Old Pacific Hwy Death

[GTPete]

Quote from NBN news:

A SYDNEY man was killed overnight when his car crashed into a tree and burst into flames on the NSW Central Coast.

It's believed the 22-year-old from Earlwood lost control of his Honda Civic at 1.08am (AEST) on the Old Pacfic Highway at Mount White.

He had been driving in procession with a number of other performance vehicles.

A number of people stopped to try to free him from the car, but it burst into flames before they could get him out.

No one else was hurt.

[Interceptor]

*this* is why its a good idea to have a fire extinguisher

[Paxton]

That road is dangerous at the best of times. I have done some crazy speeds through there when I just got my EF, however after seeing the footage of a number of accidents through there, I won't touch it. The Speed limit is 60 for a reason. I find it amazing that it was the major road north for so long.

[Casper]

Whats the other "performance vehicles" got to do with it?

[GTPete]

I agree a Fire Extinguisher is a must and should be mandatory. Its not hard to have one at least in the boot or preferably in the cabin within reach of the driver.

[Keepleft]

Originally Posted by GTPete

I agree a Fire Extinguisher is a must and should be mandatory. Its not hard to have one at least in the boot or preferably in the cabin within reach of the driver.

Saw a person burnt alive once in a Civic back in the early 80's, therefore all cars I get have one, typically a 1kg unit. Cheap - $19.95 - $60. Used them by chance numerous times here in AUS since.

That bastion of generous speed allowances (overseas), mandates triangle, vests and in some states the fire extinguisher and first aid kit as 'standard equipment',- for all passenger cars etc.

We are far from being serious in Australia with this stuff, yet, BUT - that time *will* come.

The Pacific Highway between Cowan - Gosford use to have various speed limits, 60 - 100km/h and once it was in part (//) pre July 1979.

These days the limit is 70km/h, a 'tourist' limit.

[FPV8U]

Originally Posted by Casper

Whats the other "performance vehicles" got to do with it?

Saw on the Channel 10 news update about an hour ago, about a perfomance car with a young driver crashing in NSW, please tell me they arn't telling us Honda Civics are performance cars now...


First it was V6 Commodores and now it's 4 Cylinder Honda's, soon they'll call hybrids performance cars due to having two powerplants...

[Kenster]

Originally Posted by FPV8U

Saw on the Channel 10 news update about an hour ago, about a perfomance car with a young driver crashing in NSW, please tell me they arn't telling us Honda Civics are performance cars now...


First it was V6 Commodores and now it's 4 Cylinder Honda's, soon they'll call hybrids performance cars due to having two powerplants...

Anytype of engine could bast into flame the chance if that Honda Civic was done up in the engine bay it could be classific as a performance car but i dont know how NSW works compare to Vic.

But it sad to hear about the accident that took place

[FPV8U]

Originally Posted by Kenster

Anytype of engine could bast into flame the chance if that Honda Civic was done up in the engine bay it could be classific as a performance car but i dont know how NSW works compare to Vic.

But it sad to hear about the accident that took place

Yes any type of engine can cause a fire...

But the point is the Media trying to hype up about young drivers in performance cars, when it was a Honda Civic with probably performance mods such as a Cannon and a K&D Pod Filter.

It's getting beyond the joke.

[S3SR]

Originally Posted by Casper

Whats the other "performance vehicles" got to do with it?

nice way of saying "hoon" but the guy prob didnt match the stereotypical description of one.

its a waste of a life and my condolences

speed limits there for a reason......

im also getting an extinguisher this week, if not for my own life, but someone elses

[Ruger]

damn he lives close by here alright.

I agree with what casper said and will also take the oppurtunity to say a honda civic is not a performance car. they are just using it to stab at hi-po cars again. A man dies and they use it to have ago at high performance cars good one media!
Its proof you can kill yourself in a little 4 cyl it doesnt need to be a big v8 or something. Yes you can still kill yourself in a little honda civic or mitsu mirage.

[Nostalgia]

Originally Posted by Ruger

damn he lives close by here alright.

I agree with what casper said and will also take the oppurtunity to say a honda civic is not a performance car. they are just using it to stab at hi-po cars again. A man dies and they use it to have ago at high performance cars good one media!
Its proof you can kill yourself in a little 4 cyl it doesnt need to be a big v8 or something. Yes you can still kill yourself in a little honda civic or mitsu mirage.

This has been my argument all along, you can have a Datsun 120Y and wrap it around a pole. We gotta drive to suit the conditions. What ever happened to people slowing down when the conditions arent too good. Maybe im getting "older" but driving in the wet just dosent have the same appeal as when i was 18. We all need to slow down and think about our loved ones each time we get behind the wheel.

[Keepleft]

Originally Posted by EAadam

This has been my argument all along, you can have a Datsun 120Y and wrap it around a pole. We gotta drive to suit the conditions. What ever happened to people slowing down when the conditions arent too good. Maybe im getting "older" but driving in the wet just dosent have the same appeal as when i was 18. We all need to slow down and think about our loved ones each time we get behind the wheel.

"Speed limit conditioning". In our day, certainly under (//) you had no choice but to choose your safe speed.

I am increasingly certain NSW will again use (//) on remote western highways to old NT effect, but on a per length of road basis rather than geographical. Timeframe three years.

[MO]

Originally Posted by Keepleft

"Speed limit conditioning". In our day, certainly under (//) you had no choice but to choose your safe speed.

I am increasingly certain NSW will again use (//) on remote western highways to NT effect, but on a per length of road basis. Timeframe three years.

I hope your right but have my doubts..

[Keepleft]

Originally Posted by MO

I hope your right but have my doubts..

Without fanfare it *will* be done.
A week or so ago key speed managers were chasing up remaining (//) signs for removal (Nth NSW), this must be carried out to enable proper reintroduction.

New 'end speed-limit signs' will also be used with greater frequency, this is derestriction up to the rural default. The sign (R4-12) is undergoing dimension redevelopment. It is seperate to the (//) sign. The end-speed limit sign will signal to a road user that the road ahead has quality and safety issues, so the driver will need to take particular care when spotting one.

Use of (//) on high quality state highway lengths are not expected to negatively impact overall road network safety. An exception more than the rule.

Theory behind this is to bring the onus on 'safe speed' primarily back onto the driver once again, as it was pre July 1979.

[Fairlane]

Old Pac at 1am in the morning, 22 years of age, no doubt what he was doing.

The old pac commands repect and it looks like that fellows luck ran out. Ive been guilty of going a little too fast on that road, but he must of been flying, so no one can really be blamed but the driver himself.

[GTPete]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

Old Pac at 1am in the morning, 22 years of age, no doubt what he was doing.

The old pac commands repect and it looks like that fellows luck ran out. Ive been guilty of going a little too fast on that road, but he must of been flying, so no one can really be blamed but the driver himself.

And probably very easy to find yourself driving out of your comfort zone, especially if your in the middle of a few cars all punting along.

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by GTPete

And probably very easy to find yourself driving out of your comfort zone, especially if your in the middle of a few cars all punting along.

Not when you have a suicidal mate driving a V8 Kingswood, who decides to overtake the lot of them. I was glad to get home after that road-trip.

I've done it recently in my Territory. I did have to show some willpower, however even the bikes stick to the speed limit, which goes to show how much respect that road deserves. I'll stick to the F3 when visiting the outlaws from now on.

Have they done any road-works on the road recently, as there was an un-marked section that looked new.

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by Paxton

Not when you have a suicidal mate driving a V8 Kingswood, who decides to overtake the lot of them. I was glad to get home after that road-trip.

I've done it recently in my Territory. I did have to show some willpower, however even the bikes stick to the speed limit, which goes to show how much respect that road deserves. I'll stick to the F3 when visiting the outlaws from now on.

Have they done any road-works on the road recently, as there was an un-marked section that looked new.

Gawd for every sane bike sticking to the speed limit there's another 5 testing it that I see.
My office is in Mt.Kuring-gai and get up the coast now and then, it's a test track period ! for 2wheels and 4,has been for yrs.

[Firefox7]

Originally Posted by Bluedriver

it's a test track period ! for 2wheels and 4,has been for yrs.

Not wrong...my favourite stretch of road. Thats why I was looking forward to the pie in the sky race on that very road....

Cheers

[XCSEDAN]

Originally Posted by Paxton

however even the bikes stick to the speed limit, which goes to show how much respect that road deserves.

hrmmm dunno bout that...
theres a LOT of deaths on that road and it DEMANDS respect, you hoon, and you better know what your doing. nowhere to go if you run off.

the section that i go for rides on when i'm up in sydney is just insane. guys overtaking at 100+kays, and there is a few riders, who know how to ride (X-racers and they are the exception) and can push there bikes through that road, but even sitting at 80 (when it was 80) you could feel the bike was been pushed through the corner....

can't beleive they're calling a civic a hipo vehicle either.... it'd the driver that kills not the car!

[XR Martin]

The guys did have a couple of extinguishers apparently, but those little bottle ones wasnt enough to save the poor dude.

[MO]

All well and good having an extiunghers(sp) first you have to know how to use it!!!

[J_Tank]

How about ponchos in case a crash happens in the wet, blankets in case it's a cold night and one of the victims is in shock, suffering from hypothermia. Or maybe current fisrt aid certification req for all licence holders......?
There's only so much the government or responsible drivers can do.
More to the point Australia has a relatively small population..... and a hell of a lot of Km's of roads and simply not enough tax dollars to maintain them all to the standard we'd all like to see. Even a relatively simple "accident pack" shall we call it, would have to be funded in some way, and in end how? Higher rego? Higher stamp duty? Higher fuel excise? We as responsible drivers can all play our part But European conditions and laws as they pertain to roads and driving simply have no relevance To the situation in Australia.
Perhaps if the other drivers in the group had had T.r.i.a.n.g.l.e.s they could have blown the flames out by fanning them with said devices?

[Keepleft]

John_xr6t writes:- - How about ponchos in case a crash happens in the wet, blankets in case it's a cold night and one of the victims is in shock, suffering from hypothermia. Or maybe current fisrt aid certification req for all licence holders......?

Basic first aid kit I use has an emergency blanket to keep the patient warm, (helps reduce death rattles) and nice latex gloves:-)

There's only so much the government or responsible drivers can do.

AUS GovCo's can do a lot more with standards and requirement/allowances, we are falling behind. The first aid kit, vest, single triangle requirement (but not extinguisher - yet, - owing existing conflciting national standards issues) will form part of a new "UN Convention of Road Traffic, Signs and Signals", this has already been agreed on. These are items that will be 'standard supply' when you purchase a new car in future years. I'd expect in future years a small fire extinguisher to be mandatory in passenger cars (MA) worldwide.

More to the point Australia has a relatively small population..... and a hell of a lot of Km's of roads and simply not enough tax dollars to maintain them all to the standard we'd all like to see.

One of the reasons why some roads are reverted to gravel. This is all unrelated to vehicle equipment or the topic at hand. In any case, these items are cheap, cost-effective on the basis of cost-benefit analysis remember and will save a life here and there AND reduce property payouts, litigation costs. A safety vest to EU standards costs just $5.95 at Hot Dollar Tuggerah. Sure beats a T-Shirt.

Even a relatively simple "accident pack" shall we call it, would have to be funded in some way, and in end how? Higher rego? Higher stamp duty? Higher fuel excise?

Why should 'we' the taxpayer directly fund such a pack? Buy your own, OR it *will* be part of a cars standard supply in time.

We as responsible drivers can all play our part, but European conditions and laws as they pertain to roads and driving simply have no relevance to the situation in Australia.

I can transplant a United Kingdom motorway anywhere in any of the Australian states, it will by typical account be the exact same in cross-section, INCLUDING rules of using the road itself.

The fundamental road rules (keep-left/hatched intersections/signs etc) you drive to in redneck Australia are directly derived from the UN Convention listed above. (49' gaz COA 53').

Perhaps if the other drivers in the group had had T.r.i.a.n.g.l.e.s they could have blown the flames out by fanning them with said devices?

Christ your funny.

[I FluXx I]

I found a extinguisher in my car but took it out. It made a lump under the carpet :S

I mite get another and put it under my seat and give this one to my mum. God knows they way she drives she is going to need it one day. Which worrys me alot

[XR8-260]

My dads car has an extinguisher under the drivers seat. Although, I don't think the average person would even know how to take it out and use it in a moment of emergency/panic.

[Bill_R]

I've travelled that road many times with my father when I was younger. We'd travel from Newcastle to Sydney nearly every weekend to visit my grandparents. It was actually fun and the type of raod I now like to drive on - those roads keep my concentration up. I dont' think it's the roads that are the issue. I think it's the drivers.

I agree with fire extinguishers in cars adn I'd like to see them compulsory. Iv'e only needed to use one twice and in those cases they were "other" fires. One was a guy in a unit who was using a metho fire that caught alight. He convered it with towels that also went up in flames. The other was a neighbour trying to weld rust in his Sigma - the dash caught alight. If the extinguisher hadn't been handy in both cases there woudl have been major damage.

Where are rebates for saftey items such as fire extinguishers and first aid kits? I've already seen a guy badly burnt before smoke alarms were made compulsory in houses. Should we wait until their are more deaths, loss of property and serious injuries?

[merlin]

My favourite stretch of road for all things automotive - it has a lot of history....havn't been there in ages though since they dropped the limit to 60 and placed a HWP car on every corner. Maybe one day the heat will lift, but not whilst young guys keep pushing it too far.

[EFDream]

I love the old pacific...great bit of road to stretch the legs of the boss.....but it must be respected.....