Hey, this is quite a downer, but I thought I'd post it and see if anyone knew the kid that was in the crash.

From what I've read he was 19, and he worked as a lot attendant at Baeirl Chevrolet in Wexford PA. He was driving what looks to be a Cobalt LS down the road, really fast, and lost control and slid into the truck. Well you can read the article and see for yourself.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/4722148/detail.html

 

Looks like a SS to me judging by the round tailights....

EDIT: Just found out all 2dr cobalts come with roundies

i have yet to see one 2dr albeit LS or SS cobalt around here. Everybody has the 4dr non-SS's here

 

probably an SS judging by the article. He was probably taking it for a rip.

 

F**king IGNORANCE...know your car before shooting off your keyboard. Both the LS and the SS coupes have round lights. That's a LS in the photo. Oh yeah, looks like a SRT4, not a Neon becuase it has round lights too (lol)!!!

 

Harsh =(

 

Yeah you're right...I take it back haknslash. Respect!!!

 

Jesus ******* christ my ******* bad. I wasn't trying to be smart or anything. Simply was not informed on the perticular model characteristics and their differences. As I said, up to this time, all I've seen is the damn 4DR with its different tails. Way to go bro


So much for the respect for all members

That **** was totally uncalled for. I repsect your decision to take back what you said but damn man, you got issues. I'm here 2 days and already someone starts on me with my SRT4..... maybe i should go back to a Honda . If you knew me and my posts on other forums, you would know I call my car a neon all the time. i'm not in denial.

 

Pretty sure he was joking the first time

 

Yeah I saw that on Channel 11 last night. My guess is he was driving too fast and either hydroplaned or was just going way too fast for the conditions and overdrove the traction on the tires. I know they said the only thing known for sure was that he was driving at an excessive rate of speed.

The ones I feel bad for are the people in the truck. Even though they only suffered minor injuries, it's still a senseless accident that didn't need to happen. It's a shame stuff like this happens, but it's also the reason why those of us under 25 have to pay outrageous amounts of money to insure our cars.

 

doesnt sound sarcastic to me
besides were off topic
it was definately a LS coupe...easily spotted by the low smaller spoiler. you can also notice that the car in the pic has no lip kit on the rear bumper. if you have good eyesight yeah can see the rims arent the 18" SS rims... LS all over it baby

even that was off topic...that accident sucks...now people get a better sense of what racing on the streets can lead to

 

Cobalt-0 Nissan truck-1

Cobalt got OWNED, wow, some people just don't need fast cars. OH well, im less stupid person we have to put up with. j/k, it could've been worst, could killed the people in the truck.

 

Wow, I could MAYBE understand this post if no one had been hurt or died but come on just because someone was driving too fast doesn't mean they deserve to die. You can't honestly tell me you have NEVER driven "too fast" and placed yourself in a dangerous situation just by dropping that gas pedal.

You would think this would be a wake-up call to all those who think driving 200+mph on a highway is a good idea just to race another vehicle, but unfortunately people just never learn. It's not the first and it won't be the last.

Permafried-

 

I do agree with you to a point, it is a shame that someone died and in that respect the other post was a little out of line even though I can somewhat understand what the other person was getting at. It's a shame that there are people that stupid in the world to put themselves and others at risk. Did they "deserve" to die just because they were driving fast? No. Is it their own fault that they're dead? Absolutely. There is no excuse for stupidity, which is what I would call excessively speeding down an already dangerous roadway in the middle of a heavy rainstorm like that kid. A lot of us have driven "too fast" at one time or another, but most of us know the limits of ourselves and our cars (or at least we should) and most of us HOPEFULLY know better than to drive at a high rate of speed during inclimate weather. At least they didn't take the lives of the people in the truck as well. It's still an unfortunate event that never should have happened and that sadly happens all too often - a very, very good friend of mine was killed by some ******* that thought it was cool to street race with his friends. Problem was he was 17 years old with a high horsepower car which mommy and daddy bought for him and he couldn't control, they came to a bend in the road and hit my friend's car head on at nearly 100mph, killing everyone in both cars instantly. There's a big difference between "opening it up" in a car and driving wrecklessly.

I hate to see people needlessly killed in car accidents, but I'd much rather someone be dead as a result of their own carelessness rather than kill other people that did nothing wrong other than be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

I didn't mean for my post to sound harsh and totally agree with everything you said. I think just the initial shock of what I was reading got to me and I wrote what was on my mind at the time. There's been an ever increasing number of people killed around here because of street racing and people just fail to learn the lesson...at least in this instance the people who were hit didn't pay with their lives as a result which happens all too often.

Permafried-

 

It is very nice to know that we have educated commentary and opinions on this forum. Both of your points are excellent and I must comment on how graceful you both sound when I read your pieces. Keep it up!! (the commentary I mean - sorry Alley)

 

Yeah, I agree Permafried. I didn't think you sounded overly harsh.

There have been a lot of crashes around here too. As a matter of fact, my cousin told me they're considering raising the driving age in my state to 18, some are even lobbying for it to be raised to 21. Not that 18 would have helped in this case since the kid was 19, but it's not any mystery why state legislatures consider things like that.

I think the saddest thing is that it's not just "stupid" kids that get killed doing stuff like this. A few years ago there was a girl around here who was going to be valedictorian of her class but she was killed right before graduation in the Trans-Am her parents bought her as an early graduation gift due to driving too fast at night, crossing the center line, and slamming into a truck head on.

Like you said, at least the people in the truck only suffered minor injuries. It's a shame there's no "quick fix" for stuff like this. The other thing they haven't said (or at least I haven't seen) is whether or not the guy was wearing a seatbelt. It might be another one of those cases where yeah, he probably would have been banged up pretty bad but otherwise might have survived with a seatbelt.

I've driven on the road that this accident with the Cobalt happened on, it's NOT a speed-friendly road, particularly not in the rain. The kid was from the area too, so why he was going so fast in the kind of weather we were having yesterday is beyond me.

 

Thanks DJ...it's nice when people can express their opinions and ideas freely without starting an all out flame war or receiving some sort of retaliation. Besides, that's what the forums are for, a place to freely express your thoughts and spawn conversation .

I'm not sure if any states have considered it, but Ontario has a graduated licensing system which is broken down into 3 tiers consisting of a G1 (beginners) G2 (intermediate) and G (final license). These 3 apply stictly to four-wheeled vehicles under a certain weight and towing limit (can't remember the numbers).

You may be aware of how it works, but you obtain your G1 through a written test and must then drive with a driver with at least four years driving experience (who also have their final G) for at least one year to build your experience.

The G2 consists of a road test and is really looking at your driving ability as well as your knowledge of the basic rules of the road and reaction time. This is the level where I disagree with the most because this basically gives you full driving privleges but the big factor is you have to have a 0 blood alcohol level. I agree fully with the alcohol level but I feel there should be a few more restrictions on WHERE you can drive your car such as 400 series highways (your equivalent of interstates, 100km/h speed limit, four lanes, etc.) as well as maybe even times at night. People will more than likely disagree with me on the above but imo I should not have been allowed to drive in that kind of situation the second I walked out of the door with my G2...but that's how it still stands today.

The final G then consists of another road test this time some highway driving, a trip around the city, etc. and then you're finally out of the graduated licensing system. The only real difference with obtaining your G is you can (this should give you a laugh) "legally drive with a blood alcohol content less than or equal to the legal amount". Those words should NEVER be written in a government document but they're right there in clear print.

This seems to work well for the most part, but again, as was the situation with both the driver of the Cobalt, and the girl killed in the trans am this still wouldn't address any of these problems at a later age when you're supposed to "know better", but at least it seems to be a step in the right direction .

Permafried-

 

Sounds very similar to what we have here in PA. When you're 16 you can take a written test to get a learner's permit. Once you get the lerner's permit, you must wait at least 6 months and have at least 60 hours of driver's training with a licensed driver over the age of 21 (it might be limited to a parent or guardian now, I'm not sure). You're not allowed any non-family passengers in the car either.

Once you get enough hours of training you can then take your road test. You have to show that you can control the vehicle on the road as well as parallel park and demonstrate knowledge of all equipment in the car (brakes, parking brake, lights, wipers, radio, turn signals, etc). Then once you pass that test you get your junior license. Basically it's almost a regular license except that you're not allowed to drive between certain hours (it's either 11pm or midnight and 6am) and I *THINK* there are some restrictions on the number of passengers you're allowed to have in the vehicle. You keep the junior license until you turn 18 (it used to be you could graduate to a regular license if you completed additional driver training, not sure if that's still the case or not).

I'm sure having graduated licensing helps prevent even more accidents, but the road tests here are a joke. One thing that I've heard mentioned which may prevent some accidents (not this one, but ones like the girl in the trans-am) is to have graduated classes of licenses. For example if you wanted to drive a car over a certain horsepower, you'd need to get a higher class of license and/or more training in that vehicle. I'll have to look for the article, it was in a paper publication but it might be online by now, but they suggested to the national highway transportation safety board to look at more factors involved in crashes involving persons age 18-24. Usually they just look at sobriety, speed, weather conditions, and seat belt usage. Another article that I DO think was online, but I'll have to find it, was a non-traditional driver education course which not only took kids on the road to drive in everyday conditions but also took them to a closed track where they set up an autocross-type course with wet and dry skidpads, slaloms, and various turns set up and taught teenagers about how the car would handle in different conditions, cornering limitations, and how to keep the car under control. I know I got a WHOLE new understanding of my car and it's limits when I autocrossed my Cavalier for the first time. There's a lot of things that driver education doesn't teach you, particularly about what happens when you start traveling at higher speeds.

This accident was certainly tragic but I guess at least it's got some good dialogue going on the board.

 

Definitely 100% in agreement with you on both points. My road test consisted of a number of turns, paralell park and return to the ministry of transportation. I couldn't believe that after 40 minutes I had proven to them that I could not only drive the car, but that I was mature enough to be allowed to drive whatever vehicle I wanted, within the weight limits (so even SUVs) whenever I wanted to. Even with the insurance rates it's still possible for teens to drive an SS for example at the age of 17, particularly if their parents cover the majority of the expenses, and while I'm sure the majority of them know right from wrong and are excellent drivers, there are always those few that have watched Fast and the Furious one too many times or just don't particularly care.

I think forcing someone at a younger age to go through the multiple licenses in order for them to be permitted to drive cars with more horsepower and torque might deter a younger driver from purchasing one of the vehicles and at least remove that possibility from the equation. Regardless of how things are done there are still going to be accidents and deaths as a result of dumb drivers (young and old), but at least this would be another step in the right direction.

This was always something I've considered taking myself, and really wished my driver training school had offered as an option at the time I took it. The biggest one that comes to mind the farther north you go is the possibility of black ice. I could almost guarantee if I went out and asked a large group of people what they would do if they hit black ice you would get the total wrong answer 90% of the time. This can also be similar to hydroplaning which I'll admit the first time it happened to me I had to slow down and think to get past my instinct of slamming on the brakes.

I think what it really comes down to overall is further educating our young drivers so they don't make the same mistakes others have made in the past. By providing them with a larger tool set so to speak, we could hopefully reduce the number of accidents caused simply by lack of knowledge and experience, but unfortunately stupid driving will always be an issue. There will always be that one driver that considers themselves invincible and no matter what you show them or tell them their mind won't change otherwise...you just have to hope that nothing happens to them or the people/drivers around them.

I don't profess to be perfect myself...I took my car up on two wheels when I was 18 years old, was going too fast on a turn and it went from ashphalt to gravel. When that car somehow came back down on all four wheels and didn't roll or jack-knife it was an eye opening experience for me. Again, that was a mix of stupid driving and a lack of knowledge (though I really shoulda known) that when going from ashphalt to gravel gravity tends to want to take over and I damn near threw the car on its' roof.

It seems for at least some of us what we see and hear on the news does sink in and makes us think twice before deciding to race that car that won't leave us alone, or try to push through that red light because we don't feel like waiting.

I couldn't have said it better myself .

Permafried-

 

My driver's test lasted a grand total of 7 1/2 minutes. Yes, 7 1/2 minutes. I drove forward 50 feet, reverse 50 feet, did a u-turn, went out on the road, made 2 rights and a u-turn, 2 lefts and was back at the DVM. That was our "thorough" driver's test. They didn't add parallel parking for another 2 years after I took my exam.

I really think the license you have should depend on the car you wish to drive. I don't think totally banning someone from driving something based on age is appropriate, but making sure the driver has the ability to drive a vehicle of a certain weight or with a certain amount of power is a smart thing to do. I'm the first one to admit there were certain cars that I KNEW at 16 I wasn't ready to drive, and yet there was one kid at my school with a Greenwood Corvette and another with a Saleen Mustang. I know adults who don't have the driving ability to properly control those cars...


Autocrossing is a GREAT way to learn your car. I took an 18 year old friend out and made him drive his car in an event. He went down a high-speed slalom and into a skid pad carrying too much speed and went straight off into the dirt. When he got back and we finally coaxed him out of the car, he was REALLY shaken up and crying, but I made my point to him. If he was out joyriding with his friends and driving under what at the time felt like a controlled speed on a road like that (there are a LOT of twisty roads around here) and instead of a skid pad he came to a sharp curve and instead of grass there had been a tree there, it would have been pretty ugly. I think what scared him was that cars were hitting a top speed of just under 50mph...but yet kids get on some of the back roads around here doing 80+, I think he realized exactly why so many kids get hurt and killed from driving too fast.

Ice and snow are bad here too and you are exactly right, 90% of people wouldn't have a clue what to do, and even if they did sometimes your instinct kicks in and you do the WRONG thing just as a reflex. My mom MADE me drive in the snow in an empty parking lot, drive around turns and hit the brakes and stuff. We did this EVERY time it snowed the first winter I was driving. I hated it and I scared myself a lot of times but it made me a WAY better driver. The only snow banks I ever hit were in that parking lot, I never got into trouble on the road because I knew exactly what the car was going to do and how to correct it.

I think that's what it takes for a lot of people unfortunately. Some moment where you realize that it's not "everyone else" that is a bad driver or that makes mistakes. You end up doing something that scares yourself and you realize that the whole teenage invincibility thing's a myth. Luckily for me that happened in the car with my mom, we got into a car accident just a couple of months before I was supposed to get my permit and a woman ran a red light and hit us head-on and I got banged up REALLY bad. It was my first car accident and I realized how BAD it hurt, you see stuff on TV or see one happen and it really doesn't look like much happens to the people inside the vehicle until you're in one, so that made me be a LOT more careful when I started driving.

We actually had a mandatory presentation we had to go to with trauma nurses who showed us footage of actual car crash victims who were our age that they treated (or attempted to treat) whose families had agreed to allow their children to be included in order to teach us what happened to the human body during a crash. That went a LOOOOONG way toward discouraging reckless driving (at least for me), but like everyone's said, there's still going to be people who don't respect the responsibililty of driving.

 

sucks

 

.....another way to deter young drivers is require them to go on a ride along with the police as the tell the parents, of some foolish driver, that their child has died in a horrible car crash. The reaction will never be erased from there mind. I speak from experience, as I saw the reaction on my own mother's face, when she was told of my youngest brothers death, in a senseless accident.

 

all I gotta say is airbags and seat belts cannot save lives alone, slow speeds can. That Cobalt Coupe got owned.

Notice how the side of the car folded? Too scary for me

 

Wow man, that sucks. I know when a good friend of mine was killed in a wreck it was a huge deterrant for me. Just think, for the kid in this wreck a few minutes of driving fast in his new car has caused a lifetime of devastation for his family and friends.

They actually do that some places, more so with people who are pulled over for DUI, they make them either go along to tell families their loved one(s) have been killed by a drunk driver or they'll make them sit in on support groups for people who have had family members killed in drunk driving accidents. Definitely would put the potential consequences into perspective, or at least it should.

 

Yep, looks like the Cobalt retains the Achilles heel of the Cavalier...poor side impact protection...