There isn't. Unless you think forcing everyone to drive a Prius is a better way.
It is about freedom. Freedom for a company to build a car they want to build and the freedom of an individual buy the car they want to buy. Do away with that freedom and the next car that will lead the way in the crash statistic will be...a Prius. And then someone will look at the crash stats of the Prius and say, "there has to be a better way."
Get my point? There will always be some car that leads other cars in stats. Always. Maybe the Viper leads in crash stats, maybe it doesn't, I don't know. What I do know is that the Viper is a terrifically engineered and built car and does exactly what the driver tells it to do. There is nothing that needs to be changed on it, nothing...except the nanny crap that has been slowly creeping into it.
Chuck,
As for the first point, I don't think "forcing everyone to drive a Prius" is a better way. As I said, the car is NOT the problem. As for electronic nannies, I don't believe that's the solution either; in fact, given what I believe is the real nature of the problem, I honestly think electronic driving aids only encourage those already inclined to going beyond their individual limits to push the envelope even further, then blame the computer for failing to repeal the laws of physics. The real problem here is an image, one that both creates a perception that the Viper itself is unsafe (NOT true!), and all too often, contributes to a driver mindset that really IS unsafe.
I know that "Education is the answer" has become a cliche, but I do think it is PART of the answer, PART of the "better way" I mentioned. It can't hurt, and might help, if every newbie in a Viper had a clear appreciation for what it can do if driven (or maintained) improperly, and why, so that the Viper's high handling limits do not lull them into a false sense of complacency. That's one part of it; the easy part, as a matter of fact. The hard part, and the one that needs the most attention, can be summed up in one little word with big implications: ATTITUDE. The problem we are talking about is not a problem on the track (not for long, anyway!), where safety is taken
very seriously, and everyone who sticks around understands that motorsport is an exercise in skill, precision, and judgment, not bravado. Experienced track rats (like you) rarely if ever get into accidents on the street, and the ones that do occur are usually of someone else's making. Not only do the extra car control skills and safety mindset carry over; as you have pointed out yourself, those who experience the thrill of high speed on the track have little incentive to want to try it in the far more dangerous environment of public roads.
Those who do get into incidents on the street rarely have seen any time on the track, or even a driving school. Apart from those who are simply ignorant of the Viper's potential and limits, they fall into two broad categories: (1) Those who get into a Viper (or any other supercar for that matter), for all the wrong reasons, chief of which is the need to nurture a fragile ego. These also often lack the understanding that high-speed driving is is far less about guts than about brains. (2) Those lacking any meaningful degree of self-control, self-discipline, or sense of responsibility, and often any real appreciation of their own driving skills (or deficiencies). The two groups overlap to some extent, but generally, the first type is the one who will show off, especially if tempted; the second is the prototypical street racer.
I like to think that those in the first category are at least potentially educable. They are likely to be influenced by a good (or bad) example (which makes it important that we not say or do anything that encourages the undesirable behavior). As a rule, people like this (no matter how much they pretend otherwise) want and need the approval of others (which is why they need to "prove" something with a Viper in the first place). These are the ones we need to focus our "attitude adjustment" efforts on. I suspect quite a few of them actually have some common sense, at least when their ego is not overriding it. With their misconceptions cleared up, and having gotten a clear (and consistent) message that their behavior on the street is not "cool", not brave, and quite simply neither admired nor appreciated, they will either clean up their act, learn some real skills, and take it to the track, or simply slink off, and look elsewhere for validation of their shaky sense of self-worth. The worst cases actually
would be better off in a Prius, as at least then they would not feel any need to prove anything.
Those with any firm roots in the second category are usually quite another matter. The main purpose of their existence is defiance, they believe that rules were made to be broken, and it's next to impossible to convince them otherwise. Thankfully there are few of them. The worst of the lot, if restricted to a Prius, would find a way to race
that (on the street, naturally). Those less committed to their particular form of "sport" may reform, eventually (if they live that long); the best that may be hoped for from the rest, is that they lose their license before they kill themselves or someone else. Meanwhile, they are dangerous, in
whatever car they drive.
Maybe we should start a new forum for this video???
You're right; if we all did that, this discussion would be...well, not totally moot perhaps, but very different. (We'd still have the newbies and prospective newbies to educate, of course, but at least they would be looking at a consistently good example in the first place, and I think that's extremely important.
