Street racers

floridaZ said:

I'd have to be with LS2 on this. Now on I4 during rush hour, in a construction zone, etc... not a good idea to speed at all.

But when there is nobody around, it's really not any more dangerous than being there at the speed limit. Back when I got off of work at 4 in the morning, I used to go 130mph all the way home on I4. There just wasn't anybody there to risk running into.

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Except that drunk that just left a bar and is doing 30 mph and swervinig all over the 4 lanes because he is afraid if he speeds the cops will stop him.... Ahh, but what is a 100 mph difference in speed? No biggie right? That's if he doesn't get on the incorrect ramp and head straight towards you. Even a super skilled driver such as yourself can't react to his 60 mph opposite your 130 mph (giving you a 190 mph closing speed).

floridaZ said:

And as for cops... I always figured if they were out there and could keep me in sight long enough to get pointed in my direction, they deserve to give me a ticket.

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TICKET? Who said anything about a ticket? That kind of speed on some road like I-4 will get you a ticket alright, a one way ticket to jail on a reckless driving charge.

As far as turning around to get "pointed in the right direction", that is if he is going the opposite direction. What if you come up on him in the same direction? He's doing 65 / 70 / 75 and you pass him. He pushes on the gas and falls in behind you. IF you see him because you pass a fully marked cruiser you can try to go faster. If he is in an unmarked Charger or other hidden cruiser then good luck seeing him at all untill all his buddies light you up in a big mob behind and in front of you.

Again, I wish you luck. The old adage is you may out run the motor, but you can't out run motorola. Remember the police are a team. They have multiple cars all over the place. You pass one of them and they get on the horn and tell all their buddies about the reckless driver they just witnessed whom they have criminal charges on and see how many blast their way towards your direction. Cops love a chase. Even you have played cops and robbers as a kid. Pursuits are the few minutes of fun in an otherwise dull and paperwork filled job. Even the whirly bird eye in the sky wants to get in on the chase. Good luck loosing him too.

I've seen more than one extremely fast motorcycle (or car) think they could loose him only to eventually run out of gas or have the house he ducks into surrounded by all kinds of cops. Then he watches from the back seat of a patrol car as the police impound his vehicle right out of his garage.

I think you were VERY lucky that you didn't get the attention of any police, and you should quit while your ahead.

floridaZ said:

And in that 6 months, I never came close to getting in a wreck. But I stopped counting how many times I've almost got run over when going 60-65 through that same area.

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Like the last post by LS2 Powa, you ended your own post with the point that we are trying to make. I-4 (and any Bay area road for that matter) is dangerous enough without adding a reckless 130 mph or 176 mph 3,500 lb missle into the mix.

Z06 Rocket said:

I think you were VERY lucky that you didn't get the attention of any police, and you should quit while your ahead.

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Let us not forget that the cop is putting his/her life at risk during the chase.
What happens when daddy or mommy doesn't get home that night to their kids?

I guess theres no point in owning a car thats made to push 200mph then if were limited to 70 at most then right? Sorry if it pisses people off but most people jump out of planes, some jump off cliffs, some dive with sharks. As stated before this is something I love, I do it with no one else around.

Gordon said it would take 13X ft for the brakes to even start working, and I forget how far it takes Z06 brakes to come to a full stop from 100. But at most Id be looking at 300ft of total distance, and how many feet are in 2 mile stretch? I think I had plenty of time to stop/slow down.

I know the road pretty well that Im on. Its a veeeery long stretch of a flat, straight two lane road. No houses, no cross streets, ditch's off the side of the road so no one can even park there to wait(including cops).

Lou, the same thing applies to everyone on the road. Its the chance you take every time you get behind the wheel. Ive been there, done that, dont eve wanna see it again...hence why IF Im gonn go its gonna be on my hands...not someone elses.

Still dont see a point of jumping on a guys back cause he pushed a machine to what it was made for with 0 people around and enough leeway to stop, its not like I was the ass in town blowing red lights, doing double the speed IN the city, basic ricer crap. :shrug01:

Funny how few accidents there are on the Auotbahn when most everyone is going over 100 cruising with the occasional 150 plus driver....but then, the slower drivers know to keep out of the fast lane and most all have common courtesy on the road that is so lacking here in the states.

LS2POWA said:

I guess theres no point in owning a car thats made to push 200mph then if were limited to 70 at most then right? Sorry if it pisses people off but most people jump out of planes, some jump off cliffs, some dive with sharks. As stated before this is something I love, I do it with no one else around.

Gordon said it would take 13X ft for the brakes to even start working, and I forget how far it takes Z06 brakes to come to a full stop from 100. But at most Id be looking at 300ft of total distance, and how many feet are in 2 mile stretch? I think I had plenty of time to stop/slow down.

I know the road pretty well that Im on. Its a veeeery long stretch of a flat, straight two lane road. No houses, no cross streets, ditch's off the side of the road so no one can even park there to wait(including cops).

Lou, the same thing applies to everyone on the road. Its the chance you take every time you get behind the wheel. Ive been there, done that, dont eve wanna see it again...hence why IF Im gonn go its gonna be on my hands...not someone elses.

Still dont see a point of jumping on a guys back cause he pushed a machine to what it was made for with 0 people around and enough leeway to stop, its not like I was the ass in town blowing red lights, doing double the speed IN the city, basic ricer crap. :shrug01:

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LS2POWA said:

Lou, the same thing applies to everyone on the road. Its the chance you take every time you get behind the wheel. Ive been there, done that, dont eve wanna see it again...hence why IF Im gonn go its gonna be on my hands...not someone elses.

Still dont see a point of jumping on a guys back cause he pushed a machine to what it was made for with 0 people around and enough leeway to stop, its not like I was the ass in town blowing red lights, doing double the speed IN the city, basic ricer crap. :shrug01:

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I am not jumping on you LS2POWA. I guess the older you get the less risk you take and want to make sure you and others are around to enjoy life and our Corvettes. Since my son is a LEO I get a little too protective for them.

All is cool.:thumbsup:

I know quite a few LEOs myself who come into my work and bs with me. I have lots of respect for LEOs and what they do..the good/honest ones that is.

As stated, I would never put anyone else in harms way for me to try something like I did before.

LS2POWA said:

I guess theres no point in owning a car thats made to push 200mph then if were limited to 70 at most then right? Sorry if it pisses people off but most people jump out of planes, some jump off cliffs, some dive with sharks. As stated before this is something I love, I do it with no one else around.

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It's not illegal to sky dive, jump off cliffs, or dive with sharks. I don't recall hearing any stories where any innocent bystanders died because someone was bitten by a shark..... It's legal to own a gun, but is it ALWAYS legal to use it? NOPE. Only in the right scenarios such as a gun range or defense of yourself. Therefore the speed thing only flies when you are on a designated legal track.

My point is HOW can you possibly know that NO ONE is around?? I don't care how flat long stretch of two lane road it is. There is ALWAYS the chance that someone is pulling out of a side dirt road, off the shoulder when they stopped for a few minutes on their own, someone coming the other way decides to make a stupid u-turn or left turn, or even a large animal has run out in front of you.

Here's a video of how quickly it can go bad with a tire blow out. This does not appear to be a police camera although it's hard to tell because it seems to be a European roadway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iqyvwzpnHk

LS2POWA said:

Gordon said it would take 13X ft for the brakes to even start working,

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Actually he said:

Shadow said:

At that speed, you're moving at approximately 264 FPS

Given an observation and reaction time in the half second range, you're still going to travel 132' before anything even starts to happen to slow down the car...and that's if you don't move the wheel.

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That means that even if you fully expect the danger ahead (which human nature is to be complacent) you would still cover 1/2 of a football field before you BEGIN to react. One scond into it and you are already near the whole football field distance. Add in the OH SH*T factor and you have 2 to 3 football fields of distance involved. You are shocked and go through a brief stage of disbelief before a crash (or other traumatic event) which causes your brain to slow down and mull through the options that are not as bad as what you know is coming. Humans have a safety system that creates tunnel vision when under stress. This stress does not have to be all bad, just stress in general. The stress causes you to concentrate harder on the road ahead, but that limits your field of view and choices available based on your limited vision area. Shadow can explain this one better I'm sure.

LS2POWA said:

and I forget how far it takes Z06 brakes to come to a full stop from 100. But at most Id be looking at 300ft of total distance, and how many feet are in 2 mile stretch? I think I had plenty of time to stop/slow down.

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I used to set up specific distances to run (marathon training). I know what an exact mile looks like, and I think you may be over estimating what you see in the distance. I don't believe myself that you can see 2 miles ahead. If you were in the Death Valley desert I still don't believe that distance is obtainable with environmental factors such as hills, curves, bends in the road, heat waves bouncing off the pavement (and your headlights WOULD NOT illuminate more than a couple of hundred feet in front of your car at night). You would outrun your headlights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Zsz7uc5j4

LS2POWA said:

I know the road pretty well that Im on. Its a veeeery long stretch of a flat, straight two lane road. No houses, no cross streets, ditch's off the side of the road so no one can even park there to wait(including cops).

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NONE huh?

LS2POWA said:

Lou, the same thing applies to everyone on the road. Its the chance you take every time you get behind the wheel. Ive been there, done that, dont eve wanna see it again...hence why IF Im gonn go its gonna be on my hands...not someone elses.

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Again, hopefully IF it happens, you don't take anyone with you.

LS2POWA said:

Still dont see a point of jumping on a guys back cause he pushed a machine to what it was made for with 0 people around and enough leeway to stop, its not like I was the ass in town blowing red lights, doing double the speed IN the city, basic ricer crap. :shrug01:

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Everyone has their opinion....

Z06 Rocket said:

Except that drunk that just left a bar and is doing 30 mph and swervinig all over the 4 lanes because he is afraid if he speeds the cops will stop him.... Ahh, but what is a 100 mph difference in speed? No biggie right? That's if he doesn't get on the incorrect ramp and head straight towards you. Even a super skilled driver such as yourself can't react to his 60 mph opposite your 130 mph (giving you a 190 mph closing speed).

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And don't forget the 747, whose fuel tanks were accidentally filled with nitro-glycerin, causing the engines to explode sending the aircraft plummeting towards my impact zone with the drunk driver. At the same time, a locomotive pulling radioactive waste speeds out of control when the operators all suffer freak heart attacks. And then they hit a penny on the track, and come plummeting through the air towards the aforementioned impact zone. And just as all of these objects collide, my body spontaneously combusted.

Anything could happen at any time to end somebody's life. On I4, when I'm speeding there are only objects coming at me in one direction that I need to worry about. When I'm on the cruise control at 65, I have to worry about the jackass in the SUV going 90mph weaving through traffic while texting. No matter how fast I am going in my car I never weave through traffic. Speeding may not be "lawful", and I may not be a "super skilled driver" as you put it. But I never endanger anyone but myself, I am ready to (and have in the past) aim for a tree if I have to, to avoid hitting another car.

As for the police part, you are kind of right. You know nothing of highway cops if you honestly think they limit themselves to 70 though. Cruising along, if there are cars other than me out there, the patrol cars are easy to spot. If there is suddenly a group of cars and none of them will pass the lead car, cop. If one of the cars is passing all the other cars, cutting through whatever traffic there is, it's either a cop or an idiot driver. They seem to like sitting in the median between exits 48 and 55, across from the sign that says it's 53 miles to Tampa and 71 miles to St. Pete, so I know where the speed traps are. Speed traps are limited by the fact that the radar vehicle and the one that pull you over are either the same car, or stationary in the same spot. And you don't need to worry about the cops going in the opposite direction, they can't personally do anything.

However, if they get behind me and match speed, I pull over. It's that simple. But any other situation, at those speeds... you said it yourself with the braking distances. You don't have to run from the cops, you just have to maintain speed. If a cop is behind you with his lights on, he wants you to pull over. Otherwise, as far as I know he's just responding to an armed robbery somewhere in my general direction. It's not my problem if he's out of sight by the time he can get going...:wavey:


Now, all of that said, I've just pulled over and waited before. As little respect as I have for the "law" in general, and as untrusting of LEOs as I am and always will be, that doesn't mean that I want to see them get hurt. So if I feel that I am in a situation where I can't disappear before he starts getting aggressive, then I will pull over. However, don't take the end of my last post as a reinforcement of your points. What I was trying to say is that I feel safer going 100mph than I do 60. It's a sad thing that I feel that way, but that's beyond the topic of this (already sidetracked) thread.:yesnod:


EDIT: I realize that there are several current and former LEOs on here, and I just want to point out that I mean nothing personal by the above. I just have a problem with anybody being empowered with the ability to control any aspect of my life. I have no problems with Jon Doe, but once he puts on his uniform and becomes Officer Doe he becomes a threat to my personal happiness. Yea, I'm selfish like that. But a lot of the time I just look at some stuff and can't figure out why it is "unlawful", many people make the mistake of thinking that anything illegal is immoral and wrong when that is often not the case.

floridaZ said:

EDIT: I realize that there are several current and former LEOs on here, and I just want to point out that I mean nothing personal by the above. I just have a problem with anybody being empowered with the ability to control any aspect of my life. I have no problems with Jon Doe, but once he puts on his uniform and becomes Officer Doe he becomes a threat to my personal happiness. Yea, I'm selfish like that. But a lot of the time I just look at some stuff and can't figure out why it is "unlawful", many people make the mistake of thinking that anything illegal is immoral and wrong when that is often not the case.

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Honestly, I believe more and more people are thinking this way lately. As it becomes more and more blatant that law enforcement is more and more about revenue generation, and the public safety and welfare be damned, the more people are going to come to resent this backdoor tax collection scheme.

It won't be too long before the realization hits that the more things that are illegal with fines attached, the more revenue generation it will produce. Heck, I've said for a LONG time that eventually citizens of the USA (home of the free, land of the brave... ) will be issued a pamphlet on their 18th birthday that will itemize EVERYTHING that is legal to do. If it is not in that pamphlet, then it is ILLEGAL. I don't expect that pamphlet to be very large to begin with, and it will shrink from "updates" often....

Rich Z said:

Honestly, I believe more and more people are thinking this way lately. As it becomes more and more blatant that law enforcement is more and more about revenue generation, and the public safety and welfare be damned, the more people are going to come to resent this backdoor tax collection scheme.

It won't be too long before the realization hits that the more things that are illegal with fines attached, the more revenue generation it will produce. Heck, I've said for a LONG time that eventually citizens of the USA (home of the free, land of the brave... ) will be issued a pamphlet on their 18th birthday that will itemize EVERYTHING that is legal to do. If it is not in that pamphlet, then it is ILLEGAL. I don't expect that pamphlet to be very large to begin with, and it will shrink from "updates" often....

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:NoNo::NoNo:

I think you're overdramatizing the current political issues surrounding our communities and our country.

"Law Enforcement" is not about "revenue generation."

"Traffic Enforcement" on the other hand, is becoming moreso by the day!:thumbsdown:

I've said it before and will continue to say it.

If we cared about safety, there's a better way to accomplish it without writing boatloads of Charlie Foxtrot tickets at $200.00 + per shot!:thumbsdown::nonod:

Cameras, radar, highly publicised notices of same, heavy point assessments and restrictions/revocations.

That's just the start.

**** can the driving schools for anything over a 10+ over the speed limit violation!

Dump the judges/magistrates ability to withhold and turn traffic court into a real court and not the kangaroo court it is at present.

Once people realize, hey, if I do such and such, I'm going to lose my license, then the ones that relly are concerned will get thier stuff together:thumbsup:

Those that don't give a damned, can be dealt with accordingly

There's too much to discuss and I have too much work to do.

It's all in one of my old archived posts on the matter somewhere on here.

G:wavey:

Z06 Rocket wrote:

That means that even if you fully expect the danger ahead (which human nature is to be complacent) you would still cover 1/2 of a football field before you BEGIN to react. One scond into it and you are already near the whole football field distance. Add in the OH SH*T factor and you have 2 to 3 football fields of distance involved. You are shocked and go through a brief stage of disbelief before a crash (or other traumatic event) which causes your brain to slow down and mull through the options that are not as bad as what you know is coming. Humans have a safety system that creates tunnel vision when under stress. This stress does not have to be all bad, just stress in general. The stress causes you to concentrate harder on the road ahead, but that limits your field of view and choices available based on your limited vision area. Shadow can explain this one better I'm sure.

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:thumbsup::thumbsup:
I think you covered it very well:thumbsup:

floridaZ said:

And don't forget the 747, whose fuel tanks were accidentally filled with nitro-glycerin, causing the engines to explode sending the aircraft plummeting towards my impact zone with the drunk driver. At the same time, a locomotive pulling radioactive waste speeds out of control when the operators all suffer freak heart attacks. And then they hit a penny on the track, and come plummeting through the air towards the aforementioned impact zone. And just as all of these objects collide, my body spontaneously combusted...........

(shortened by Z06 for space - not content)........

I realize that there are several current and former LEOs on here, and I just want to point out that I mean nothing personal by the above. I just have a problem with anybody being empowered with the ability to control any aspect of my life. I have no problems with Jon Doe, but once he puts on his uniform and becomes Officer Doe he becomes a threat to my personal happiness. Yea, I'm selfish like that. But a lot of the time I just look at some stuff and can't figure out why it is "unlawful", many people make the mistake of thinking that anything illegal is immoral and wrong when that is often not the case.

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Yea, I was young and invincible once too...... :banghead:

It will pass.

I just hope you don't have to find out with a cellmate named Bubba that you are not as invincible as you think.... but if you do then you were warned...

Z06 Rocket said:

Yea, I was young and invincible once too...... :banghead:

It will pass.

I just hope you don't have to find out with a cellmate named Bubba that you are not as invincible as you think.... but if you do then you were warned...

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:iagree:

Well put Rocket, sometimes it takes time or a life changing experience to adjust an attitude. Now Budda can adjust an attitude real quick

Yeah my life changing experience was the moron in the RV who ran me off the road, while I was obeying every road law possible on my way from class. Now Im left permanently disabled in my leg.

Should have been dead, should I have to die because some old guy cant pay attention to the road while Im being the safe driver?

Should the thousands of ppl who die in dui accidents while the alchy walks away fine, be dead?

This is my final point, if IM on the road by myself in the middle of bum f*%$ you got a purdy mouth what does it matter if I kill myself doing something I want to do? Id have no problem going to a track to top out, but where in florida can you push those kind of limits? Only thing I know of is the texas mile, and I aint driving hours just to blow money on doing it on a highway. Whose to say the guy before me goes down the mile dumping oil, and I hit a oil patch and go for a roller coaster ride?

There is ALWAYS the chance that someone is pulling out of a side dirt road, off the shoulder when they stopped for a few minutes on their own, someone coming the other way decides to make a stupid u-turn or left turn, or even a large animal has run out in front of you.

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I do believe I stated this was a two way street, no side roads, no cross streets, no dirt roads, right off the pavement are 45-65* angle ditchs, there no "shoulder" to stop on, nor spot for someone to just hang out, you go in those ditchs you better have a 4x4 to get out.

Ive traveled this road many a time going to an from polk county. Seeing something bright an blurry object from a mere 2m is not really that hard specially when your going at it 176mph and its coming at you roughly 70mph, specially when I can make out buildings and lights from the northside howard franklin to the building to the west of the southend.

Ive gone to multiple sites with brake distance calculators. You know what none of them factor in, weight, type of vehicle, type of tire, kind of brakes your using.

Thirdly, they factor in average reaction time from average people. Im pretty sure I react faster then average. If the person is so far ahead of me, why would it take me so long to just go ahead an start applying the brakes? I dont stress out when danger is in the way, and that tunnel vision is :thumbsdown: imo. I saw every aspect of what was happening from when the car went out from under me, through a 180 in the street, to hitting the ditch an flying out into the newspaper box right to slamming into the tree.
Not everyone handles stress the same, same as reactions. Maybe you shouldnt bottle everyone up into the average norm group, think outside the box of what someone COULD be capable of and then factor the rest out.


At the end of the day, was doing 176mph stupid?....sure. Did I enjoy it?...yes, did anyone get hurt, no. Whats the problem?...nothing.

Hell, I WISH there was a place nearby where I could just push the C5Z to the limits of my wimplash factor legally. I don't care about the quarter mile stuff of running around donut shaped tracks or around orange cones. I would just like to let it all hang out to see how FAST I could go in a safe and legal manner in a straight line, till I feel like letting off of the accelerator.

Now, WHERE can I do something like that?

I just don't see where I said I was invincible? I said that I have done things that you disapprove of, and nothing bad happened most of the time. I didn't talk about the time I was racing and the tire blew and my car flipped. But I haven't gotten anybody killed. Whereas you seem to be trying to cast it like if you ever do it somebody will die.

Now if I pass gas, and somebody in Idaho suffers cardiac arrest, I will completely take responsibility for that. Cause I'm just that awesome (or potent, depending on how you look at it).:hehehe: But otherwise, don't try to demonize my actions because of what could happen.

And I find your stereotype of Bubba offensive. I have met one, and it was a mild, docile creature. A bit anti-social and I don't know how it would act when cornered, but I saw no danger in the specimen I observed.:crazy03: