This is unfortunate.....wow. I had a friend who lost his life when his Civic hit a pole at about 90 mph. I hope this stuff opens peoples' eyes.....but unfortunately, kids will continue to race. Oh well, I think the if "street" racing is not encouraged on boards like this, it will do some good.

 

Unfortunately, this isn't something that SL has taken a stance on one way or another. Many of us have personal opinions one way or another, but they are just that... personal. If SL as a community were to have an official stance, it would have to come down from the admins.

For now, our only concern is where to put such posts.

 

Well, i personally don't feel that completely neglecting to post anything about street racing will prevent it from happening. If anything, more information concerning safety and what to do and what not to do would be more helpful.

It's kind of like how they give out condoms and needles in schools now, they know its going to happen, and they try to make it as safe as possible.

I'm not saying im right or wrong, its just how i feel on the matter.

 

wow! what a bummer. I hope someone learns a lesson from this.

 

Whatever your opinion of street racing and no matter what ScionLife's official opinion of street racing, things like this affect all Scion owners (but especially tC owners because of the repeated use of "Scion driver" in identifying the arrested 18 year old, and the prominant pics shown over and over on the news for two days, now.



It is *MY* opinion that stories like this need to be prominantly posted on sites like this. If doing so saves even one life by causing someone to actually THINK when behind the wheel, I believe that opinion is more than justified.

 

this stuff deffinetly needs to be posted on these websites. To not post them is to ignore reality. To ignore reality is to live in a perfect little refrigerator box where no one ever gets hurt.

Unrealistic.

Lets post it, learn about it and hopefully educate people.

 

Here Here!

 

wow....

 

Damn, that is the saddest thing I've read in a while.

-THE DON

 

i don't think it's a matter of age as you all seem to suggest, it's more of a matter of maturity. unfortunatley, the two usually go hand in hand.

 

Yes, let's not pigeon hole this as an age issue, there are plenty of people out there street racing WELL beyond their teen years.

Street racers are selfish people who not only risk their own safety, but the safety of everyone else one the roads. In this case, it was only one of the racers killed, in many other cases, innocent lives are claimed, lives of people who didn't CHOOSE to be involved in idiotic street racing.

To those who enjoy a thrill, go to a track, or buy NEED FOR SPEED UNDERGROUND video games.

 

Now, I love speed. LOVE it. Nothing sends my adrenaline into overdrive than going fast.

However I agree completely with Tomas.

Its all fine and good to have a personal view on this, but as a (very) popular and growing community it seems that it is almost a social responisbility for Scionlife to take a public stance on this.

Not only could this be a potential to change a mind like Tomas stated, but potentially a good idea in case some local media station ever trys to do a piece labeling the scion community as being reckless. The more negative attention in the media, the more insurance goes up, and the more jack-legs try to pull up to you on the street and taunt you.

People do tend to stereotype..there have already been posts about John Q Public telling various owners "Scion owners drive too fast" etc., and when the public starts thinking this way, and these reports keep popping up, you can bet that some media somewhere will start nosing around.

Hell, I say not only take a stance on it but make it a campaign here at ScionLife! Scions are different enough, and its marketing targets young adults, thus it makes them easy targets for media attack. Taking a pre-emptive step and making a stance on on street racing will, if nothing else, give the community some moral ground to weather something like this.

Mod your car any way you want, make your Scion faster than Vette if you think you can... but talk junk on the street and prove yourself on a track.

And if someone doesn't do that in the ScionLife commuity and dies or kills someone it's, of course, their choice. But at least you can say we told you so.

Anyway, this is just a thought.

 

We are all human.
Neverending stories will continue to go on forever (we all havem).. however we must count our blessings and learn from others mistakes... There is no "easy fix" to serious issues such as these, I just hope growth/education would bring people to the tracks instead of the streets....

 

wow... how sad things like that have to happen.

i remember, i was driving around, when i saw 2 tCs pulled over, assuming for racing, since they were being arrested. one was a brand new RS1.0, too. Of course they were racing. Luckily, though, nobody died.

Also, near my house, like many areas in vegas, is a large, empty street. theres an accident there nearly every day. its both the fault of the driver and the city. its one of those streets with no stop signs, but the streets intersecting it do have stop signs, so people assume the oncoming traffic is going to stop, as well. no, they collide, and hit walls, and slide around on the water that magically appears there daily. a lot of people died there. including street racers who didnt see the water.

 

stupid ppl shouldb't be able to drive

 

In this instance, one kid will never see his 17th birthday, and his family and friends will carry that with them for the rest of their lives.

The other kid will not only have an arrest record, and possibly serious jail time for homicide, he will have to live with being directly involved with getting his friend killed.

There were also two other totally uninvolved drivers injured, and their property damaged (at least one of the other cars likely totaled).

Add in the cost to the community for fire department, police, jail, courts, etc. to take care of just this one small incident, and THINK, people.

Every whining Scion driver here who complains about getting a legitimate ticket for something that could affect others (yes, that even includes tint ahead of the "B" pillar), or asks others how to "get out of it" needs to be slapped down, not coddled.

Help your friends and all other Scion drivers play well with others, and to play safe. Don't congratulate another driver for taking on that other "hot car" and winning the race through the school zone. Tell him he's a selfish idiot.

Yeah, most of us get these occasional twinges where we want to show off or get an adrenaline charge while driving, but maturity (not age) is what lets us NOT do it.

Let's try to make Scion different by being good drivers with respect for ourselves and others, instead of just another bunch of ratracers, OK?

Leave driving like Honda drivers to the Honda drivers... :D

 

here here...
And lest it sound like i'm some wise old man lecturing all the young drivers out there--i'm as guilty as the rest concerning stupid driving, street racing, etc. in the past.
And most of the posters here, myself included, are modding our cars to peform better. The thing though is to use that performance wisely & safely.
Sounds like most of us have had close calls, and most of us at some point in time have lost friends to speed. Maybe we were just luckier then them, maybe we learned our lessons before it was too late, or a combination of the above.
What i wish more schools would do is to take that car that a kid(s) died in, and park it in the school lot for all to see. Again, may not matter to many, but all it has to do is save one....
I've seen the families of the students (who died early in the year) at parents night--if that doesn't bring a tear to the eye, and a tug on the heart..... then that person won't listen to any of us anyways.

 

Additional details from KING 5 TV news (5PM, 26JAN2005)...

Latest is that the "18 year old Toyota Scion driver" suspect has made bail ($100,000) and has been released pending charges.

Both drivers were students at Bellevue Community College, the younger one as an "advanced placement" student from the local high school. The two had become good friends at BCC.

The boy who could not be pulled from his burning BMW died from the fire, with burns over 95% of his body.

The prosecuter's office has until Monday to file charges against the Scion driver. (Even if not charged with anything, I suspect visions of his young friend dying, trapped in his burning car, will haunt him his entire life.)



Drive Safely.

 

Okay, I don't mean to be the jerk of the group...also, I totally DO NOT condone this type of behavior by people...I think it's retarded at best.

But what did the kid in the Scion actually do? Street Racing...yes. Is it illegal...yes. However, I'm not sure how they can charge him with homicide. He didn't kill his friend. His friend (dead or alive) is the one that was acting without disregard as well and sadly paid the ultimate price. You could say the kid driving the tC acted without disregard as well, but he didn't wreck into the poor motorists in the 'Baru or VW...

I'm not sure what more the cops can do but take his license from him fine him heavily, perhaps a little jail time. However, the people in both the Subaru and VW...that's an entirely different story. Sue sue sue...the American way. I know I would over his stupidity.

Listen, I reiterate my point...I am not a jerk and I think this kid along w/ any other moron that wants to race someone on a public street (tC, Civic, Ion, Fiat, Fiero, or whatever...) should have their heads examined. If you want to race, find a local drag strip and do it LEGALLY!

But they are not going to get him on homicide...and sadly as it's been said so many times before...this won't change anything with kids driving too fast, people stereotyping tC's, etc...

Lastly, I hope no moron in Congress or wherever tries to put a blame on video games or film for this...

...I now prepare for the stonging I'll probably receive from you all.

 

In US law, if a crime is being committed and a death results, all those involved in committing the underlying crime also share in the death.

In Washington state, there is a class of murder called "Vehicular Homicide" where a death is the direct result of unlawful actions in driving a vehicle (failure to yield, speeding, reckless driving, improper equipment, racing, negligence, etc.)

If two drivers are racing and one dies as a result, the survivor is often subject to a charge of "Vehicular Homicide" which is just as it should be.

(Sharing responsibility for injury/death that is associated with another crime is common in US law and trackable well back into British Common Law.)

If you wait in your tC while your buddy runs into a 7-11, and in the process, your friend just happens to kill the clerk while robbing the place YOU get charged with murder, too...