[Justin]

This happened just this past Saturday. Some guy bought his son a 2004 Viper SRT-10 and the kid wreaked it later that night and killed his passenger. Now that doesn't seem too much out of place until you relize that the son was a 17 year old high school senior! My question is who in the right mind goes out and buys thier 17 year old child a performance car with nearly 500hp?! Also keeping in mind that this is small town Iowa that has a senior graduating class of under 30! It's kinda funny how people on this forum advised against high school aged kids to get the RL. I think this puts things into perspective.

 

[Sp00ner]

This happened just this past Saturday. Some guy bought his son a 2004 Viper SRT-10 and the kid wreaked it later that night and killed his passenger. Now that doesn't too much out of place until you relize that the son was a 17 year old high school senior! My question is who in the right mind goes out and buys thier 17 year old child a performance car with nearly 500hp?! Also keeping in mind that this is small town Iowa that has a senior graduating class of under 30! It's kinda funny how people on this forum advised against high school aged kids to get the RL. I think this puts things into perspective.

I had a 500+ hp TransAm that I inherited when I was 18, and I can tell you that if I didn't blow it up, I'd be dead or paralyzed right now.

 

[Blu_Redline]

I had a 500+ hp TransAm that I inherited when I was 18, and I can tell you that if I didn't blow it up, I'd be dead or paralyzed right now.

It doesn't even have to be anywhere close to 400+ HP to be a bad idea for a new driver to drive hi-performance vehicles. I had an '82 Trans Am H.O. (305 cu in high output - woo hoo! ) that didn't fit having two small girls in car seats, it just wasn't practical. I put it up for sale and a guy answered the ad, said he would take it and in the process of transferring the title he mentioned that the car was really for his 19 yr. old daughter. I wanted to stop the process right then and there. I told him that no way was that a car for a 19 yr old, much less a girl. He said not to worry, her mom has a Z/28 and she knows how to drive that, I restate my concern and he insists it's OK.
Now, this is a car that when passing another vehicle in the rain, the rear tires would break loose every time. From a pedal stomp, it would light up the tires and chirp them if manually shifted into 2nd. (automatic trans)

Fast forward 2 weeks to the phone call about him under reporting the tax value to the state, I ask "how's the daughter like the car?" His resopnse was "well, she's OK." What's that mean I ask. It seems a week after buying the car, she and 3 friends were out joy riding in it and proceeded to wrap it around a phone pole. No one seriously hurt, car was TOTALED. This pissed me off, that car had a rare buckskin leather seat option, rare Trans AM rims for an '84, black with T-Tops, rare option radio and the lil bitch pole-slams it. I just knew from my years of "driving like I stole it" that a car like that and a young driver = trouble.

 

[urbanmonkeygod04]

I've never even OWNED a car that fast, and I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I'd had one of those at 16 or 17, I would've wrecked the sh*t out of it. Now, granted, I'm only 19, but I drive like an old lady for the most part, and I feel like a crotchety old dude when I gripe about young kids driving too fast. Any car with enough power in hands that are not trained enough or too stupid to operate it is a bad idea. Shame on the parents that thought it was a good idea.

Side note, this goes for boys, but DOUBLE for girls; teenage guys, while driving like asses, they are paying attention to how much of a jackass they're being; girls are too concerned with their cell phones and their make-up and what they look like and the 16 other young girls in the car with them to pay any sort of attention to the road. They scare me. My 16-year old sister is going to have her license soon and I'm going to beat it into her head that if she gets in an accident for being stupid but makes it out alive, I'm going to make sure she doesn't get another car for a long time. Big thumbs up for the people who want to raise insurance rates for teenage girls.

 

[dL_RL]

my first car wasnt a super high performance car. But, it was a performance car and I drove like a complete ass! my first car was a 1990 eagle talon all wheel drive 2.0L turbo. 205hp/200lbs torque. It wasnt super fast but I drove it like I stole it 24/7. I never got in trouble with that car, but I did get in alot of trouble with my 2nd car 92 eagle talon all wheel drive turbo 400horses! about 320 to the ground. I got into shitloads of trouble with that car.

 

[EvenStar]

Im only 19 and my civic doesnt really go all that fast..im looking for a redline because I know I can handle one, plus its a great car! My first car (a 94 camry V6) wasnt super fast at all, but I still played around with it when i was 16..bad idea..basically you learn from your mistakes on these things..dont be an *******..unless you know what your doing..and sometimes even if you do.

 

[violakat03]

I can definitely say as a young female that I drove like a complete idiot when I got my first car. But at least I didn't have a fast one - I was driving a 94 SL1 with a whopping 85 hp!

Three years, two accidents later, I've learned quite a bit. I haven't totalled a car, and am fairly sure that I probably won't through my own fault, and I've learned what's safe for the streets and what isn't. While I like the fact that my insurance is cheaper because of my gender, I can agree that girls can be stupider about driving than guys, because we get easily distracted by anything and everything. My first accident, about 6 months after I started driving, I got distracted by an ugly green car, looked up at it, and when I started paying attention again, it was too late and I rear-ended a Neon.

And giving a fast car to a new driver of ANY age is a stupid idea.

 

[Aeain]

Does the ION Red Line count as fast?

Because, I'm a new driver.

 

[Hyperion]

Man, I hate to sound sexist but I have to agree with some of these comments. Girls speed everywhere & have their heads in their asses while they do it. My wife has totalled two Mustangs (ran a red light in one & made a left-hand turn thinking the oncoming traffic had to stop in the other) & a few weeks back, she backed out of the garage & ran her side mirror over mine, almost side-swipping my car which was parked in the driveway. It destroyed her mirror & lightly scratched mine, BTW. She speeds too much, doesn't carry her licence, & won't wear a seatbelt. Drives me crazy.

 

[violakat03]

Does the ION Red Line count as fast?

Because, I'm a new driver.

Yes.

IMHO, no 16 or 17 year old should be driving an ION Red Line.


Oh, and hyperion - If I were you, my wife wouldn't be allowed in the car. I have a very strict rule - the car goes no where until all seatbelts are fastened. And if they come unfastened at any time, the car stops and goes nowhere again until all of them are fastened. I've been known to tell people they arne't allowed in my car because they refuse to buckle up. I've known too many people who were saved by seat belts to ever doubt their usefulness. Luckily, my boyfriend has the same opinion I do, so I don't have to ban him from my car.

The first time she gets stopped without her license and gets her car impounded, she'll learn. I've been lucky - I'm forgetful, and sometimes honestly forget to grab my license (I don't carry a purse, just my ID cards loose in my pocket), and I've been pulled over twice without it. Funny enough, both of those times, I was let off with a warning. After the second time, I got into the habit of carrying it, and usually don't go anywhere without it now. Of course, the one time I actually got a ticket, I had my license with me...

 

[Aeain]

Guess I am breaking with that. I am 16 years old and drive a Red Line.

 

[mi_redline]

I agree, no one under 20 should be driving ANYTHING like a redline.

 

[myredline]

Well I don't agree. It's all how you are prepared for it. My first car was a 70 Chevelle with over 600whp. If I stomped the pedal it would pull the front tires off the ground. Did I race this car hell yes I did. But I would take my car to parking lots or what not late at night and practice driving it hard. You just have to use your head when driving. I know people who are a hell of alot older then 16 and they shouldn't be on the road let alone be driving a performance car.

Today people just don't take the time to show or teach there kids respect or anything. When my cousin turned 15 I took him to open track days and taught him how to drive. And how to drive aggressive. Now I don't want him to but we all know that they will anyway so the best thing is to have them be able to, without getting hurt. Or hurting anyone else.

Just my .02

 

[Sp00ner]

There is some truth to that above statement. I suppose even besides my old TA, I've always owned V8 sports cars. My stepdad was teaching me how to drive, and drive fast, at 15. Even still though, it's hard to learn things unless it's the hard way. Luckily, I had a stupid friend that would do almost everything before me, so I could watch his dumn mistakes and not repeat them if at all possible.

I think that we're all generalizing a bit too much, yes I too have seen the dangers of 16-18 yr old drivers. It's in every paper, news show, and special report around here right now. The problem is, it's not just in fast cars. It's in all cars. Anyone can get any car made in the last 10 years to 100 mph, hell, you only need to be going 30 to kill someone. I've always been a cautious person when it comes to things that can kill me. I have always backed down from those things when they're not worth it, not all people are the same. Even I give in and race someone to 100 on the freeway once in a while, and I know that I shouldn't. The more I think abou it, the more I feel like, if someone is stupid, they're gonna be stupid in any/every car you put them in. Now I'm not saying that a Viper is an acccepable car for a first time driver, no 'sports' car should be. My first car was a $250 '81 Camaro. Not really a sports car, just looked like one. If I raced it hard, it would break, something would break every time. It had almost 200,000 miles on it when I got it. So I learned quickly that if you play you pay. I had to pay for everything that the car needed, so it was a lesson that hit home.

 

[JDRedline]

...I can agree that girls can be stupider ....

A thousand apologies

But I just couldn't resist.

"I can agree that girls can be more stupid..."

 

[bbrazil]

I wish they'd teach people how to drive, period.

For the most part, I drove less aggressively when I was younger. My gf, on the other hand, used to be a menace. She's only been driving a few years and has totalled more cars than I've driven. And she used to race CONSTANTLY.

The biggest problem is that very few people actually understand how to drive. All they ever taught me in driver's ed was piddlycrap like who goes next in a 4-way stop. And when they do teach technique, it's poor at best. I wonder how many cars go spinning off the road because the driver hit ice and did exactly what he was taught in driver's ed.

If a driver knows how to drive and is comfortable under speed, that's usually a safe driver, irregardless of speed. On the other hand, people that don't know the mechanics of driving scare me, not matter what the speed.

There are a fair share of 16 year olds that actually know the mechanics of driving and a fair share of adults that don't. So I wouldn't necesarily point to age first, more experience and education.

 

[daveRL]

It's all how you are prepared for it.

I don't think any young kid should have anythning more than he/she can handle! And that all depending on thier driving skills. I know if I had a high performance car when I was 16, something bad probably would have happened. But, do I find it hard to believe any teen can drive a car thats anywhere close to 400-500HP in a safe manner.
My RL is the fastest ride I've had over my 15years of driving. And to tell you the truth I need nothing more......would like more but don't need it. I value life too much, that's the ONLY reason I don't have a street bike! People would be saying the next day...."you hear about what that idiot did on the bike last night....."

 

[myredline]

I have riden bikes for years. Nine times out of ten it's not people on the bike that did something stupid. I had been though 3 different driving schools before I was 15 and I could out drive most people on the road. But I have also been racing on oval and 8 tracks since before I had a lic. So I truly believe that it is what you know not how old. I know kids who are 13-14 and have been racing for years on bikes, cars, atvs and anything else and they can out drive anyone at any age.

 

[jmichna]

This has been a good thread to read through, and though there are sweeping generalizations, I find I agree with most of them. My first car was a '64 Valiant 225 slant-6 with 3-speed on the column... it topped out at 85 or so, and at 16 I drove it topped out. Through a series of stupid actions, I burned through 3 or 4 pistons and ruined that engine. My second car (first new one) was a '72 Dodge Colt (Mitsubishi, actually) 1.6L hemi engine, 100hp, 4-speed... very light, very quick... had three accidents, two major, with this car... replaced with a lead-sled '75 Pinto wagon, 4-speed. Couldn't get into an accident with this one!

Other than age vs maturity, younger folks seem to have a greater self-sense of invincibility or immortality... as I get further along on the life span scale, I realize that my health and life are precious and delicate, and getting whacked in a hign speed accident is not good for either health or life.

Last November, I had a '91 Suburban pull out of a side street directly into the path of my '97 SW2 doing about 35mph... had almost zero reaction time to respond... airbags deployed (I ALWAYS wear my seat belts)... my SW2 was a total mess (over $12K in damages), jammed up my ankles, knees and wrists, my Saturn was leaking fuel, but I essentially walked away... the driver was an uninsured 17 year old who thought he could make the turn into traffic. I had maintained that '97 SW2 in immaculate condition, had only 45K miles and ran like a champ... the only good to come out of this accident is my '05 RL replacement!

One other thought: IMO, all new drivers should learn to drive using manual transmission or be denied their drivers license. Driving manual transmissions forces you to pay more attention. You actually learn to drive a car. People who get behind the wheel of an automatic are not driving that car... they are aiming it.

 

[BeRad]

I'm 45 and started hot roddin in the 70's and have more time in gas station bathrooms than most of you on this forum have driving.
1-KNOW THE REALITY OF YOUR DRIVING CAPABILITIES! Don't try to drive like a race car driver unless you've had the training and gradually push the envelope, don't just go tearing thru, you'll die. Practice!
2- KNOW THE CAPABILITIES OF YOUR MACHINE! Whenever anyone gets a new machine they should take it to a big empty parking lot and learn the uniqueness of that vehicle, how it reacts, handling, acceration, braking. Practice!
3- WHEN YOU'RE DRIVING PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR DRIVING! Nothing else should be on your mind, you should at all times know what's going on all around you so if you have to make a escape manuver you know where the escape route is. Most accidents are caused by people not paying attention, are those really accidents? NO! Not paying attention is a choice, NOT A ACCIDENT! PRACTICE!
4- LISTEN TO OLD DOGS LIKE ME! It's a F*%KING miracle that I lived thru my late teens and early 20's, I learned lots of driving lessons the hard way, if you listen to experienced dudes like me you can avoid a lot of costly mistakes. PRACTICE!
BeRad