Enough Dead Cobra Owners! Enough Wrecked Cars!

[OnyxRider]

Well accidents happen that's life sad to say. When I was in boot camp before SEAL's training you would get the speech of two of you out of 80 will die by just accidents like being electrocuted or falling off of someting. This was at peacetime. One has to be responsible for one's actions. I was lucky I use to road race from time to time, however when I married and had twins I would only race on a course with appropriate equipmment. With no one else on the track either because I know my skills but not of others. Look at some of the accidents over the years on tracks with inexperienced drivers. Sad to see anyone pass before their time. My best bro Cozy died on a wet night driving and talking on the phone some years ago.

[Dan Semko]

We "older" cobraphiles are still around DV. The original point to my post was that "there's no cure for stupidity" which unfortunately is frequently fueled by testosterone rather than common sense. You have to remember that 14 years ago we had alot of vinegar and thoroughly enjoyed bantering with folks like Wayne Stoker from Shelby America, Carroll Shelby's minions, Meat and many others. The original Spring Fling was founded on chocolate chip cookies, cobra enthusiasts and friendship not financial rewards or who received auction benefits. There are still several solid "affordable" insurance companies that will provide good coverage for enthusiasts. The problem we're ALL encountering is the "entitlement mindset" from people who don't want to search, work or think. Maybe it's part of the natural evolution or maybe it's just a "choice"???

[mdross1]

Agree 100% there is enough Doom and Gloom around us all as it is. We gave up daily paper delivery for that very reason. It is sad the way this world focuses so much on death and destruction.

[Dan Semko]

If you're an optimist then the potential opportunities abound. For example Obamacare which is a total disaster and a fatal wreck looking for a place to happen. In my earlier post I mentioned about returning to the old medical philosophies of quality time with patients and "bartering". Obamacare is the direct result of the medical community NOT taking control of their profession and allowing insurance companies and politicians to command what "we need rather than what we want". I believe that all of the chaos is the result of basic apathy and failure to accept responsibility/consequences of our actions and decisions. Rather than accepting analysis paralysis and political rhetoric, we need to act rather than tweet, Facebook or alienate ourselves from reality and human face to face interactions.

In the old traditional cobraphile banter: do you know why most politicians are not organ donors??? Because medicine hasn't perfected transplanting assholes!

[turnpike boy]

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

This thread is now more than a decade old. Klayfish hasn't owned a Cobra in at least 6 or 7 years; Meat? - who's heard from him since 2003?; Doc, it is good to see you are still alive and thinking.

Yes, apathy is the MS of human activity - slowly but surely we devolve, and the politicians will forever ride the winds of popularism to keep us all moving in the popular direction. Obamacare just another symptom. Obamaphones, illegal immigrant amnesty, on and on and on...... I'm actually glad I'm 60+ years old now. No society is exempted from this do-gooder glad-handing, but these days it's utterly repugnant how so much authority is simply allowed to pass to thems who really don't care.

Regulation is the way the tracks of this society have been laid down. Won't change, either, until a true revolution comes alive. But that ain't a-gonna happen while the world believes it's owed something for nothing.

Honestly, I don't know what it would take to awaken the sense of personal responsibility in the masses. Every year it becomes more and more an alien concept.

[AL427SBF]

Originally Posted by Dan Semko

... The original point to my post was that "there's no cure for stupidity" which unfortunately is frequently fueled by testosterone rather than common sense ...

Or in Ron White vernacular "you can't fix stupid".
Pretty clear an accident was in the making before she left the lot.
She was an idiot to get behind the wheel ...
The male spectators idiots for not having the common sense or balls to stop it.
Icing on the cake ... "I knew it!"
Woman crashes sports Car - YouTube

[OnyxRider]

Originally Posted by Dan Semko

If you're an optimist then the potential opportunities abound. For example Obamacare which is a total disaster and a fatal wreck looking for a place to happen. In my earlier post I mentioned about returning to the old medical philosophies of quality time with patients and "bartering". Obamacare is the direct result of the medical community NOT taking control of their profession and allowing insurance companies and politicians to command what "we need rather than what we want". I believe that all of the chaos is the result of basic apathy and failure to accept responsibility/consequences of our actions and decisions. Rather than accepting analysis paralysis and political rhetoric, we need to act rather than tweet, Facebook or alienate ourselves from reality and human face to face interactions.

In the old traditional cobraphile banter: do you know why most politicians are not organ donors??? Because medicine hasn't perfected transplanting assholes!

Hey I thought no political stuff was allowed on this site.

I'm going to have to contact Jambo on this one! You guys are going to get me started on something no one will be able to stop.

When the Iraq BS started and we took over what country would send literally tons of tons of cash on wooden pallets to start paying bills for services and rebuilding that country. Over 13 billion in fresh $100. bills that they admit to sending over as cargo. Revolution lol people are swimming along in order to survive let alone think about the constitutional rights they have lost over the last decade or two.

Originally Posted by turnpike boy

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

This thread is now more than a decade old. Klayfish hasn't owned a Cobra in at least 6 or 7 years; Meat? - who's heard from him since 2003?; Doc, it is good to see you are still alive and thinking.

Yes, apathy is the MS of human activity - slowly but surely we devolve, and the politicians will forever ride the winds of popularism to keep us all moving in the popular direction. Obamacare just another symptom. Obamaphones, illegal immigrant amnesty, on and on and on...... I'm actually glad I'm 60+ years old now. No society is exempted from this do-gooder glad-handing, but these days it's utterly repugnant how so much authority is simply allowed to pass to thems who really don't care.

Regulation is the way the tracks of this society have been laid down. Won't change, either, until a true revolution comes alive. But that ain't a-gonna happen while the world believes it's owed something for nothing.

Honestly, I don't know what it would take to awaken the sense of personal responsibility in the masses. Every year it becomes more and more an alien concept.

[Dan Semko]

History repeating itself. We did the same thing in Vietnam. The only difference now is that we have more survivors with PTSD, amputations and serious socio-economic issues supported by a totally inadequate, poorly managed VA Medical system.

AND we REALLY think that the government is going to provide and manage a better medical-insurance system for our entire country??? This is THE strongest affirmation on why we should avoid generics: medications as well as politicians.

[RedEye]

Actually, I really think the original poster needs to mind his own business and leave the rest of us alone. I'm fully able to make my own risk analysis and realize my own outcomes. So piss off, and don't drag the government along with your to enforce whatever versions of safety you have over my own person, property, and action set.

[BAsque1]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Steve,

I have agreed with you all along and something really needs to be done to drive home the point that a light car and huge horsepower plus no experience is really not impressing many knowledgeable people. I have watched a couple of people that I know do big burn outs at places where they should not be doing that kind of stuff and then had the on-lookers laugh at me because I left in a sane manner. I just tell them my car won't burn the tires and ignore the insults. I am still trying to get a friend to go to the track if our weather ever gets nice and go through the high performance driving school. I told him I would go with him and go through it again too. I like to do that any way so it is no big problem with me going. I am going to do it again even if he won't go. I just hate to read about anyone getting killed or hurt in a Cobra or any other car through some mistake that could have been avoided. On the other hand I have done so many dumb things when I was younger maybe that is why it makes such an impression on me.

Ron

I must agree with Ron, I too have made many dumb mistakes in the past and that is why experience tells me now be responsible and don't do it again. I think the biggest problem is that while many of us recognize the fact that these cars, albeit fun to drive, are in fact mercilessly unforgiving, owners must apply common sense.

Gentlemen we all need to realize that we are sitting on to of a lot of power and the power weight ratio is not on our side; 2500-2800 lbs vs 500 hp of raw power is not well balanced.

All this said the best solution is COMMON SENSE don't succumb to the temptation to hot dog. If you want to hot dog do it in a controlled environment and know your limitations as well as the vehicle.

State regulations and all the safety equipment means nothing if COMMON SENSE is not applied.
These are my 2 cents on this matter.
Cruise and travel safe my Brothers!!
Fondly
Lou (Basque1)

[G-Pete]

Originally Posted by turnpike boy

Honestly, I don't know what it would take to awaken the sense of personal responsibility in the masses. Every year it becomes more and more an alien concept.

Volunteer and teach a kid.

Volunteer Reading, Tutoring & Mentoring | Volunteering to Help Kids & Education | United Way

https://www.volunteermatch.org/search?l=USA&k=Children

VolunteerMatch - Where Volunteering Begins


I do my part - now you know how! Stop whining, get up and do something about it.

[Anthony]

Honest to god, the older I get, the more I'm convinced that the majority of the underlying problems in our society stem from the lawyers and the laws they have created.

[OnyxRider]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Honest to god, the older I get, the more I'm convinced that the majority of the underlying problems in our society stem from the lawyers and the laws they have created.

You picking on Jambo?

[mtrain2000]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Honest to god, the older I get, the more I'm convinced that the majority of the underlying problems in our society stem from the lawyers and the laws they have created.

Amen, and to quote Russ D on another page.........

"While I realize that my posts on this thread have assured that once I do obtain my Cobra, that I will never be invited to a fling, car show, cruise night, etc, I feel that I have to make one final post.

My grandpa used to say: "Be careful when you climb up on your high horse, because it might just be a Shetland Pony". Let's be realistic, we're all Type A personalities around here, or else we wouldn't all share the same desire to own the meanest car ever unleashed on the American public.

But don't use the sad circumstances surrounding this accident to belt out a bunch of hipocritical rhetoric. Some of you guys are telling me that you own a 2500lb, 450+hp sports car, and you've NEVER romped on it in public? Wow.

Maybe you fall into one of these categories:
1. Used cell phone while driving
2. Eaten food while driving.
3. Flirted with spouse while driving.
4. Are a teenage girl.

Yes? Well then, you are among the most dangerous and careless drivers on the road, and based on current casualty statistics, are at least 25x more likely to be killed (and kill others) while behind the wheel than a guy who occasionally partakes in a stop-light challenge.

Don't do any of the above and still never mash the throttle? Damn, then you have a greater sense of self-control than 99.9% of the civilized population of Earth, and should immediately send off a bottle of your plasma for research. The rest of us animals could use a dose."

We are ALL going to DIE it is inevitable. Like Jim Morrison said, "nobody gets out alive".

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by RedEye

Actually, I really think the original poster needs to mind his own business and leave the rest of us alone. I'm fully able to make my own risk analysis and realize my own outcomes. So piss off, and don't drag the government along with your to enforce whatever versions of safety you have over my own person, property, and action set.

The original poster, while not having a Cobra (at the moment, and subject to change, or so I have been told in the past ), is still held in high regard, and is still in the industry in which this thread, originally discussed (IN 2003). Relevant then, just as relevant now, even more so. People get killed in cars like this, in part, when they underestimate the power, short wheelbase, and their true driving skills coupled with the first two items in the equation. Some people have a lack of common sense, some people have a lack of skill. Both deficiencies can lead to death by auto.

I'll leave it at that.

Bill S.

[Mother]

would it be safe to say, "Know your limits, and play within it?" Also when you "turn it loose" on a track, the track has been prepaired so that there would be less surprises to deal with. Less unknown variables.

[turnpike boy]

Originally Posted by G-Pete

Volunteer and teach a kid.

Volunteer Reading, Tutoring & Mentoring | Volunteering to Help Kids & Education | United Way

https://www.volunteermatch.org/search?l=USA&k=Children

VolunteerMatch - Where Volunteering Begins


I do my part - now you know how! Stop whining, get up and do something about it.

Fascinating.

Volunteering instills moral values and innate sense. It empowers the ability to reach conclusions - and actions - regarding personal conduct, especially when those conclusions are at variance with the popular and politically-preferred outcome.

Of course, none of this arises from decaying social mores, the disregard for family structure, understanding of essential human conditions, or tolerance of differing opinions. To identify but a few.

Thank God we have you.

[HSC-ZL1]

Knowing ones limits is probably the greyest line drawn about these cars. Most owners who have participated in organized racing environs are probably a little less inclined to be overly aggressive on the street. But that does not mean we are incapable of being dumb. We are just a little more capable of handling our own craziness. How many rides do we give friends and not let them feel a little of what the cars are capable of. Even the best drivers in the world occasionally go over their own limits. Hopefully more of us build safe and good handling cars and enjoy what they are. PLEASE BE SMART EVERYONE!!!

[GRUF78]

Most of these accidents are a manifestation of Natural Selection.

In my opinion, the only tragedy comes from innocents that get caught up in them.

Gruff

[turnpike boy]

Originally Posted by GRUF78

Most of these accidents are a manifestation of Natural Selection.

In my opinion, the only tragedy comes from innocents that get caught up in them.

Gruff

+1. Amen to that.