1964 Comet Crash - Opinions?

[Sledsel]

Saw this on Youtube and my opinion is the driver/owner is an idiot. Let's forget the fact the car is Chevy powered, the owner is totally stupid and negligent in my opinion. What are your thoughts?

 

[Bill Eh?]

I can't believe all of the red flags that the driver/builder ignored, immediately before the accident occurred. The fact that he knew the brakes were substandard before taking the car out was telling as well.

[Plowboy]

Saw that as well. The guy is definitely an idiot. A few minutes spent on figuring out why the throttle was sticking would've saved him, as well as the innocent victim he slammed into, a lot of grief and pain. It also didn't help that the car was equipped with harnesses. But, neither of them felt they needed them. It was ironic that in the beginning of the video, he said he wasn't going to do anything stupid like drag race it. Oh well, he got his 11:55 minutes of fame.     

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Plowboy

[GLMFAA1]

Gee, no thanks to the first responders.

greg

[Oldcarfan27]

"This video is possibly graphic in nature and we're not doing it for the the sensationalism." Then why did they show the crash first and then have the warning?

208 thousand dollars and can't afford to thoroughly check the braking system?

He kept talking about harnesses. Seat belts wouldn't have slowed that car at all!

The two most important safety issues on any car - acceleration and braking, were questionable at the beginning and they drove it (fast) anyway?

NO EMERGENCY BRAKE???!!

All they kept talking about was THEIR injuries and their car - What about the injuries of the people and the car they rear ended? I hope they get sued big time for their stupidity. And this video is downloaded as exhibit #1. They confessed their guilt about the whole needless incident!

[StevenGuthmiller]

Too bad they just couldn’t have saved everyone else the trauma and did a “Thelma and Louise” at about 100 mph.

As Forest would say, “stupid is as stupid does”.

Sorry for all of the movie references. ?

 

 

Steve

Edited July 11, 2022 by StevenGuthmiller

[Daddyfink]

 

[Joe Handley]

1 hour ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

"This video is possibly graphic in nature and we're not doing it for the the sensationalism." Then why did they show the crash first and then have the warning?

208 thousand dollars and can't afford to thoroughly check the braking system?

He kept talking about harnesses. Seat belts wouldn't have slowed that car at all!

The two most important safety issues on any car - acceleration and braking, were questionable at the beginning and they drove it (fast) anyway?

NO EMERGENCY BRAKE???!!

All they kept talking about was THEIR injuries and their car - What about the injuries of the people and the car they rear ended? I hope they get sued big time for their stupidity. And this video is downloaded as exhibit #1. They confessed their guilt about the whole needless incident!

Look in the comments, the owner/builder commented that so far as they know, the people in the vehicles he hit were ok. Honestly, it sounds like him and Shawn (the passenger) were the ones that took the brunt of the damage, both physical and financial.  It also sounds like the owner is going to try and rebuild the Comet too, I just hope he does, he can get that done before he's too old to drive anything, considering he just had liability on it and probably can't afford just had it off to somebody else this time.

[1972coronet]

Idiots, par excellence. More dollars than sense. 

Harness-only restraints are illegal to employ on on-highway vehicles in California -- how about modern 3-point belts for those on-highway cruises? Lap-only belts are dangerous -- that guy's lucky that a dashboard smack is all that he got! Could've easily hyperextended his back and become paralysed! 
Then there's the tensing-up before impact -- the worse thing one can do! That impact energy's got to go somewhere! Looks like the (dipstick) owner-operator got a new elbow from the transferred energy.

Where's the ignition? Why didn't Mr. Seventeen-Years-Old-Brakes hit the cutoff? Kill the ignition then put the vehicle in neutral! 

No excuse for operating that sticky-throttle-return, mediocre-dangerous-ages-old brakes red pile of dung knowing it has those safety issues!!

Typical Platinum Credit Card build: "I'll do something about the inadequate brakes after I put a killer engine in..." Well, at least it had the Happy Meal Toy look he was after -- and stupid LED headlights.

[Oldcarfan27]

1 hour ago, Joe Handley said:

...so far as they know, the people in the vehicles he hit were ok.

 

...I just hope he does, he can get that done before he's too old to drive anything,

 

...considering he just had liability on it

 

...probably can't afford just had it off to somebody else this time.

"As far as they know." I'm glad they were sooo concerned about the outcome of somebody else besides themselves. 

Irresponsible drivers like him shouldn't even have a driver's license, putting lives in danger over an unsafe car is inexcusable. 

Liability insurance only, eh? Lawsuit for sure!

"Can't afford to hand it off"? Too bad. I hope it sits like it is in his driveway for decades, as a reminder that Stupidity is costly! I don't have any sympathy. 

[larman]

I am perfectly fine with people making stupid decisions when it only affects them, but there were innocent people involved here and they don't really seem to be too bothered by that. I should think that there is a hefty lawsuit here and the owner of the Mercury has no leg to stand on. 

[tbill]

How does one dump 200k in a car, put it on the road and NOT have full agreed value coverage? Now , you have the car on the road, so, like a normal person, you give it some easy shake down drives, you know, short low speed so you can feel if anything is amiss, so you find out your brakes suck and your throttle sticks, yet you keep driving it that way…….idiot doesn’t begin to describe it…….

[Tabbysdaddy]

2 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

Harness-only restraints are illegal to employ on on-highway vehicles in California

I guess that's part of the "let the robber stab you to death" statute.

[Joe Handley]

1 hour ago, tbill said:

How does one dump 200k in a car, put it on the road and NOT have full agreed value coverage? Now , you have the car on the road, so, like a normal person, you give it some easy shake down drives, you know, short low speed so you can feel if anything is amiss, so you find out your brakes suck and your throttle sticks, yet you keep driving it that way…….idiot doesn’t begin to describe it…….

Not sure, probably wouldn’t even put it on a trailer until it was fully insured, let alone drive it more than in and out of the garage.

[1972coronet]

"A fool and his money..." That owner-operator is about as sharp as a bowling ball.

[Bucky]

Over 200k? Hmmm.....he must not have had enough left over cash for a non-sticky throttle, and some good brakes!

 

I've had brake failure on three different vehicles in my day. A 1965 Ford Falcon, a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am, and a 1968 Imperial Crown. Each time, my first instinct was to shove the shifter into neutral, and head for something other than another vehicle. But, of course, I didn't have over $200K wrapped up in all three vehicles, much less just one.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Bucky

[ChrisBcritter]

It would be interesting to have seen him and his lawyer go over the whole script, line by line, mainly avoiding the phrase "I'm/He's/We're sorry" and any reference to the occupants of the other cars.

More to the point, anyone know what caused such a complete and sudden failure? Assuming it was a dual master cylinder, could it have been the pedal linkage, or something else?

Having had a close call last week when one of my front metal brake lines burst after a panic stop (idiot in a newer red Caddy ran a stop sign in front of me), I'm being extra cautious/paranoid, replacing both front lines (rears already done) and giving other cars even more space than usual. In fact, when I was looking at a '66 LeSabre hardtop on Craigslist yesterday as a potential weekend fun car, the first thing I looked up on it was where to get a dual pot master conversion.

Edited July 12, 2022 by ChrisBcritter

[Fat Brian]

4 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

anyone know what caused such a complete and sudden failure?

I'm guessing brake fade after fighting a huge motor that won't go back to idle for a few miles. I've had my brakes fade on a mountain road and it was like that, they felt fine and suddenly they were almost completely gone.

[paul alflen]

Remember in the video he says he is riding the brakes because the idle speed is too high. Think that would heat them up? Yes! 

Also the brake fluid should be changed as moisture gets in it when storing a car . If the throttle sticks, put a heavy return spring on it! That car should have never been on the main road. A shake down run should have been  done on it, on a service road where there is no one on the road! Too late now! Also an emergency brake could have stopped the car by slowly pulling up on it? Did he have one installed ? No! He should have popped the chute but didn't have that either!

[BlackSheep214]

18 hours ago, Sledsel said:

Saw this on Youtube and my opinion is the driver/owner is an idiot. Let's forget the fact the car is Chevy powered, the owner is totally stupid and negligent in my opinion. What are your thoughts?

 

I’ve already started the conversation on this subject in another thread. You’re a day late and a dollar short. LOL!

 

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/172674-bada-custom-muscle-cars-sure-to-get-the-goosebumps-going/

 

[BlackSheep214]

13 hours ago, Joe Handley said:

Look in the comments, the owner/builder commented that so far as they know, the people in the vehicles he hit were ok. Honestly, it sounds like him and Shawn (the passenger) were the ones that took the brunt of the damage, both physical and financial.  It also sounds like the owner is going to try and rebuild the Comet too, I just hope he does, he can get that done before he's too old to drive anything, considering he just had liability on it and probably can't afford just had it off to somebody else this time.

I hope he doesn’t rebuild because he’s the biggest idiot to IGNORE all the warning signs to begin with. I blame Shawn for going along with wearing just a lap belt instead of the 5 point harness.  Heck, even the host admitted he’s no mechanic himself. Ah well, they deserved to be injured because of stupidity.

The builder/owner will be bankrupt and probably divorced again before he can rebuild. 

[espo]

After all the work and money spent in addition to what was overlooked. Too bad the owner/driver didn't have the forethought to shut off the engine when he first realized there was a problem. I guess he must have panicked.  

[Sledsel]

3 hours ago, BlackSheep214 said:

I’ve already started the conversation on this subject in another thread. You’re a day late and a dollar short. LOL!

 

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/172674-bada-custom-muscle-cars-sure-to-get-the-goosebumps-going/

 

OOPS

[Sledsel]

I love the comment at the 1:50 mark. 

[Richard Bartrop]

Clearly someone who wasn't quite as clever as he thought he was.