Bastiaan Olij

It's like passing a breath test but the cop thinks you look funny so still takes you into the station.

There has to be more, or people just start treating police like the boogieman instead of seeing them as the people looking after our safety.

I would agree with that to an extend. But like I said, even with proof they have the power to doubt and claim they think you've done more without evidence or reason.

At that point law enforcement turns into harassment.

btw, just to be clear, not bashing cops. Many are just doing their job and so far I've had far more positive experiences than negative experiences.

But there are a few out there that just seem to hate cars or get some sort of powertrip out of this.

But I have multiple friends who've spend thousands in dealing with defects while they've done all the right things legally required of them.

I'm avoiding it because my daily driver is not modified and the car we use for motorkhanas has minor modifications that technically are within legal spec.

Sadly, even with engineering sheets in hand you still can get done if you run into the wrong cop. They have no accountability, if they think somethings off about your car, your guilty until proven innocent.

I think I literally shat my pants. But I learned a valuable lesson :)

100%, this behaviour becomes 1000x more fun when your parent tells you it's wrong. When your parent actively supports you doing it in a safe environment, suddenly the rebel factor is gone.
It likely has more to do with how I treat my son than the actual activity.

I've had that experience, first time I drove to Norway in winter. I had driven on snow in Holland, how bad could it be?

Very very very bad when your car is not setup for it, with inadequate tires for the layer of ice beneath the snow..

It's more than anecdotal, at some point it becomes an informed opinion. But I agree, not evidence, I wish there were more studies done around this. Everything starts with a hypothesis based on what we witness.
Until a study is done, its neither true nor false.

Though I have also found that him being able to have unbounded fun on a safe skidpan, is removing his need to show off to his friends in unsafe situations and do dumb things out in public.

I've set my son on a course to do motorkhanas because that's getting him that experience from the start. But I'm not saying that's the thing everyone should do :)

Yeah 100%, again I'm not advocating for people to become racing drivers, or doing a racing course, just that those things teach you the same things.

Advanced driving training is what we need for normal road users.

Just getting kids to experience loosing control off their car would make a world of difference in them understanding there are limits and how close they are getting to those limits without realising.

The gory videos are a bit much :) To me its all about teaching what to do when things go wrong. That is the big thing that is missing.

You don't need to become a race driver for that, indeed just an advanced driving course becoming mandatory.

First time I came to Australia and witnessed 5 accidents in 1 week because it started to rain. Unheard off in Holland. Yes it doesn't rain much here, but you can train for knowing how to react, because your instinctive reaction is wrong.

100% agree, like I said, I'm advocating for that formal driver training becoming the norm, and I'm advocating for it to include advanced driving techniques. People should experience aquaplaning, obstacle avoidance and loss of control before they get their license.

There is a HUGE difference between stupid modifications and bad driving habits, and justifiable modifications that make your car safer.

Cops should know the difference, instead we get defected, and need to once again prove our cars are safe through a costly engineering process.

And we get a whole lecture on reaction times, braking distance, how you get yourself killed, and how you can drive fast safely.

Anecdotal I know, but my son just started a racing program. Senior instructor, award winning rally driver, first thing he says to us: "I can't believe driving down to Sydney, all the people tailgating on the M1, don't they realise they are dead if anything happens?"

No study, just my experience being involved in car culture for 35 years.

That all said, my beef with my personal situation is the stigma follows it. I, and people like me, get judged for driving modified cars. We're not the hoons who are doing donuts and burnouts in their $1000 commodores with chrome wheels.

Knock on wood, I've had my license for 30+ years and never been in a serious accident and never in one that was my fault. I definitely had extreme luck on my side when I was young because boy was I dumb, but I strongly believe my experience on track played a big part in keeping me safe.

Owh and don't forget this insane ideology that we should privatise it because somehow we believe this myth that turning it into monopolies is better. Now we all pay the highest toll road prices of the world and have public transport costs skyrocketing....

In Scandinavia for instance, I believe its Sweden or Norway, you actually have to pass multiple tests to prove you can handle a car in snow, in rain, in adverse weather, prove you can avoid an obstacle, etc. THAT is how you learn to drive.

Now I'm not advocating that everyone should get into track driving. BUT I am advocating that part of getting your license should be making things like advanced driving courses mandatory.

Most people drive stupid because they don't realise the consequences and how close to the edge they are.

Most people who've never driven on a track THINK they are driving well within their means, but they've never lost control, they often never know their own limits or the limits of their car. And when they finally loose control when they overestimate their abilities, it does not end well.

First, you don't need to race on the open road if you know you can drive a car fast at a venue that is meant for it, but far more important, you learn where your limit is, because you can loose control in a safe environment.

So we drive at 70-80% of our capacity and we know we do.

Agree with that driving fast belongs on the track BUT you learn car control that you need when things go wrong on the road.

People think those who are into racing want to drive fast on the normal road too, and we get judged by it. Many people who take racing seriously actually drive far safer.

As for dangerous driving.. your revving too much, your sliding your car, your pulling away too fast..