Earlier this month came the story of a young man who was ticketed and had his Camaro taken away for hitting 142 kilometres per hour on West Vancouver’s Cypress Bowl Road. The response was predictable.
“How reckless!” said a woman who always sneaks a peek when she gets a text message while driving.
“Such disrespect for the rules of the road!” said a man who doesn’t know you need to stop for pedestrians at all intersections, even when there’s no marked crosswalk.
“It’s bloody dangerous!” said the person in the brown Hyundai Elantra who I followed up the Capilano eastbound onramp and watched as they merged at 40 km/h into traffic because they’d only cleared a hat-sized porthole in their fogged-up windshield.
The point is, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. And also be sure to remove the plank from your own eye before worrying about the mote of sawdust in your neighbour’s. And also, let’s be frank: there are few of us who, if given a 450 horsepower Camaro as a teenager, would not have been at least tempted to take her out for a rip to see what she’ll do. In this case, there is plenty of punishment being meted out, and there may probably be more when the parents arrive home.
Complaining about people, particularly young people, driving too fast in expensive and powerful cars is practically a hobby in this town. We talk about three things: how much it rains, dog bylaw infractions, and people who drive too fast. People who drive too fast are, of course, people who drive faster than we drive. We don’t drive too fast. They do. The maniacs.
Well, let me make an admission. I love to drive really fast. Like, really, really fast. A few months ago, I was handed the keys to a 650 h.p. supercharged Camaro, and I hit an indicated 242 km/h in that thing. Not just once either, but repeatedly. It was great fun.
And, because I was on a racetrack at the time, I wasn’t bothering anyone or endangering anyone (not even myself, really: modern cars have excellent stability aids). It’s my personal view that anyone should be able to drive as fast as they like, as long as (and this is the important part) they aren’t endangering themselves or others. As you’re almost always endangering yourself or others by driving too fast on public streets, it’s better to get your kicks on the track.
However, no racetrack in the world can replicate the feel of a really good backroad driven on a bright and early morning with the windows down and the breeze in your hair. You don’t need a Camaro for this sort of thing – a Mazda MX-5 will do nicely. The current car only has 155 h.p., and it’s plenty.
So that’s all fine and dandy. High horsepower stuff should take it to the track; lightweight, nippy stuff makes street driving more fun. But what about everything else.
Over the course of this year, I’ve driven a Toyota Sienna V-6, and that new Genesis full-size sedan, and a couple of other crossovers, and I’ve come away with a disconcerting feeling. All of them were far too fast.
I know this sounds ridiculous: a Toyota minivan? Too fast? But hear me out. The Sienna now comes with a 296 h.p. V-6 and will go from 0-100 km/h in seven seconds flat. That’s within a hair of a Ferrari 308 GTS Quattrovalvole, better known as the one that Magnum PI drove.
Further, while driving the Ferrari will metaphorically put hair on your chest – its mid-mounted engine singing and shouting to the clack-clack-clack of the metal shifter gate – the Sienna is butter-smooth. Its eight-speed gearbox whisks you up to the speed limit and across it without any drama. If you don’t pay attention and just match everybody else, suddenly we’re whistling along the Upper Levels at 30+ over.
To put it another way: in the Ferrari, it takes some work, determination and intention to break the speed limit. In the minivan, or countless other crossovers and vehicles, it just takes inattention. And guess what many human beings are bad at when it comes to cars? Paying attention.
So: 142 km/h up Cypress on a straight and relatively quiet piece of road? Dumb. Not watching your speed and coming in too fast to the eastbound left curve that leads onto the Capilano Bridge? Also dumb. And you’re probably more likely to crash in the second case because you’re not necessarily speeding on purpose.
So, what’s to be done? More signs that alert you to when you’re speeding? More enforcement? Stricter fines? Speed limiters on vehicles?
None of the above. What will help us all slow down a little and thus make our roads that much safer is to make sure we’re paying attention when we drive. And, when a story comes out about a Camaro or a Porsche or a Mercedes getting impounded, our first reaction shouldn’t be to hurl invective at the miscreant. We should, instead, examine our own driving, and maybe ask, “Shouldn’t I slow it down a little?”
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and automotive enthusiast. If you have a suggestion for a column, or would be interested in having your car club featured, please contact him at [email protected]. Follow Brendan on Twitter: @brendan_mcaleer.
