crap cars. It was always the same.. Already up to speed and can't make the corner. It's a matter of acting like an idiot, imo.

[boostedM]

Originally Posted by jordanE92

Horsepower may have contributed, but most of my friends who had accidents during my teen years had crap cars. It was always the same.. Already up to speed and can't make the corner. It's a matter of acting like an idiot, imo.

+1. There was a guy in a neighboring county back home who tried to see how fast his POS N/A Mitsubishi Eclipse could go. Ended up killing himself and the girl in the passenger seat, and sent the two kids in the back to the ICU. He did this in a car with 162hp. Less power than my street bike. Maybe if he had been in a 550, the car would have actually been safe enough to save some lives.

[nick3753]

Don't some cars have limiters you can set? I know I had a ford focus rental recently that the key was set not allow the car above 80. Drove me nuts so I returned the car for a different car. Clearly on AVERAGE age correlates with maturity and experience. I'm scared I death of when my 4 yr old gets old enough to drive

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by Singletrack

You are the exception not the rule unfortunately. Most people are not good drivers; and neither are their kids. ; ) Most people give poor or no instruction. Likewise, most kids, and people really, learn the limits by failing. I'd rather have them fail in a reasonably powered Honda, than a huge, fast BMW. That is just me though.

My daughter will be in karting, as well as various driving education before she ever drives a large, powerful, German car : )

+1..for every 16 yr old that says I never crashed there are many, many more that have..anyone thinking age and wrecking out are not related are deluding themselves

[nick3753]

I would say that there is a major difference in the type of experience that someone would learn from kart or other tracking compared to daily driving experience. There is no doubt that the track experience would make you have more car control and therefore maybe less risk when driving high powered cars earlier than others without that training. You may have better judgement when it comes to not driving like an ass, similar to adults who track that say they drive more tame on the road and unleash it all at the track. But, in a semi controlled environment like a track, you are not going to get everyday situational experience such as making left hand turns at a busy intersections or something similar.

[dnvrdrvr]

Originally Posted by nick3753

I would say that there is a major difference in the type of experience that someone would learn from kart or other tracking compared to daily driving experience. There is no doubt that the track experience would make you have more car control and therefore maybe less risk when driving high powered cars earlier than others without that training. You may have better judgement when it comes to not driving like an ass, similar to adults who track that say they drive more tame on the road and unleash it all at the track. But, in a semi controlled environment like a track, you are not going to get everyday situational experience such as making left hand turns at a busy intersections or something similar.

Have you ever been to the track? I can say unequivocally I'm a far better driver on the street having spent time there BECAUSE my situational awareness has improved drastically.

[Singletrack]

Originally Posted by nick3753

I would say that there is a major difference in the type of experience that someone would learn from kart or other tracking compared to daily driving experience. There is no doubt that the track experience would make you have more car control and therefore maybe less risk when driving high powered cars earlier than others without that training. You may have better judgement when it comes to not driving like an ass, similar to adults who track that say they drive more tame on the road and unleash it all at the track. But, in a semi controlled environment like a track, you are not going to get everyday situational experience such as making left hand turns at a busy intersections or something similar.

Most tracks offer courses for teenagers that are pretty complete courses. They are designed to prepare them for the road. The BMW performance center, as an example, offers such courses.

[Krozi]

Wrong Wrong Wrong

[eisenb11]

Counterpoints that sound like this are ridiculous: "X should be ok, because when I was a kid, I did it too and everything turned out fine".

You are the exception to the norm. When referring to a group as whole what you did as a kid was irrelevant and shouldn't trump common sense.

"When Bob was a 16, he had a Glock and was personally responsible with it". Ok, fine, let's let all 16 year olds have a gun then. Does this sound dumb? Yes? Exactly.

Common sense dictates that 16 year old kids shouldn't be driving performance cars because *in general* they lack the maturity and experience to be put in control of these machines.

That's not to say that all adults are better off, but *in general* and at the least, adults have more experience (even if the maturity aspect is in question).

[mrkhanna16]

Another old guy hating on young kids. What about the 50 year olds that get into accidents? Huh???

[nick3753]

Originally Posted by dnvrdrvr

Have you ever been to the track? I can say unequivocally I'm a far better driver on the street having spent time there BECAUSE my situational awareness has improved drastically.

I don't doubt that tracking makes you a better driver on the street. The previous statements were that young drivers that drive track or kart had sufficient experience to justify driving a high powered road vehicle. I'm just saying that with real world driving comes experience that will not be learned at the track and that that experience is equally important.