mdr

and not a member here.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...121592924.html

Mazurfer

I sure hope it was as well.
F'ing idiots!

enforcer

Whenever I read about these senseless deaths it makes my heart sink. If it turns out the car was stolen, the chances are it will be a recidivist behind the wheel, and that makes my blood boil.

What this pissed off Police Chief has to say about the Criminal Justice system is spot on. Lets hope the new NSW Premier will also stand up and tell it like like it is, and not only start throwing the book at these criminals but also make the judiciary accountable for their actions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUMY88j3Eo0

thisllub

A tragedy.

DMRH

We all know the Gov love "Knee-jerk" reactions to this sort of thing.

Ban RX-8's will probably be the 1st thing from their mouth.

Parents freaked a little too. They know mine is blue & that I drive through Windsor a bit. Got the phone call when the CH-7 chopper was broadcasting it around the country......

Damn shame about the innocent victims, the surely never asked for this but the reality is people will blame the car rather than the fool driving it who will no doubt be screwed for the rest of his life.

Whilst not degrading the tradgedy of the innocent women, for the sake of the RX-8, lets hope this car was stolen.

REgards

matt13b

I was just about to start a thread saying the exact same thing.Stupid! Great for rotary and sport car reputation and a waste of life!

erx8s

What a waste of life , it allways seem the wrong people die in these accidents and not the ****** that cause them

Insurance premiums for young drivers will hit the roof on Performance cars .



Cheers
Michael

Gomez

I don't understand why anyone would hope the car was stolen.

Is it because you would like to think that RX-8 drivers are above this sort of behavior??? WTF......there are just as many moonunit RX-8 drivers (and RX-8 forum members) in the population as any other car brand driver!!

I would have expected that RX-8 owners prefer that the driver was the owner.....I used to sleep comfortably knowing that the RX-8 is a very hard car to steal (without the keys or a flatbed).

mdr

Maybe because I would prefer that some dumb **** stole it rather than think part of the RX8 community is that stupid, especially a member of this forum.

I am sure there are lots of bone headed RX8 owners out there.
That does not mean I wish it is was someone that owns one killed 2 people because I want to sleep better thinking my car is hard to steal.

enforcer

Well put Gomez, I witnessed one of those 'moonunit' RX8 drivers flogging it under a shopping centre on Saturday. I was waiting for the inevitable crash but fortunately for everyone, the Angels were watching.

I would also hate to think the driver of this car was someone from this forum but it dosen't really matter if he was one of us or not, it still hits close to home. We are all of course representative of this car in the wider part of the community, and I'm sure everyone reading this thread will take a leaf out of the book....

Spinning Sushi

iTrader: (21)

This shows how safe our car really is.

enforcer

It may be true, but under these circumstances its not a very appropriate comment.

shaketim

the police calling off the chase in the interest of public safety must have been difficult. say things worked out, and he got caught in traffic, not having any accident,.. arrested, etc,.. what kind of punishment would he get ? i get the feeling it might be worse for him now, if the guy survives his injuries. i really hope he doesnt try to use some " but i was under the influence of ...... drug " as some kind of defence, that would make me even more angry.

mine`s blue, but the battery`s flat, another tradgedy, not having any time to drive my pride `an joy

Spinning Sushi

iTrader: (21)

That was my intention.

Gomez

I rest my case, Your Honour.

Revolver

Having seen some forum members do some desperately dangerous stuff on cruises, I wouldn't bet on all members being responsible drivers. Stolen or not, the guy's a frickin' idiot if he's doing those kind of speeds at all, let alone running from the cops. I feel for the family of those killed.

Most of us have opened up the taps occasionally in the name of research (except the saints I suppose) but there's a time and a place for it and doing it for any extended period is just risking others unnecessarily. Especially in the wet!

Mind you, these things aren't confined to hoons out west. I almost had a head on in leafy Bellevue Hill yesterday. Gold Lexus IS250 coming the other way veered onto my side of the road for no apparent reason (probably dropped his bracelet or something). If I hadn't swerved immediately (and had room to do so), I would have been in hospital or the morgue. We were both doing about 50-60, so I estimate a combined closing speed of about 100km/h - that **** hurts. Didn't even have time to shout abuse or hit the horn it was over that quickly - bloody scary.

Revolver

Given the incident just referred to above, I take some comfort from that too. It's good to know this car will look after you in a bad accident.

Trev, I don't think he meant anything inappropriate. This is a discussion - not a mourning session. We can express regret for the deceased but still discuss related issues.

takahashi

All you have a point.... I just think it is a tragic accident and caused by inappropriate behaviour. I don't tend to read too much into it.

But the reporter says, "Police were also investigating whether the Mazda RX-8 had been stolen."

To report like that the reporter has to be sure at least the driver in the hospital now does not match the name of the owner of the car.

Please keep the inappropriate thoughts to yourself. This news is not something that we should analyse to the nth degree.

enforcer

Good pick up Dave....Renesis my apology. I can see where you're now coming from....

DMRH

Here is an additional post from "The daily telegraph"

>> RX-8 smash story <<

To put the smash area into perspective for those interested.

Windsor rd is 4-lane all the way west from outer Sydney until McGaths hill. At the Servo/pub traffic lights travelling west towards Windsor, the rd kinks left & dips 5` at the same time. It also drops from 4-lane to a 2-lane rd (this 1km stretch along a low lieing flood plane from McGraths hill to Windsor is the last remaining 2-lane section of the promised Windsor rd upgrade. About 5-years now since Big Bad Bob promised it, or 2x Premiers ago)

The RX-8 guy would have lost it on the left kink/drop & ploughed into oncoming traffic as they rose towards the lights coming up from the flood plane.

That section is a 60km/h part (most of Windsor rd is 80km/h) & if you take that kink/drop at 80 in the dry you had best do it with your wits about you. I'm guessing this guy would have been doing around the reported 170km/h as its a 2km run from the previous traffic lights in a straight line on flat road.

REgards

DMRH

On a related matter............. My wife.

This accident really hit home with her as I explained (in laymans detail) how the RX-8 guy lived & the Ford Focus people didn't. How, despite being a similar size, the RX-8 is a safer car as seen in these unfortunate results. Her curiosity aroused this time as its a blue RX-8 that smashed & that we travel past this accident spot every fortnight. So she has a sort of female connection going on if you know what I mean.

So I suspect that out of these tragic circumstances, she now has a new appreciation of the RX-8 each time she sits behind the wheel.

REgards

Gyro_Bot

I hear what you are saying, and I totally know where you are coming from my friend, I too hope my car isn't stolen.

On that note, it is not impossible, due to the fact that if you steal the keys/FOB you can access and use the car as normal. If the car was stolen (And I hope it was) I hope the owner is also not in serious condition (I know I would have fought tooth and nail for my keys)

In any case the idea that all cars are subject to the same cross section of rank and file per capita concerning "moonunit" drivers, this idea... I strongly believe (mostly for my own conscious) that due to the RX8 being under horse-powered, that this quality would be a deterrent for "moonunit" drivers looking for the fastest car.

We have a club up here in British Columbia Canada, and our club members are an excellent cross section of decent gentlemen! - Highschool teachers / Oral surgeons / fire-control programmers for the military / Las Vegas technical artists .... you get the idea.

As a car club, is there anything we can do / be responsible to "remind club members" that respectful behavior raises our PR of our car club?

Fore example: Where I'm from, "Cavalier" drivers are hated by the car type. They are consistently aggressive young punks that have nothing better to do than to express their minds... or what little they have of them.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I'm suffering a knee jerk reaction (probably like many of you) that this shocking occurrence should not happen to our beloved RX8's reputation. It really is a great car.

Gyro_Bot

This is good to know! I feel "better" in some ways, about the accident. I still feel for those women who lost their lives, and I'm hoping that the RX8 driver does live, as enough human life has been lost to this accident. The RX8 driver can expect to be paying for this mistake the rest of his life. I admit, I break the speed limit once in a while, but only on stretches I know very well. Very rarely will I go over 130km/hr. In BC Canada, there are no city roads you can safely do 130km+. Having said that, when I do - do 130+, it's on the free way deep in the interior of BC, on roads I can see at least 1km ahead.

I'm with you on this train of thought. I'm grateful you shared your opinion on this specific stretch of road. I wish your opinion was added to the news report.

DrGonzo

I tend to agree with you, and based on what I know of people on this forum (not much in all honesty!) everyone seems reasonably mature and seems to have their wits about them. The RX8 doesn't seem to attract the same demographic that would drive around in a Commodore, or even a WRX or Skyline for that matter, which I would say have reputations far worse than other makes of vehicle.

Maybe the fact that the RX8 doesn't have the straight line speed, or that it's n/a and not really tunable, or maybe the fact that it's still expensive, even as a second-hand proposition, putting it out of reach of the younger, 'hoon'-type people.

What I love about the RX8 is that the 'full sicks' have so far kept away from it, and it seems that true enthusiasts are owning them.

Argh, probably getting a bit OT now.

Revolver

I suppose stats somewhere would reveal the makes and models most represented in serious motor vehicle accidents but really the bad rep thing is a creation of the media.

I see many hi-po V8's and other so-called 'hoon mobiles' like WRX's being driven sensibly on the street and conversely I've seen plenty of bland little shopping trolleys like Excel's and Corolla's being thrashed stupid.

Similarly, the 'hoons' aren't all 17-25 and male. Some older drivers really do make some dumb overtaking moves or succumb to road rage and I've noticed more and more female drivers behaving like a crazed rally driver on ice.

Hopefully the message about advanced driver training will get through to the powers that be and we'll see practical education lessen the frequency of tragedies such as that which occurred last Saturday.