**caz** Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 just found this on BBC's website: Lives are being put at risk by young motorists who modify their cars to boost performance, says the AA. The motoring organisation wants tighter controls for things like nitrous oxide kits which are used to massively increase an engine's power. AA Chairman Edmund King says it's young motorists who are most at risk and he wants to see new rules about how much people can modify their cars. Five hundred young people die in car crashes across the UK every year. Nitrous oxide is just one of the things motorists are using to soup-up their cars and make them go faster. It's usually known as laughing gas and used to make fillings less painful at the dentist. But in a car it has a very different effect. Twenty-five-year-old car-owner Dale Vodden wants his wheels to say something about him and has so far spent about £16,000 on it. He's had a nitrous oxide kit added to his Toyota MR2 which boosts the engine from 158 to nearly 300 brake horsepower. He isn't worried and says the car can take it: "The suspension is modified, it sits nicer, it handles nicer. It's up to spec basically." Trevor Langfield says he vets drivers before fitting new systems Trevor Langfield has been fitting legal nitrous oxide systems for more than 30 years. He says he vets each individual customer and only fits more powerful systems when a driver has proved it can be used safely. He said: "What you're doing is just putting more oxygen and more fuel into the engine and that burns to make more power." However the AA is worried about inexperienced drivers behind the wheels of such powerful cars. King added: "We believe that many hundreds of lives are put at risk by these modified cars. "Some 20% of new drivers have a crash in their first year of driving. "If you then put them in a modified car that's harder to control, that's faster, that has an extra 200 brake horsepower, then accidents are much more likely to happen." The AA says it would like new rules on modifications, including nitrous oxide, but there are no current plans to change the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_ov_uk Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 bullshite, if hes running a nitrous oxide kit with that much power on a standard engine no chance. i dont know why the is a massive hype over nitrous is safe if fitted right. oh Shite i know why the new fast and furious has just come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithyandco Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Just seen that... Utter toss... Modified cars controlled by dick heads put other peoples lives at risk... Not all young drivers are dick heads... most know their limits and the limits of the road and car and where it's safe to push the limits further (ie: a trackday) Again people are stereo typing young drivers... There are young drivers who can handle a car safer than some with 30+ years experience! The majority of bad drivers I come accross are in their 40s (About 5% of them were driving Police cars...) and only a small amount of those were Young drivers... Mainly cocky chavs in unmodified or modified motors with all their 2 mates in the back There is nothing to say a new driver couldn't handle a 500bhp car... as long as that driver knows not to plant his or her foot down and to drive it within the legal, road, driver and conditions limits... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_ov_uk Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 im not sure that i want to be in a club this year that wants to put tighter controls on modified cars. so il think il be swaping somewhere different this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I think it's all fair comments. I think they should bring in horsepower limits based on age which should ultimately reduce insurance premiums a bit too. I'd say the following is fair:- 17 - 80hp18-20 - 120hp21-24 - 200hp25+ anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_ov_uk Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I don’t agree with that, its just as easy to kill with a 80hp than a 800hp car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidrick Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I can't see what's too far wrong with the article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charley Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 How could you control what people buy and drive and know what the BHP of the car is. Not everyone informs the DVLA of an engine change so you could get round the police fairly easy...dependant on how you enforce it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KNITERIDER Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 i think its a fair point they have made BUT does somewhat tar everyone with the same brush! alot of young drivers are either A: nobs or B: to inexperianced/naive of their own abilities to handle these cars but as nick ov uk says you can kill with either, i almost proved that lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I don’t agree with that, its just as easy to kill with a 80hp than a 800hp car Of course, but what about probability? I think a 17yr old is more likely to crash in an 800hp car than an 80hp one. That's the point. It'd also help teach young drivers how to drive fast without requiring a ton of power. All round a good thing. Better driving skills, cheaper insurance. Win win. How could you control what people buy and drive and know what the BHP of the car is. In the same way it's done today, via insurance companies. If people want to drive around uninsured, that's their choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutchkev Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 alot of the older cars that younger ones drive round in struggle to hit 70bhp from factory, but its still a 1 tonne lethal wepon that can hit 80mph, weather its 80bhp or 800bhp, if you hit another car/person/item at that speed your ultimatly going to die in reality its up to the driver to take responsability for the way they drive, not anyone else, no government restriction/rules are going to stop idiots driving like idiots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScORTED Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 nice bias on the article missing some very important details... what percentage of the "young drivers" who crash and die were:a) Drivingb) had performance modifications i'll bet you the figure of 500 goes down to 20-30 still if you can double your standard bhp on a standard engine with nitrous then i'll have some of that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_ov_uk Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 its just balls, its the person driving the car not the car. i would like to see what they would say about the over 65 age group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScORTED Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 the over 65's are all members of the AA why would they bad mouth them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mutley Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I think it's all fair comments. I think they should bring in horsepower limits based on age which should ultimately reduce insurance premiums a bit too. I'd say the following is fair:- 17 - 80hp18-20 - 120hp21-24 - 200hp25+ anything ive been saying for years they should bring in the same system for cars as they do motorbikes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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