Exotic car owners need 'therapy'
For us car nuts, driving an exotic car for the first time is a lot like hitting a walk-off home run to win the big game. We're full of adrenaline and all we want to do is slam the accelerator until the tach is bouncing off the rev limiter. For the wealthy, fast cars are the norm, and they treat their 911s and F430s much the way we handle our Focus or Accord. The problem with regard to these supercars is that the very same license we need to drive our Cobalt also applies to a 1000-hp Bugatti Veyron, and the ridiculously high crash rate that follows grabs plenty of headlines.
Over in the UK, lawmakers are kicking around the idea of tying your license to the weight of your car relative to its power. An organization called the Institute of Advanced Motorists' Motoring Trust has come up with a test to better equip owners of exotic cars for the crazy power that's created by their cars. Testing includes positioning their car for cornering, anticipating the unexpected and "flair and panache on an open country road where progress can be gained at maximum safety, using optimum road positioning and excellent observation." OK... Our favorite part of the test prepares exotic owners for how to best handle the mental aspect of owning a powerful car. That's right, therapy to ease the burden of owning exotic. If the burden ever gets too heavy for their minds to handle, I'm sure there are some of us schlubs who would gladly relieve them of it.
[Source: The Truth About Cars]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Viv 7:12PM (8/15/2007)
Forget the UK therapy i need to know more about the idiot that wrecked the bugatti.
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2004m3driver 8:12PM (8/15/2007)
http://cars.uk.msn.com/News/car_news_article.aspx?cp-documentid=3786890
there you go. such a shame, but but we all make mistakes
Viv 8:09PM (8/15/2007)
Thanks for that link.
vectorbug 7:29PM (8/15/2007)
I like this idea. power = responsibility etc...but seriously, if you need a license to drive a bus, motorcycle and private vehicle, then I think it makes sense to need training and tests to drive a car with insane power to weight ratio.
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biggins 7:33PM (8/15/2007)
dang, well if that's true, then Lindsay Lohan will have to sell her SL65 and get a scion xB.
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Guenther 8:06PM (8/15/2007)
No- she just won't be allowed to drive it. When it's all set and done, she likely won't be allowed to drive ANYTHING for a while.
neolex 7:46PM (8/15/2007)
Oi! I can't even afford a Ford Focus and that moron goes and wrecks a perfectly wonderful Bugatti. Dang!
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Jon 7:54PM (8/15/2007)
Screw the "therapy" but the idea of a license for high-powered cars makes sense to me.
And I also want the story on the wrecked Bugatti. Specifically the driver. Hmpf.
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Namir 8:41PM (8/15/2007)
It'll buff out.
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1337 8:56PM (8/15/2007)
If licensing is tiered by power/weight ratio, less powerful, well balanced cars will become more popular. A good driver can have as almost much fun (and get in nearly as much trouble) with a Miata, MR2, or S2000 as he or she can with a 911 Turbo.
Two points:
1) Although people will complain about tiered licensing, less powerful cars are often more efficient, thus improving the average driver's fuel economy.
2) Driving enthusiasts who cannot qualify for or afford a license to drive a Veyron will still reek havoc with smaller, less powerful sports cars. (As they should, IMO.)
Some loopholes waiting to happen:
1) Automakers will become more conservative with horsepower figures and liberal with vehicle weight numbers. SAE rarely complains about underrated engines.
2) Automakers will sell cars with detuned ECUs and offer warrantied, dealer-installed performance chips.
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Diede 9:47PM (8/15/2007)
I think this could actually be a good idea, but instead of tiered liscence create an 'advanced liscence' with mandatory driver training. This should involve defensive driving, high speed training, winter driving (in applicable areas), etc.. A high focus should be placed on road safety and steer people (no pun intended) to the track where they can really put the pedal to the metal, so to speak.
As an added bennefit I think special liscence places should be provided which allows for higher highway speeds. This way people willing to go through the effort of learning to drive safe are rewarded, and it serves as an additional stimulant for other people to invest the additional time to learn to drive safer. Speed doesn't kill, its people that don't know how to handle it that do.
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Logik 1:18AM (8/16/2007)
There's no need for these things. The only way (or most of the ways) you can get into trouble in ANY car, is if you're pushing the car beyond your driving abilities.
What we need is tougher driver licensing skills requirements. If you can't pass the test, well, that's too bad! Retest every other licensing renewal. An increase in licensing fees: 1. To support the higher costs, 2. To make sure people are really ready for the test.
Oh, and also a limit on how many times you can take the test before you have to go back to school (for first time licensees).
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icu812ru469 8:06AM (8/16/2007)
Money = Power = Expensive Car = Wrecked Expensive Car = ID 10 T virus = Less Money = Another Expensive Car
F these rich punks that can't drive. Just don't drive anywhere near me... :)
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DriftPunch 8:42AM (8/16/2007)
I don't believe it would help...
There is a difference between someone telling the cops that "I hit the gas accidentally to hard in a corner and it spun!" (what gets recorded in the report), and "I was pushing the car!" (what actually happened) The latter shows intent, whereas the former shows addressable incompetence.
Additional training wouldn't really help much save the very few who drop a 911 on their 16 year old for his birthday...
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Adam 9:44AM (8/16/2007)
I have always believed that there should be tougher restrictions on drivers license testing. When I was 14 (1998) I passed the driving test on my first try with out even studying. I love to race just as much as the next guy but there are people out there that have never tested the limits of their car on a track before trying it on a county road.
So yes I believe that we should adopt a special driver’s license that encompasses everything from STI to Enzo, because if you can't pass the test then you shouldn't own the car.
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Mike 9:53AM (8/16/2007)
Anyone have a link to the the story or more pics behind the Bugatti crash pictured above?
Would love to learn more, that poor guys insurance company must be crying...
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Owen 10:38AM (8/16/2007)
I think our licensing in the US is a Joke. It was too easy when I took the test 15 years ago, and it's even easier today. And the drivers from what I can tell are getting worse and worse. Instead of making our cars weigh so much because of the safety equipment that is required, how about instead we start re-testing (to a tougher standard) everyone when it's time to re-new their license and start get some of the people causing these accidents off the road. Make the tests graduated, so, just like it’s suggesting here, the faster, heavier, more powerful vehicles require more driver skill and knowledge. If they have lost most of their brain cells from other activities, then the best vehicles they should qualify for are cars under 100 hp so they are less of a danger to others. They can re-test until they get it right so people who must drive (live in rural areas for example) but are bad drivers at least have come out smarter on the other side. That may get some people off of the roads who just will never get it right and are frankly a danger. Lastly they must make punishment harsher for those who drive anyway without passing.
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johdaxx 2:36PM (8/16/2007)
All I can say is it something like this couldn't happen soon enough for me. However, like all legislation that targets the rich, it sure has a fat chance of going through around here.
It would be hilarious to have dyno checks along the highway along with drunk checks to make sure that your car wasn't making too much hp for your license. :)
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ThunderStik 4:34PM (8/16/2007)
Naw, Just pass a law that states "if you crash your high powered sports car you are required by law to privide 2 brand new copies of the car to 2 auto enthusiasts who could otherwise never afford one" . I figure at some point that better my odds of gettin a cool ride.
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