HELP... teens are too close to my bumper

[Peter-RedGTS'98]

I own a Viper for three months. An incredible experience and a lot of fun. But sometimes I am scared by stupid teens (and others) zooming around me to have a better look and getting way too close to my bumper in Northern VA traffic. One almost crashed on me and I saw his terrified face later on. Is there any sensible solution to let them know to stay away from my bumper??? I consider mounting additional red lights (inside GTS - using existing screws next to the rear windshield), connect them to a lighter, and have a switch handy close to the shifter. Maybe strobe/police lights. Any help??? Thanks.

 

[SUN RA KAT]

I'm sure JCWhitney probably has these - tail pipes with a spark plug and a fuel injector and a small fuel pump. Fire these babies up when they approach you and they WILL back off!

Set the flame for 3-5 feet to start...

 

[italian1nj]

Oh I WANT those.

 

[Nexus-6]

A really loud exhaust does the trick for me...

Folks won't get within 20 feet of the back of the SS these days.

I hear ya though - it's just part of Viper ownership.

Just remain very aware of every car around you at all times and anticipate their stupidity and/or lack of driving skills before they do.

 

[Go Hogs Go!]

Call JC Whitney and get you one of those really nice class five bumper hitch and receiver. You can tow your boat and scare off the kids with that ball sticking out. Works on my dually! lol

 

[Jerome Sparich]

My cure on my VR4.
I took an extra window washer nozzle and mounted it in my third brake light, whick is in the wing one the back of the hatch.

I then ran a hose to the rear washer pump in place of the stock hose and now when people get to close they just get a "bath".

 

[pj]

Peter, was that you I saw on Stringfellow yesterday (I think)?

 

[Moundir]

Set the flame for 3-5 feet to start...

10ft would be cool

 

[Peter-RedGTS'98]

Peter, was that you I saw on Stringfellow yesterday (I think)?

Yes, in the evening with a cute blonde (wife; with no bikini this time). Check your email tomorrow.

Guys, so far, I see, there are several solutions which all combined will give me a firework cannon and a water/paint gun mounted on a trailer behind my Viper. I will need a superchager pretty soon This is why we need superchargers! Any pics?

Any other quick solution without running into a big project? Thanks.

 

[Motor City Mad Man]

I own a Viper for three months. An incredible experience and a lot of fun. But sometimes I am scared by stupid teens (and others) zooming around me to have a better look and getting way too close to my bumper in Northern VA traffic. One almost crashed on me and I saw his terrified face later on. Is there any sensible solution to let them know to stay away from my bumper??? I consider mounting additional red lights (inside GTS - using existing screws next to the rear windshield), connect them to a lighter, and have a switch handy close to the shifter. Maybe strobe/police lights. Any help??? Thanks.

I have it happen to me all the time too. They come zooming up 40 miles over the speed limit and then slam on the brakes right on your bump and tailgate you for awhile. I find what works best for me is pointing a .50 caliber Desert Eagle pistol out the window at them. They drop back real quick. But the washer nozzle thing sounds pretty cool, plus I've always wanted one of those spark plug in the exhaust kits to shoot flames.

 

[Qualitywires.com]

.

 

[Qualitywires.com]

The same thing happened to me the other day. It was 1 in many times but this day really irked me. These idiot teens almost rear end me and I slow down and they are still on my bumper. I look in the rear view mirror seeing these two teens thinking it funny and laughing. They pull into the mall parking lot and I follow them in there. I proceed to follow them in there and when they came to a top, I cut in front of them got out and started yelling at them to get the fuuck out of the car. They both had a terrified look on their face and were not smiling anymore. I said some choice words and the idiot teens wimpered off shaken I think. Yeah I know it was immature of me to do that, but it felt good. The above story was a rated G version of what really happened. heh! The Asian terror!

 

[TSR6]

Being 18, I take offence to your "stupid teens" remark. There are a select number from any age group that can be considered bad drivers. It's just that teens always get the bad rep.

As far as people go, I just anticipate them. Unfortunately it's hard with some of the more colorful drivers out there. There is always the guy in the Oldsmobile rust bucket that comes out of nowhere and wants to race. lol

My Dad & I ususally swap "idiot stories." I've seen some real winners out there.

-Troy

 

[yellow02]

giant lights are not gonna keep people off ur bumper... what u wanna do is downshift a gear or 2 so u slow down withouyt them knowin it... once they realize they gotta slam on their breaks. they should back off... and if that donest do the trick, just keep a bunch of bbs in ur car and chuck em out the window 1 by 1

 

[CitySnake]

Tougher with a GTS, but in my roadster, at speed, a few M&M's tossed straight up do a heck of a job on the windshield of a tailgater!

 

[Vreracing]

The weird part of it is they may be paying you a complement. It's sort of like a salute.

Esteem issues at that age are huge. When you see a Viper you just feel so unaccomplished. Most adults can't even handle it.

I was leaving a Bookstore late one night. A real rough looking group of kids were hanging around my car. I was almsot going to have security go out with me. When I got out to the car they just wanted to say to me what a cool car it was.

It's strange sometimes the company you draw with a Viper.

My daughter has a Tshirt with a girl holding her head back and brushing her hair. "Oh the price of being beautiful"

 

[robiferretti]

the "if you can read this, get off my ass" bumper sticker

 

[robiferretti]

Being 18, I take offence to your "stupid teens" remark. There are a select number from any age group that can be considered bad drivers. It's just that teens always get the bad rep.
-Troy

[rant on]Why is it that everyone has to take offense to soemthing in this country? Why si everyone so sensitive...I take offense to you being offended by the previous posts...he is not far off in his statement about teen drivers...

Fact is that most cant drive and think they are rally car drivers...where none of them are really in control..good thing they are putting enough saftey features in cars to save a lot of lives...bottom line Teen drivers **** but think they are invincible... I was a teen 2 years ago and i dont take offense to it.

If your that easily offended get off the computer and go start a defensive teen driving program to help correct the problem of crappy drivers in this country...when you care that much, take offense. Until then relax and enjoy life without taking offense to what people write on a internet message baord..especially if its not directed towards you[incoherent babble rant off]

 

[TSR6]

robi - I do realize that some are bad driver, I don't dispute that, but I've had more "old folks" with those huge sunglasses cut me off than teenagers.

I don't want to turn this thread into a worst drivers thread, so i'll just leave it at that.

The M&M trick sounds hilarious. I'll have to remember that.

The tailgaters that really tick me off are the trucks and SUV's at night. I don't think they realize that thier headlights are right at the level of our rear windows. THAT gets annoying fast!

 

[2001 Sapphire Blue]

How bout some Yosemite Sam mud flaps that say "BACK OFF!"LOL

 

[Viperfreak2]

Blind spot drivers are worse. Same story, come flying up behind you on the highway and instantly slow down right where you can't see them. SRT with the top up is much worse than either the RT/10 or the GTS. Time for a quick lane change fake out, then punch it up to 150. You Gen II guys with the rear exhaust flame throwers can bake the tailgaters, Gen I and Gen III can cook 'em to the sides! Gen I on the left, Gen III on the right, Gen II in front! FLAMEs ON! Fried rice.

 

[Viperzilla]

Being 18, I take offence to your "stupid teens" remark. There are a select number from any age group that can be considered bad drivers. It's just that teens always get the bad rep.

Troy, I'm 19, and can understand your comments, to an extent. I have driven a Viper twice. The second time I drove it, I got the bad attention some have mentioned beforehand. I hate to say this, but you may not understand their situation completely until it happens to you. I would describe it as more than tailgating, some get right on your tail, others do pass you at more than 40 over your MPH almost clipping your rear as they pass you (this occured to me), or they "trap" you (also happened to me).

When the a-hole teens almost clipped the GTS I was driving, I was at a red light, and I see these kids in a brand new Blazer. They were chuckling. I already planned a "hard launch" since I was first in line at the light, and I had to merge. I got a good launch with only a split second of tire sqeak. I accelerated at 3/4 throttle, shifted into second at 40 MPH. Speed limit was 60 on the road, so I shut it off at 55. I look in the rear view mirror, and I see the ********* coming at me at about 100, they **** the wheel to the left and came with in about 6 feet of clipping the left rear of the car (I'm sure they were bragging to their friends after that, that they beat a Viper ).
The second incident was on the same road, a little further down. This modded Eclipse cruises up behind us, get into the left lane, and stays right next to me, they shifted down like they wanted to race. I was coming up behind someone that was going 5 under the speed limit. I didn't want to get chips in the car, so I let off the gas, get behind the Eclipse. They hit the gas, and all this black smoke spews out onto the Viper.

That's what these guys are mad at these idiots, it's not a thread against everyone our age, believe me. We just want them to respect the Viper, the others on the road, and realize how stupid they really are putting themselves, us, and others in risk. And it's all just over a car. They just need to take a step back, or a few feet in their car, and look and analyze their actions.

 

[Newport Viper]

flick a booger on their windshields.

 

[MHQC]

it is mostly the teens that cause the comotion. They all drive like freakin' nutcases near the car. I had a teen in a Golf GTI VR6 that was trying to race me for 10 miles!!! I gestured to him numerous times to "screw off" to no avail. Almost had to call the cops on the nutcase. He would literally not go away. Had there not been a honey with me I would have stopped looooooong ago and asked him to exit his vehicule...

 

[Peter-RedGTS'98]

Troy, I did not intend to respond to the secondary issue, but since I initiated this discussion by using a word “stupid” let me say few words. Majority of teens are very responsible drivers with respect for human life and property. I get many greetings at stops and when driving. But there is always a group of those that should not get a driving license. Posts above show you typical problems the Viper drivers have to face. Four times in three months, I had to deal with serious reckless driving problems caused by teens – guys in small modified cars and girls in huge SUVs (no single one caused by an old guy, like you mentioned). No kidding.

The choice of words was made very careful “stupid” vs. “smart”. I toned it down from more descriptive one. I am simply not lucky and have to deal with reckless driving all my life, quite frequently. Just see three cases below:

1. While in HS, one of our guys got a “brilliant” idea. 20 minutes later went off the road, hit an only tree around, and the car got fire. Nobody could get close to the car and open stacked door. It took him 1 minute to scream and burn in flames. The car burned for 30 minutes and he evaporated.

2. Two years ago close to a local HS, two cars of teens played the cat and mouse game. Suddenly one car stopped across both lanes. I had 45 mph in my SUV driving against a girl head. Only years of experience helped me to avoid the crash. Stupid vs. smart – why do I have to deal with something like this anyway ???

3. Two months ago, two teens got crazy behind a wheel of modified Honda. They zoomed on my Viper, went left, right, etc. etc. They screamed and behaved like drunk. I decided to stop. In disbelieve, they continued harassing other drivers. Suddenly the car hit the curb and left the road. Before they got back, they lost the entire bumper2bumper ground effect of a beautiful car. Lots of plastic pieces scattered around. Stupid vs. smart – why do we have to watch this ???

If you still do not believe, look at statistics: my insurance is below $500/year (Viper), my teen daughter’s insurance is $1000/year (small used car), and my teen son’s insurance would be $1800/year (small used car) before I said NO WAY you can walk to school. We are best friends and he understands this because he saw one case on his own.

 

[Peter-RedGTS'98]

FINAL CHOICES

After two weeks of searching and talking to Viper owners, teens, a lawyer, a cop and others, there is one reasonable solution with three options.

Option 1: Install police strobe lights in the back and wave an object similar to a badge. I was told that this would cool down everybody around. Cops do this sometimes without bothering to talk to drivers.

Option 2: If option #1 does not work, install a camera security system, the same police cars have. The cost is still OK. This is to protect myself. BTW, I was told that camera security systems are considered for luxury cars as an option. One company already offers them. Any clue who does it?

Option 3: Volunteer trooper/detective. With the tape in my hand, at least four drivers would lose their privilege to drive already.

 

[Jerome Sparich]

FINAL CHOICES

After two weeks of searching and talking to Viper owners, teens, a lawyer, a cop and others, there is one reasonable solution with three options.

Option 1: Install police strobe lights in the back and wave an object similar to a badge. I was told that this would cool down everybody around. Cops do this sometimes without bothering to talk to drivers.

Option 2: If option #1 does not work, install a camera security system, the same police cars have. The cost is still OK. This is to protect myself. BTW, I was told that camera security systems are considered for luxury cars as an option. One company already offers them. Any clue who does it?

Option 3: Volunteer trooper/detective. With the tape in my hand, at least four drivers would lose their privilege to drive already.

Number 1 will get you thrown in jail for impersonating an officer.

 

[Motor City Mad Man]

it is mostly the teens that cause the comotion. They all drive like freakin' nutcases near the car.

I must strongly agree. I'm not saying all teens are bad, reckless drivers but every run in I've had while driving the Viper has been with someone in their teens or early 20's. Twice I've had a car full of kids driving towards my swerve over real quick pretending like they were going to hit me head on and then they all laughed as I drove by like it was some big joke or something. Never saw the kids before in my life. Had 3 occasions where a car came out of no where flying up alongside me and then swerved over at me hard within maybe 2-3 feet of my Viper pretending like they were going to side swipe me. All cars were full of teenage kids. The one time I chased after them and at first they were pumping their fist in the air like this is cool, but after I shadowed them for a awhile they got real nervous and took a last second exit by going 2 lanes over at the last possible second so I couldn't follow them. Also had a beat up old station wagon purposely cut me off on a deserted 4 lane street. They flew by me, slammed on the brakes, and cut me off within 1 foot of my front bumper. If I hadn't slammed on the brakes I would have rear-ended them. That car was filled with 2 teenagers also. This car is a mgnet for nut-cases and idiots sometimes. That's why I carry a piece now whenever I drive my Viper.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

One (and admittedly not the only or the best) response is to drive slower. Somebody (age-neutral description) in an older Talon was playing with me, I pulled to the right, and the idiot passed me while looking at me. He rear-ended a pickup at 50 MPH. It still is the funniest thing I've ever seen, passing a Talon stuck under a F150.

 

[Nexus-6]

This just reminded me of something that happened to me a few months ago...

An unmarked cop car of all things did what a lot of these teens are doing in these stories. Screamed up in my tail from 200 yards back at easily 80+mph in a 40, got within a few feet, slowed down and proceeded to follow me to my house while slowing down and goosing it to within a foot or so of my rear bumper over and over and over...

They actually followed me to my house, to my driveway and to my garage, driving by really slow, I'm sure just making sure I was safe and well protected.

Gotta love it.

Damn kids n' cops...