Porsche should be selling bumper cars

[PhilDawson8270]

And that is what is so wrong. People shouldn't be allowed to have what they want. They should only be permitted to have things that a certain, self-selected group of people approve of. That way, we will all be safe and happy, whether we like it or not.

erm.....I think you should read my previous posts in this thread to see what side of the discussion my opinions lie

 

[RichardB]

Sorry, should have put a tongue-in-cheek smiley at the end.

 

[steveindenmark]

I wonder if they are also suing the driver of the car or the street planner who decided to put a lamp post in such a dangerous position. Maybe even the City planners who decided that the road was not fit for driving 90 mph on.

I could drive that Porche a million times along that road, within the speed limit and nothing would happen.

The only dangerous part on that Porche on that day was the nut behind the wheel.

 

[Tin Pot]

At ease, eating well
No more microwave dinners and saturated fats
A patient better driver, a safer car, baby smiling in back seat
Sleeping well, no bad dreams, no paranoia
Careful to all animals, never washing spiders down the plughole

 

[Over The Hill]

The other side of this, is that, it's not the cars that are made to be sporty that are influencing it.

The car manufacturers develop their products based on market data, they are building what people want. People want these cars, which is why they are built.

A fair few also want flick knives, pump action shotguns, hand guns, bull bars etc etc. We as a society have already stopped the sale of all these things. However when all these things were on sale in the UK the number of resulting deaths (and there clearly were deaths as a result) was tiny compared to the number of deaths caused by excessive speed on our roads.
There is a point at which the personal freedom of the individual is restricted for the safety of us all.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

But performance cars aren't proven to be the cause of excessive speed.

A Micra can be driven at excessive speed in a 30 zone (just about).

A bicycle can be used at excessive speed on shared foot paths.

I can run at an excessive speed around tesco.

It is not the vehicle, but the context in which the speed is used. The problem is the person making the judgement, not the vehicle for being capable

 

[John the Monkey]

Thank you for the offer but no, just NO!

I cannot believe this post is still going, I'm surprised everybody isn't dizzy re-visiting the same points over & over again.

The Top Gear thread (about just what should happen to a man who punches underlings when denied a hot dinner) ran to over 60 pages.

Had some decent jokes in it too.

 

[Over The Hill]

But performance cars aren't proven to be the cause of excessive speed.

A Micra can be driven at excessive speed in a 30 zone (just about).

A bicycle can be used at excessive speed on shared foot paths.

I can run at an excessive speed around tesco.

It is not the vehicle, but the context in which the speed is used. The problem is the person making the judgement, not the vehicle for being capable

How many times do you raise this point!
Can you not see that the person making the judgement can be influenced by a culture of speed? And that culture of speed may lead him to drive faster or indeed for fast driving to be socially acceptable by those around him?

(Sporty cars have not been singled out here because they go faster but because they demonstrate the owner to be buying into the culture of speed)

 

[Deleted member 26715]

How many times do you raise this point!
Can you not see that the person making the judgement can be influenced by a culture of speed? And that culture of speed may lead him to drive faster or indeed for fast driving to be socially acceptable by those around him?

(Sporty cars have not been singled out here because they go faster but because they demonstrate the owner to be buying into the culture of speed)

I could say the same to you, you seem to believe that anyone buying a fast car HAS to drive fast, I will openly admit I am a petrol head, I can look at engines & marvel at automotive creations all day long, but not just automotive lots of mechanical things, I spent my last birthday at York Railway museum in total awe of Steam trains.

I don't think I have ever own a car not capable of 80mph & there have been over 80 of them (currently have 7), I never drive at that speed on the public road, I rarely get to 70mph. So your ranting really is just that ranting, I have a small penis, yes I admit it, maybe that's why I like fast cars, I don't know I have never thought of that correlation. To me cars are a passion, I will go buy a car sometimes that I don't need just to have owned one, maybe because of the shape, maybe because of a particular factor, a specific engine, a suspension set-up, but I do this for me, not to brag to the world about it.

You have your pleasures, I have mine, you may drool over the latest carbon frame, the latest electronic shifter, not interested, £400 Giant Defy is all I ever need in a bike, but I don't berate anyone who wants to spend £3k on a bike, the twonk is the one behind the wheel not the car.

Rant over, now I will unsubscribe from the irrelevant & worthless post

Oh sorry just before I go, the guy who was driving Paul Walker in the Porsche was driving too fast for the conditions at the time of the accident, it was not the cars fault, unless of course there was a mechanical failure, which I don't understand there was.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

@Over The Hill

So you agree then that arbitrarily limiting, restricting, or legislating performance vehicles won't fix the issue?

But is a matter of driver attitude?

 

[User482]

There is no place in our society for super light carbon racing bikes, with skinny tyres that can do 60mph down a steep mountain road with just a crash helmet for protection.

I fail to see the relevance.

 

[Over The Hill]

@Over The Hill

So you agree then that arbitrarily limiting, restricting, or legislating performance vehicles won't fix the issue?

But is a matter of driver attitude?

Yes. But by doing one, you will change the other over time.

An example of this is smoking. 30 years ago it was seen as cool, the thing to do and people bought into that image. They wanted to join that group. It was deemed acceptable by society to do this. It killed lots of people. (So much like fast driving)
Legislation came along - restricting the sale of tobacco, restricting where you could smoke, the advertising was banned. Coupled with education on the effects of smoking.
Over time it became much less acceptable by society to smoke, less people did it and the general mindset towards smoking changed. People generally have moved away from smoking.
Exactly the same process can be followed with cars but that involves removing the deep association with racing and driving like a nutter. Same as the Marlboro man had to be removed in smoking.

I do see that this may upset some people of the Clarkson ilk who are immersed in that culture.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

I fail to see the relevance.

The relevance is that lots of things that lots of people have are not "needed". Yet they're nice to have, bikes may not kill people. But "fast cars aren't needed" is not a valid argument.

 

[User482]

The relevance is that lots of things that lots of people have are not "needed". Yet they're nice to have, bikes may not kill people. But "fast cars aren't needed" is not a valid argument.

No, it's a perfectly valid argument.

 

[gavroche]

I fail to see the relevance.

I was just being sarcastic. We live in a free society where , if you have the means, you can buy whatever you want. Buying a fast car does not make you a killer but putting a fast car in the wrong hands might make you a killer, although, not intentionally.