If there’s one major change we can make that will have the biggest effect on getting home safely, it has to be: reduce your driving speed. Bobby Nitro knows this is a sensitive topic for many petrolkoppe who like nothing better than to test the top end. but it’s a highly relevant topic to put on the table, not least because high-speed accidents often kill other people, the innocent victims.
When you drive just that little bit too fast, you have that much less reaction time when something goes wrong, slower speeds mean more time to avoid crashes. And the higher the speed of impact, well, the more the damage. Here’s a helpful calculation, if two cars crash head-on, both going at 100km/h, that’s like hitting a wall at 200km/h.
But still, as pertrolkoppe we want to test the car. Bobby says take it to the track. And he’s not the only one. Bobby remembers a conversation with Killarney Street2Strip organisers years ago, and the main point being made was that the event would get the speedsters off the street and into a controlled environment.
There are myths to bust. Speedsters will tell you, “I know what I’m doing.” Sure, they may be right in that they know how to hold a wheel straight and trap that pedal, but do they know how to stop safely, or how to avoid the ouma who comes out the side street? Answer is no. The change begins with you.