This, this right here, is why you "Take it to the track"

[hawkeye122]

on 9/7/12, at about 8:15, we had arrived at a party. Of the straight-cut variety; Some swimming, some pizza, and a movie later. My best friend decided that we ought to go rent a movie, and that we'd take his 2005(?) Subaru Impreza WRX STi to go get one. It was not stock- It had been tuned by Cobb, and was *somewhat* more powerful than a stock STi of the same vintage. Different Turbo, intercooler, etc. It's pictured below. (A later call to Cobb revealed that the car put out about 520HP)

3 of us piled in. My best mate was driving (As it was his car), I sat in the passenger seat, and another sat in the back.

We went down Teton Road, in Redding, CA. A quick blast usually, and a fun drive as well. It was the main road that left the neighborhood where the party was at.

My friend entered a corner at nearly 80 MPH, the car began to oversteer. A lightpost was coming up very quickly, so my friend, in a last-ditch effort, turned the wheel strongly to the left. The car complied, and we were now going toward the edge of the road. (he had taken this corner before at similar speeds, but without what happens next)

The car hopped up over the curb, and left the roadway. Because there was a downhill banking, the nose hit, (Airbags deploy) and the vehicle then did 2(ish) rolls, and ended up like this....

I was hanging in the passenger seat by the seatbelt. Luckily, the rear window was open, and our friend in the back escaped rather quickly. I shouted "Are you ok" and both replied with yes. I then told my best mate that he needed to get out, So i could undo my seatbelt without falling on him. While he was doing that, I fished my phone out of my pocket and dialed 911.

We all got out of the wreck unharmed(Well, except me. I had a bloody nose and a few cuts on my hand).

This could have VERY easily been a deadly accident for all 3 of us. If anything, I wish to implore that you DO NOT EXCEED the posted speed limit on public roads, and that you drive with due caution.

For parents and teens- The insurance rates on an Impreza STi are high because statistically teens WILL crash them.

17 years would have been an awfully short life for all 3 of us. Please- Drive carefully, and dont give your teens Performance cars.

If you arent a teen, heres what you can take away from it- Imagine if the driver was drunk. How much worse could that have made it? Or texting? Or any other distracting thing? Wrecks are now more serious to me than they ever have been. Thank god that none of us are injured.

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

Human error is at play, I am sorry to hear about accident, you and your mates, thankfully they escaped without any injuries. Lesson learned, never exceed your own limit and be more responsible with your life and passengers.

 

[Famine]

I wish to implore that you DO NOT EXCEED the posted speed limit on public roads

I agree with almost everything you said except this.

The speed limit isn't the safe limit. The safe limit may be higher or it may be much, much lower. No signpost will tell you what the safe limit is and it's neither a guarantee of danger nor a guarantee of safety.

If you're driving other people, you owe it to them to move the safe limit down considerably - the nearer your limit you drive, the less ability you have left when something unexpected happens. There's nothing that can stop a mechanical failure causing an accident, but if 95% of your driving ability is in your pocket there's a lot that can stop it causing a bigger one - compared to if you've only got 5% in reserve. If you're just going to take yourself out it's your call, but if you've got 2 mates on board, slow it the hell down.


It is interesting to note how much more often accidents occur when there are multiple younger people in one car than when one young person is driving themselves - to the point where there's talk of making it a condition of insurance for younger people to not carry anyone else aged 16-25 at night...

 

[hawkeye122]

To that point, In California, you have to wait a full year before you can take anyone about in your car who is under 23 after you get your license.

I see, understand, and agree with your point.

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

The young ones tend to drive faster to impress their fellow young passengers. I've been there once

 

[hawkeye122]

^This is an accurate statement. Despite the warnings, people do it anyways.

I guess if it's no longer about being the best hunter or warrior, you have to be the fastest driver.

 

[kikie]

Good to hear you and your friends are ok! That's the most important thing.

But, this can happen on track as well. I have seen it happen on open track days and on the Nordschleiffe. You would be surprised how many ego trippers try to push their cars to the limit when driving on a race track and crash. Some of them are less fortunate and die.











You are correct though. Speed limits are there for one reason only > safety!

A friend of mine use to be a professional race car driver. He got as far as F3. http://www.speedsport-magazine.com/race-driver-database/biography/tom-van-bavel-,950.html.
He used to drive with his daily car as he was on track. He was literally a danger on every public road.
Bottom line, he had an accident and is partial paralysed from the waist down.

I use to think I was a good driver until I started talking lessons in car control HERE and HERE.
Practiced for 10 years and think it would be a good thing if these lessons were implemented when someone is getting his driver's license.

 

[homeforsummer]

If you're driving other people, you owe it to them to move the safe limit down considerably

This. If someone wants to stack it into a tree by going too quickly for the conditions or their ability, that's largely their prerogative. But if there are others in the car, or even others on the road around you, then even if you don't care about your own self-preservation, try and remember that other people probably don't want to get injured or die in your accident.

Glad you're okay hawkeye 👍 Could have been nasty.

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

Mental education is more important in early stage of learning to drive. In my opinion, even before a driver hit the public road, he/she needs to be taught about responsibility in having his/her own car on the road. Then he/she can start learning the technical aspect about cars, road safety, driving techniques, situational awareness, and staying cool on the road. All these should be done in a quiet area first, where there are not many vehicles around. Even with these done properly, sometimes 100 hours of supervised driving is not enough, some people are just notoriously reckless.

 

[hawkeye122]

Homeforsummer- Thanks! It really helps you realise what is important in life.

Ridox- Exactly. But if such stringent laws were applied, you'd get all sorts of people complaining that driving isn't affordable. And outside of major cities in the US, public transit just isnt an option.

 

[astrosdude91]

Yikes! What a crash! The number one thing to take away from this is you have to know your limits. It's a miracle that nobody was seriously hurt. At least this can be turned into a very important life lesson. Take as much as you can from this accident, hawkeye. And don't ever take life for granted. Cause it could all end very quickly.

 

[Bopop4]

This is the second time this week that have seen someone post about a fast car, or going fast, and then they end up crashing it. It saddens me to see that STi like that, but glad to hear that you are all alright.

 

[Dundermuffin666]

Hey, the car did its real job-kept it safe when you needed it. Glad to hear you're alright

 

[Katiegan]

I'm glad you guys are okay, but it shouldn't have taken this for your friend to realise that he's not Ken Block.

 

[carracerptp]

I'm glad you guys are OK. Sound like another case of when the drive over estimated the cars/his or hers abilities. Getting even close to a modern cars limits around a corner is crazy dangerous on public road.
Lucky the cars safety limit was very high, the STi held up well for 60MPH+ roll.

What was the "actual" speed limit for the road?

 

[Crash]

I'm glad to hear that everyone escaped without any serious injuries. 👍 A car is replaceable, but life isn't.

 

[1241Penguin]

(he had taken this corner before at similar speeds, but without what happens next)

There's a chance that he probably forgot to take into account the extra weight in the car. Glad you guys are okay though.

 

[hawkeye122]

The actual speed limit was 35. But ALL of us have done it faster than that, and this has never happened.

Thanks guys. The thoughts are appreciated.

I was very amazed that we all walked away with zero injuries. I'll definitely buy a Subaru now. Not one that hot thought....

 

[Dennisch]

The actual speed limit was 35.

....

 

[hawkeye122]

....

Yeah, yeah I know.

 

[Slash]

Good to hear you've made it out ok.

 

[Watt2159]

There's driving fast, and then there's driving like an idiot, and one of them involves remembering where the brake is, if you want to hoon a car on an empty road thats cool, but don't overdo it, be a little more responsible when you do, I know that sounds a bit ironic, but you CAN go fast, and be safe at the same time.

 

[Azuremen]

It is interesting to note how much more often accidents occur when there are multiple younger people in one car than when one young person is driving themselves - to the point where there's talk of making it a condition of insurance for younger people to not carry anyone else aged 16-25 at night...

Licenses in Washington, along with some other states, prevent those under 18 from carrying passengers under 25 (excluding immediate family) for this very reason.

What I'm mostly taking away from this accident is that young people really don't appreciate or understand the limits of things. Especially cars with very high limits - you have to be driving at 10/10ths to just have something like an STi just start to oversteer without provocation. Also continues to support my feelings that young people shouldn't have performance cars.

Glad to hear you are okay and that this lesson wasn't taught in a more harsh way. Some one in my high school, many years ago, wrapped his RSX Type S around a tree so hard his short term memory suffered.

Yeah, yeah I know.

Clearly you don't really know the limits.

 

[Schwartz]

Licenses in Washington, along with some other states, prevent those under 18 from carrying passengers under 25 (excluding immediate family)

Driving with Passengers
First 6 months: No passengers under 20 years old – except for immediate family members (spouse, child, stepchild, or siblings, both by birth and marriage).
Next 6 months: No more than 3 passengers under 20 years old and have to be members of your immediate family.
Nighttime driving
First 12 months: You can’t drive between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. unless you’re with a licensed driver 25 years or older.

Penalties for violations and accidents
First violation: Passenger and nighttime restrictions will apply until you’re 18. We’ll send a warning letter to you and your parent/guardian for the following:
Get a ticket for violating the restrictions.
Get a ticket for violating a rule of the road.
Are involved in an accident where:
You get a ticket or are determined to have caused the accident.
No one involved in the accident receives a ticket.
The cause of the accident can’t be determined.
Only your car was involved in the accident.

 

[Cano]

holy hell what a crash. Amazing that you all walked away from that pretezel. Glad you are all okay.

 

[hawkeye122]

Clearly you don't really know the limits.

For one, I wasn't driving.
Secondly, I most certainly do now.

 

[Mac K]

Glad to hear you're all okay 👍

 

[Bopop4]

You said that the car oversteered, and that he overcorrected, aren't WRX's supposed to drift through turns?

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

Maybe it was slippery or the rear tires have less grip than the front, thus the car oversteered ?

 

[Bopop4]

I meant that something like an MR oversteering would be bad because of its design, but isin't a WRX is supposed to drive that way?