Daddy bought a 17 year old son a Viper, totaled in less than a day, passenger dead

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sxr7171

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2002
5,079
40
91
Originally posted by: SithSolo1
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Your parents are stupid. A 15 year old has no business behind the wheel of a car with 300hp.

BTW-No, money and the car don't make you a good or bad driver but experience makes you a better driver or at the very least a responsible driver.

True it might have a lot of horse power but it's probably the best handling car we own. My truck on the other hand will come around on you in a heart beat if you so much as tap the gas while turning. Come to think of it the viper is the same way, must be a Dodge thing.

Very true... There is a huge difference between an AWD Subaru or Audi and a rear-wheel drive machine with a huge truck engine. The Viper wasn't really built for refinement and handling, it was built to go fast.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,534
911
126
Originally posted by: SithSolo1
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Your parents are stupid. A 15 year old has no business behind the wheel of a car with 300hp.

BTW-No, money and the car don't make you a good or bad driver but experience makes you a better driver or at the very least a responsible driver.

True it might have a lot of horse power but it's probably the best handling car we own. My truck on the other hand will come around on you in a heart beat if you so much as tap the gas while turning. Come to think of it the viper is the same way, must be a Dodge thing.

It's still easy to get into trouble with a car like that. Especially with the stock tires in very cold climates or if you drive it where it snows on the stock Bridgestone RE070s.
 

Mokmo418

Senior member
Jul 13, 2004
339
0
0
1. As i remember my driver's ed correctly, anyone 16 and over is responsible for his own seatbelt. Car gets stopped, passenger doesn't have belt on, gets ticket. That's also a huge waiver of responsibility given to the driver.

2. Do insurance companies even insure 17 yr olds for driving a Viper, even if it's secondary driver (Could also be that it was on the father's name to save insurance, happens a lot). This is a car that needs training to drive. Ever heard of BMW driver training ? It's included with some of their more expensive cars (3 levels each around 300$)

3. This reminds me of a young driver who last year totaled 2 identical, brand new, heavily modified, Mazda Proteges, in less than 6 months (ain't a Viper but we got the crappiest roads in N. America, so speed's never a good idea). First time rear ended a car stopped at an intersection. Second time, tried to jump a small bridge while returning from the City with a few friends. Lost control at landing and ended up into a house, debris missing the occupant by a few feet. oth cars had been paid by his uncle. Last thing i heard he was driving another of his uncle's gift: a beat-up truck (even though he's on a temporary suspended licence because of DUI suspicion on the second wreck)
 

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
6
81
Originally posted by: Boze
I'd also like to point out that a lot of people are making some pretty quick generalizations here... you don't know the kid's driving background, you don't know the reason he got into an accident... maybe he ran over something in the road and a tire blew out on him; most people don't know how to control a vehicle well enough (especially not a power vehicle like a Viper) to maintain control of it during that type of situation.

You people need to shut the hell up and wait until more details are released; if its determined that the kid was going entirely too fast, then I'll join in and we can all rail him for his stupidity.

Actually, if the kid WASN'T speeding, that would strengthen our claim. Any car can be dangerous at 120MPH. A Viper is dangerous at 30MPH, all you have to do is hit the throttle a bit too hard around the corner, hit a patch of sand, blow out a tire, ANYTHING and you run smack into a tree, whereas an econobox would shrug it off and keep going.

Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
0
alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: jagec
Originally posted by: Boze
I'd also like to point out that a lot of people are making some pretty quick generalizations here... you don't know the kid's driving background, you don't know the reason he got into an accident... maybe he ran over something in the road and a tire blew out on him; most people don't know how to control a vehicle well enough (especially not a power vehicle like a Viper) to maintain control of it during that type of situation.

You people need to shut the hell up and wait until more details are released; if its determined that the kid was going entirely too fast, then I'll join in and we can all rail him for his stupidity.

Actually, if the kid WASN'T speeding, that would strengthen our claim. Any car can be dangerous at 120MPH. A Viper is dangerous at 30MPH, all you have to do is hit the throttle a bit too hard around the corner, hit a patch of sand, blow out a tire, ANYTHING and you run smack into a tree, whereas an econobox would shrug it off and keep going.

Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE.

if the Viper is truly "dangerous at 30 MPH", someone needs to sue Dodge. :p
:roll:
 

Tanner

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2001
7,391
0
0
I've always wanted a Dodge Viper. The ironic fact of the matter is that in the future I'll be able to afford one, but I won't be able to afford the fuel for it! DOH! :D
 

SparkyJJO

Lifer
May 16, 2002
13,357
7
81
that's sick
"here you go son, go have some fun and crash this huge-$$$$ car"
dumb dumb dumb......... :roll:
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81
Originally posted by: Tanner
I've always wanted a Dodge Viper. The ironic fact of the matter is that in the future I'll be able to afford one, but I won't be able to afford the fuel for it! DOH! :D

The cost of fuel would be a ridiculously tiny percentage of what you spend, lagging far behind your car payments/depreciation and insurance payments
 

exdeath

Lifer
Jan 29, 2004
13,679
10
81
Serves the spoiled brat right.

My Cobra could whoop his ass and I paid for it MYSELF thank you very much ;)

And I still have mine! HAH
 

sxr7171

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2002
5,079
40
91
Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: jagec
Originally posted by: Boze
I'd also like to point out that a lot of people are making some pretty quick generalizations here... you don't know the kid's driving background, you don't know the reason he got into an accident... maybe he ran over something in the road and a tire blew out on him; most people don't know how to control a vehicle well enough (especially not a power vehicle like a Viper) to maintain control of it during that type of situation.

You people need to shut the hell up and wait until more details are released; if its determined that the kid was going entirely too fast, then I'll join in and we can all rail him for his stupidity.

Actually, if the kid WASN'T speeding, that would strengthen our claim. Any car can be dangerous at 120MPH. A Viper is dangerous at 30MPH, all you have to do is hit the throttle a bit too hard around the corner, hit a patch of sand, blow out a tire, ANYTHING and you run smack into a tree, whereas an econobox would shrug it off and keep going.

Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE.

if the Viper is truly "dangerous at 30 MPH", someone needs to sue Dodge. :p
:roll:

Any car with that kind of power going to the rear wheels is dangerous at almost any speed. You have to learn how to drive it. Which is what he means by: "Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE."

You could be could be coasting at 5 MPH and drop the clutch and find yourself spinning around. The worst thing is that when you start spinning like for the first time you are so surprised by what happened that you basically do something stupid like floor it even more or turn the wheel in the wrong direction. You need to be trained.

At the Skip Barber school (which BMW used to use - maybe they still do - for driver training) they teach you how to throw your car into a minor spin and teach you how to correct it. Then you slowly get used to the spinning motion and instinctively act to resolve it instead of making it worse.
 

exdeath

Lifer
Jan 29, 2004
13,679
10
81
Originally posted by: sxr7171
Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: jagec
Originally posted by: Boze
I'd also like to point out that a lot of people are making some pretty quick generalizations here... you don't know the kid's driving background, you don't know the reason he got into an accident... maybe he ran over something in the road and a tire blew out on him; most people don't know how to control a vehicle well enough (especially not a power vehicle like a Viper) to maintain control of it during that type of situation.

You people need to shut the hell up and wait until more details are released; if its determined that the kid was going entirely too fast, then I'll join in and we can all rail him for his stupidity.

Actually, if the kid WASN'T speeding, that would strengthen our claim. Any car can be dangerous at 120MPH. A Viper is dangerous at 30MPH, all you have to do is hit the throttle a bit too hard around the corner, hit a patch of sand, blow out a tire, ANYTHING and you run smack into a tree, whereas an econobox would shrug it off and keep going.

Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE.

if the Viper is truly "dangerous at 30 MPH", someone needs to sue Dodge. :p
:roll:

Any car with that kind of power going to the rear wheels is dangerous at almost any speed. You have to learn how to drive it. Which is what he means by: "Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE."

You could be could be coasting at 5 MPH and drop the clutch and find yourself spinning around. The worst thing is that when you start spinning like for the first time you are so surprised by what happened that you basically do something stupid like floor it even more or turn the wheel in the wrong direction. You need to be trained.

At the Skip Barber school (which BMW used to use - maybe they still do - for driver training) they teach you how to throw your car into a minor spin and teach you how to correct it. Then you slowly get used to the spinning motion and instinctively act to resolve it instead of making it worse.


For anyone who has never driven a car with that much HP at the wheels... as odd as it is, you go SIDEWAYS if you stomp the gas and if you don't know what you are doing, you will most likely end up staring at your own ass!

I recommend ANYBODY with WHATEVER car they drive to find a safe/legal place where you can take your car out and just go crazy. Put it into a spin, peel out, pop the clutch, floor it and see what happens if you try to make a 90 degree turn or slam on the brakes at 100 mph, just go nuts and scare the shit! out of yourself. Get a feel for the limits of your driving skill and your vehicles material limits. After you do this, let me know how you feel when you go back out onto the road knowing that 99% of people driving around you are not aware of the things you just learned... scary.

Driving is unfortunately one of those few things in life that has no substitute for experience.
 

mooncancook

Platinum Member
May 28, 2003
2,874
50
91
I don't think persecuting the father and son make any sense. Let's say a parent buys his son an used Civic and he wrecks it and kills someone in the wreck, we won't persecute them, but if the parent buys a viper then we can persecute them? It makes no sense unless laws forbid teens to drive a viper.

I'd say this is a lession to learn, nothing more nothing less. Lesson for passengers to wear seatbelt, lesson for parents to be considerate for what they buy for their kids. The father in this case is really stupid to let his 17 yr old son to drive a viper. Even in a race track the viper is known for crazy straight line speed with mediocre handling. It's a bad idea to give it to a 17-yr old boy who probably got his driving experience from Grand Tourismo in his PS2. I assume the dad learned his lession coz he almost killed his son.

as for the son i don't really blame him that much. Just imagine if i can get my hands on a viper when i was 17 i would probably do the same: drive fast and show off. It's normal teen behavior and 99% of us here probably will do the same. It's easy to blame others.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
0
alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: sxr7171
Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: jagec
Originally posted by: Boze
I'd also like to point out that a lot of people are making some pretty quick generalizations here... you don't know the kid's driving background, you don't know the reason he got into an accident... maybe he ran over something in the road and a tire blew out on him; most people don't know how to control a vehicle well enough (especially not a power vehicle like a Viper) to maintain control of it during that type of situation.

You people need to shut the hell up and wait until more details are released; if its determined that the kid was going entirely too fast, then I'll join in and we can all rail him for his stupidity.

Actually, if the kid WASN'T speeding, that would strengthen our claim. Any car can be dangerous at 120MPH. A Viper is dangerous at 30MPH, all you have to do is hit the throttle a bit too hard around the corner, hit a patch of sand, blow out a tire, ANYTHING and you run smack into a tree, whereas an econobox would shrug it off and keep going.

Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE.

if the Viper is truly "dangerous at 30 MPH", someone needs to sue Dodge. :p
:roll:

Any car with that kind of power going to the rear wheels is dangerous at almost any speed. You have to learn how to drive it. Which is what he means by: "Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE."

You could be could be coasting at 5 MPH and drop the clutch and find yourself spinning around. The worst thing is that when you start spinning like for the first time you are so surprised by what happened that you basically do something stupid like floor it even more or turn the wheel in the wrong direction. You need to be trained.

At the Skip Barber school (which BMW used to use - maybe they still do - for driver training) they teach you how to throw your car into a minor spin and teach you how to correct it. Then you slowly get used to the spinning motion and instinctively act to resolve it instead of making it worse.

last time . . .

IF the Dodge Viper is "truly dangerous" it could not be sold without the owner passing a mandatory driving skills class (period) ;)

and i DO know how to drive "dangerous" high-powered "race" cars . . . . :p
:roll:
 

sxr7171

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2002
5,079
40
91
Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: sxr7171
Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: jagec
Originally posted by: Boze
I'd also like to point out that a lot of people are making some pretty quick generalizations here... you don't know the kid's driving background, you don't know the reason he got into an accident... maybe he ran over something in the road and a tire blew out on him; most people don't know how to control a vehicle well enough (especially not a power vehicle like a Viper) to maintain control of it during that type of situation.

You people need to shut the hell up and wait until more details are released; if its determined that the kid was going entirely too fast, then I'll join in and we can all rail him for his stupidity.

Actually, if the kid WASN'T speeding, that would strengthen our claim. Any car can be dangerous at 120MPH. A Viper is dangerous at 30MPH, all you have to do is hit the throttle a bit too hard around the corner, hit a patch of sand, blow out a tire, ANYTHING and you run smack into a tree, whereas an econobox would shrug it off and keep going.

Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE.

if the Viper is truly "dangerous at 30 MPH", someone needs to sue Dodge. :p
:roll:

Any car with that kind of power going to the rear wheels is dangerous at almost any speed. You have to learn how to drive it. Which is what he means by: "Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE."

You could be could be coasting at 5 MPH and drop the clutch and find yourself spinning around. The worst thing is that when you start spinning like for the first time you are so surprised by what happened that you basically do something stupid like floor it even more or turn the wheel in the wrong direction. You need to be trained.

At the Skip Barber school (which BMW used to use - maybe they still do - for driver training) they teach you how to throw your car into a minor spin and teach you how to correct it. Then you slowly get used to the spinning motion and instinctively act to resolve it instead of making it worse.

last time . . .

IF the Dodge Viper is "truly dangerous" it could not be sold without the owner passing a mandatory driving skills class (period) ;)

and i DO know how to drive "dangerous" high-powered "race" cars . . . . :p
:roll:

Maybe you should stop reading things so literally and try to understand that what Boze meant by dangerous at 30MPH is that the car can very easily be sent out of control by driver error at that speed. Few cars can be sent so much torque to the wheels at 30 MPH so as to lose grip at 30MPH. It's pretty hard to kill yourself in a Camry at 30MPH just by injudicious use of the throttle. Whereas in a Viper you can pretty much kill yourself solely by not judiciously applying throttle.

The vast majority of people have not driven a car that can be sent into a spin with just throttle (especially since the majority of cars sold are front wheel drive and those that are not usually have some kind of traction control that lets you get away with murder on the throttle). So a car like the Viper is dangerous in the hands of most people who have no clue of easy it is to lose grip. A family sedan does not lose grip at lower speeds, but a Viper can and does in wrong hands.

Apparently the license you allowing you drive is considered sufficient to drive a Viper. Yet we know how under-educated the average driver to even drive a Corolla. So defining something as dangerous by how the government regulates it's use is pretty pointless. Any number of OTC drugs/paint thinners etc. can be misused and hence can be dangerous, but you won't be needing a prescription for Tylenol or a license to buy paint thinner any time soon.
 

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
6
81
Originally posted by: apoppin
IF the Dodge Viper is "truly dangerous" it could not be sold without the owner passing a mandatory driving skills class (period) ;)

You don't know much about politics/law, do you?

For example, guns are dangerous. True? True. Yet, you don't need a special license to run down to the local store, pick up a shotgun, and manage to blow your brains out. Nor should you....life is not sugar-coated with padded walls, and for the most part the law recognizes that people need to decide for themselves if they are qualified to operate certain "dangerous" pieces of equipment. If we tried to micro-manage on that level, you'd need two cops for every regular citizen to make sure no one is doing something unauthorized.

Imagine if you had to be qualified on everything you bought. Ha! That would truly be the ultimate nanny state.
 

SRT10

Member
Oct 18, 2004
47
0
0
Sxr7171 is right, at even low speeds the Viper can lose it's traction and before you know it, you are on the other side of the road. It's happened a few times in my dads 05 srt-10.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
0
alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: sxr7171
Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: sxr7171
Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: jagec
Originally posted by: Boze
I'd also like to point out that a lot of people are making some pretty quick generalizations here... you don't know the kid's driving background, you don't know the reason he got into an accident... maybe he ran over something in the road and a tire blew out on him; most people don't know how to control a vehicle well enough (especially not a power vehicle like a Viper) to maintain control of it during that type of situation.

You people need to shut the hell up and wait until more details are released; if its determined that the kid was going entirely too fast, then I'll join in and we can all rail him for his stupidity.

Actually, if the kid WASN'T speeding, that would strengthen our claim. Any car can be dangerous at 120MPH. A Viper is dangerous at 30MPH, all you have to do is hit the throttle a bit too hard around the corner, hit a patch of sand, blow out a tire, ANYTHING and you run smack into a tree, whereas an econobox would shrug it off and keep going.

Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE.

if the Viper is truly "dangerous at 30 MPH", someone needs to sue Dodge. :p
:roll:

Any car with that kind of power going to the rear wheels is dangerous at almost any speed. You have to learn how to drive it. Which is what he means by: "Even responsible drivers shouldn't drive supercars if they don't have EXPERIENCE."

You could be could be coasting at 5 MPH and drop the clutch and find yourself spinning around. The worst thing is that when you start spinning like for the first time you are so surprised by what happened that you basically do something stupid like floor it even more or turn the wheel in the wrong direction. You need to be trained.

At the Skip Barber school (which BMW used to use - maybe they still do - for driver training) they teach you how to throw your car into a minor spin and teach you how to correct it. Then you slowly get used to the spinning motion and instinctively act to resolve it instead of making it worse.

last time . . .

IF the Dodge Viper is "truly dangerous" it could not be sold without the owner passing a mandatory driving skills class (period) ;)

and i DO know how to drive "dangerous" high-powered "race" cars . . . . :p
:roll:

Maybe you should stop reading things so literally and try to understand that what Boze meant by dangerous at 30MPH is that the car can very easily be sent out of control by driver error at that speed. Few cars can be sent so much torque to the wheels at 30 MPH so as to lose grip at 30MPH. It's pretty hard to kill yourself in a Camry at 30MPH just by injudicious use of the throttle. Whereas in a Viper you can pretty much kill yourself solely by not judiciously applying throttle.

The vast majority of people have not driven a car that can be sent into a spin with just throttle (especially since the majority of cars sold are front wheel drive and those that are not usually have some kind of traction control that lets you get away with murder on the throttle). So a car like the Viper is dangerous in the hands of most people who have no clue of easy it is to lose grip. A family sedan does not lose grip at lower speeds, but a Viper can and does in wrong hands.

Apparently the license you allowing you drive is considered sufficient to drive a Viper. Yet we know how under-educated the average driver to even drive a Corolla. So defining something as dangerous by how the government regulates it's use is pretty pointless. Any number of OTC drugs/paint thinners etc. can be misused and hence can be dangerous, but you won't be needing a prescription for Tylenol or a license to buy paint thinner any time soon.

you're just talking "degrees"

the Viper is clearly not dangerous inherently . . . as long as you have respect for it's power. :p Front wheel drive is not inherently "safer" . . . almost all cars used to be rear-wheel drive . . . and an understeer is not safer than an oversteer nor is "neutral" steering completely ideal in all situations. ;)

ANYTHING is dangerous. Simply not paying attention for an instant MAY mean the difference between life-or-death - IF "something happens" during that instant.
. . . in ANY car - and in the Viper, if you have the wits, you can often get out of trouble that an under-powered car cannot avoid. :p

Frankly, i believe the full-size SUV is inherently more "dangerous" than the Viper - especially because it appears so "easy" to drive - like a car . . . . But your average soccer mom i s completely "lost" in an emergency that takes a quick "swerve".
:roll:
 

iskim86

Banned
Jul 6, 2001
1,802
0
0
www.isaackim.org
what's the big deal? the dad bought his 17 year old son a dodge viper. so? maybe it was dumb of the parents but the true moral of the story is, "Wear your goddamn seatbelts"