Dunno about the US, but here in the UK, if someone were to die in a car equipped with a button labeled "insane", for our tabloid press, that button would be the main focus and the car manufacturer would be hauled over the coals based on that alone. It would be sold to readers that having such a button encouraged insanity on the roads, and the manufacturer would be claimed to be irresponsible for having such a button. Oh, that would be true, even if the manufacturer could prove that the button was never used.
> ...[F]or our tabloid press, that button would be the main focus and the car manufacturer would be hauled over the coals based on that alone.
When did tabloids change from the place where you went to get the latest scoop on The Amazing Bat Boy to publications that folks actually paid attention to?
Similarly, should manufacturers design their products to be inoffensive to every bloviating, prevaricating alarmist with a blog? I don't think so. That's an unreasonable tax on both innovation and sound design. :)
No different from guns. It's about how and who is using them, not the guns.
I've owned one or another fire-breathing twin-turbocharged performance cars most of my life. I have never caused an accident. In fact, to echo what someone else said, some of the most dangerous situations I find myself in with alarming frequency is getting on the 5 fwy right behind someone who merges onto the freeway at 45 mph with semi-trucks buzzing by and refuses to push down on the accelerator. I couldn't even count the number of times I've seen, played out right in front of me, all the makings of a horrific accident because of a slow driver. Good fast drivers are more aware (they have to be) and just get out of the way. Slow drivers are dangerous.
That said, if these people were doing this on surface streets they are dangerous morons. It's no different from someone shooting a gun up in the air.
I would agree that while driving faster is inherently more dangerous by it's nature, the small increase in danger in that case is vastly less dangerous than driving without awareness of your surroundings, or driving without awareness of consequences even if you are aware of your surroundings (I'm talking about you, puddle-jumpers and people that switch lanes with less than a few feet between their bumpers and the people around them).
I used to think the same thing until my friend got a ticket for "exhibition of speed."[1] Essentially yes, you can get a ticket for accelerating too quickly even you're just accelerating to the speed limit.
> i punch it at full throttle to 65mph every time i use an
> on-ramp. i bought a performance car to use it as advertised.
>
> perfectly legal, and appropriate, when traffic permits.
It's not perfectly legal. Look up reckless driving or exhibition of speed laws. If you have a modern performance car and you do this in front of a cop, you're very likely to get a ticket. (An older car's full throttle might be too slow to concern a police officer and the laws are vague to allow the police officer's discretion.)
One can't legally use a performance car as advertised on public roads.
> in fact, if you don't, you're probably a shitty driver
I think you just mean you have to be at appropriate speed for a safe merge, but is full throttle really required? Unlikely.
Little irks me more than the occasional driver who comes to an unnecessary stop to merge onto a highway (I rear-ended one of these geniuses once, neither car was scratched fortunately). Or the guys who slow down to 20 mph when one is supposed to merge at full speed. Sigh...
That said, punching it is indeed an example of exhibition of speed and these videos clearly fit within its definition:
The DOT shortens on-ramps about every decade or so to save space. Unfortunately this means that only sports cars running wide open throttle are the only ones able to safely use them. GP is simply a safe driver.
In addition to adverts, remember to read the highway code. Typically there’re these niggling rules about appropriate speed, not being disruptive in traffic, and such.
yes, one thing you've got right - a lot of assholes on the road thinking that it is the other people around them who are shitty drivers. These assholes look the same today when i drive a hybrid as they looked before when i drove a sporty V8.
I've had people actually stop in front of me on the onramp a few times. Talk about dangerous. Now I and everyone else behind me has to get up to highway speed from 0 in about 50 feet.
Yeah SoCal has some really short on-ramps. I'm in Santa Barbara, and regularly see people hit the end of some of the sorter ones at about 35 when the freeway is going 70.
