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rotard
rotard Dork
6/19/12 8:51 a.m.

What happened to parents teaching their children how to drive?

Lesley
Lesley UberDork
6/19/12 8:52 a.m.

Not too many Priuses crashing into poles far as I know...

ThePhranc
ThePhranc Dork
6/19/12 8:54 a.m.

My mom taught me how to drive in her glh.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker
Giant Purple Snorklewacker UltimaDork
6/19/12 8:54 a.m.
rotard wrote: What happened to parents teaching their children how to drive?

What makes you think the parents know how to drive?

4cylndrfury
4cylndrfury UltimaDork
6/19/12 8:54 a.m.
Lesley wrote: Not too many Priuses crashing into poles far as I know...

600lbs of toxic battery + eleven horsepower = full time traction control

4cylndrfury
4cylndrfury UltimaDork
6/19/12 8:54 a.m.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
rotard wrote: What happened to parents teaching their children how to drive?
What makes you think the parents know how to drive?

this^

...srsly

BoxheadTim
BoxheadTim UberDork
6/19/12 9:04 a.m.
Javelin wrote: What happened to driver *training* in this berkeleying country!??!

Didn't we have a thread a while back about the IIHS declaring that driver training didn't make any difference?

Otto Maddox
Otto Maddox SuperDork
6/19/12 9:05 a.m.

Story - jackass hits pole.

Commentary - This shows the entitlement mentality of our populace, the inadequacy of the Prius, and that our country is going down the drain.

BoxheadTim
BoxheadTim UberDork
6/19/12 9:06 a.m.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
rotard wrote: What happened to parents teaching their children how to drive?
What makes you think the parents know how to drive?

Speeding through town while simultaneously yakking on the phone, yelling at your kids in the back of the minivan and drinking Starbucks requires more skill than I have.

Then again, looking where you're going is so yesterday.

Otto Maddox
Otto Maddox SuperDork
6/19/12 9:08 a.m.

And in the interest of full disclosure, I did pretty much the same thing as a kid in an '84 RX7 with 100 hp. Luckily I was out in the country with nothing to hit.

DaveEstey
DaveEstey Dork
6/19/12 9:08 a.m.
4cylndrfury wrote:
Lesley wrote: Not too many Priuses crashing into poles far as I know...
600lbs of toxic battery + eleven horsepower = full time traction control

The battery doesn't weigh anything close to that. We've taken our Prius to AutoX for ghits and shiggles and it was surprisingly fun. Low grip for sure but the electric motor's torque coming out of tighter elements was nice.

Kid was an idiot, and it has nothing to do with the tires.

mndsm
mndsm PowerDork
6/19/12 9:09 a.m.
Otto Maddox wrote: Story - jackass hits pole. Commentary - This shows the entitlement mentality of our populace, the inadequacy of the Prius, and that our country is going down the drain.

Thank you, you just saved me nearly two pages of reading.

fast_eddie_72
fast_eddie_72 UltraDork
6/19/12 9:52 a.m.

That would have crushed me when I was 24. I feel sorry for the kid, but yeah. He could lighten up a bit.

NOHOME
NOHOME HalfDork
6/19/12 9:53 a.m.

I forsee a lot more of this happening. I have played around a bit with the TC off and as I mentioned in my earlier review"The girl can wag her tail".

There is a generation of drivers out there that have never driven a RWD car. The OP shows experience with understeering cars and seems to know what to do with them. The same instinctual rules do not apply to RWD and there is a learning curve.

The FRS would not be hard to overcorrect since it does things very fast when you move the wheel. That car is almost on the "darty" side of the equation.

Having read abou this unfortunate event, I am going to continue to be respectful of the car's power and rear drive attributes. That said, I have ony owned one FWD car in my 38 years of driving,so it is not entirely alien to me when she lets go.

Winter is going to be an interesting season. I of couse will toss on a set of Blizzack snow tires. They got me and a Miata though ten winters with no real drama so I am expecting the same. The Miata on the otherhand, was a gutless wonder compared to the FRS, so there is that to consider.

As to those who are down on the OP for having an unfortunate event, it is good to know that hindsight makes you all superhuman drivers; I will feel much safer sharing the road with such skilled individuals.

To the OP, sorry to hear the tale. However, you are in one piece, no one else got hurt, you are young and you are wiser than you were a week ago. Fix it if possible, file the event under the heading of "adventures I have had and survived" and move on.

92CelicaHalfTrac
92CelicaHalfTrac MegaDork
6/19/12 9:54 a.m.
DaveEstey wrote:
4cylndrfury wrote:
Lesley wrote: Not too many Priuses crashing into poles far as I know...
600lbs of toxic battery + eleven horsepower = full time traction control
The battery doesn't weigh anything close to that. We've taken our Prius to AutoX for ghits and shiggles and it was surprisingly fun. Low grip for sure but the electric motor's torque coming out of tighter elements was nice. Kid was an idiot, and it has nothing to do with the tires.

I've seen a Prius hustled through Deal's Gap. It was SHOCKINGLY quick.

admc58
admc58 Reader
6/19/12 10:11 a.m.

The kid needs to realize that the "Nanny" (ESC) has been masking hiding his errors and he never got any feel for what was really happening when he stabbed the throttle.

RossD
RossD UltraDork
6/19/12 10:34 a.m.

The kid is learning the hard way and no one was hurt. Who cares?

Nashco
Nashco UltraDork
6/19/12 10:40 a.m.
Lesley wrote: Not too many Priuses crashing into poles far as I know...

I've pulled a handful of Prius batteries that would argue otherwise...

Bryce

Nashco
Nashco UltraDork
6/19/12 10:41 a.m.

Looks like I've found a great candidate for somebody who might be interested in dropping the car off at my shop for an AWD conversion!

Bryce

motomoron
motomoron Dork
6/19/12 10:52 a.m.

If the kid had spent any time in karts it wouldn't have happened. Kids should race karts, and should autocross at the first possible opportunity. They should have track time.

The faster you can comfortably circulate an autocross course, the better you'll be at acquiring visual information and instinctively catching or provoking slides.

Become comfortable circulating a racetrack in traffic while driving at the fringe of car limits, and nearly everything that happens in street driving will feel as though you're telepathic and getting the info long before anyone else.

If the story was:

"I'm the guy who cut his fingers off with that table saw. I'd never used one before last week, and was ripping a pine 1x4 with no finger board guard and riving knife removed. I guess I had my hand in the way of the blade, which was protruding an inch above the work. They reattached the fingers and I should recover some use"

...We wouldn't be surprised at all.

forzav12
forzav12 Reader
6/19/12 10:57 a.m.
dean1484 wrote: Did I miss somthing? Is this car the second coming or something?

only if you grew up driving beater Civics and Corollas.

NOHOME
NOHOME HalfDork
6/19/12 11:04 a.m.

I would like to know what this even has to do with the FRS?

"Car Crash Involves telephone pole" would have pretty much summed it up.

Is this meant to stir up controversy about the FRS having unsafe handling characteristics?

Toyman01
Toyman01 PowerDork
6/19/12 11:10 a.m.

My 8yo was complaining that every time he tried to slide the gokart it would shut off because the low oil switch would cut in. It was promptly disconnected. His slides are getting better.

Jaynen
Jaynen New Reader
6/19/12 11:11 a.m.

I think its more like

Kid buys car that is for "real" enthusiasts Kid wrecks car Kid feels like he is making "real" enthusiasts look bad and makes a sorry post about it "real" enthusiasts mock the kid for not learning how to drive

Someone is first to wreck every performance car and there is always a news blurb. First boss 302, first ZL1, first ZR1, first ferrari insert model here etc.

hmm thought for another post

Hal
Hal Dork
6/19/12 11:13 a.m.
NOHOME wrote: I forsee a lot more of this happening. I have played around a bit with the TC off and as I mentioned in my earlier review"The girl can wag her tail". There is a generation of drivers out there that have never driven a RWD car. The OP shows experience with understeering cars and seems to know what to do with them. The same instinctual rules do not apply to RWD and there is a learning curve.

I agree. The generation that the FRS/BRZ would appeal to the most is the generation that probably has never driven anything but FWD.

Based on my experiences in going from RWD to FWD with my Focus I would say that this may be a common occurrence. Fortunately my mistakes were made in venues where there was plenty of room for a nice little spin without hitting anything.

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