ROTORIP

This is very sad.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...l=chi-news-hed

Appears to be either a BB or Black Cherry Shinka.

Steakboy42

WTF? They were doing something wrong. If they weren't, the car wouldn't have crashed. Prolly didn't have DSC.

-Steakboy

knight7

iTrader: (1)

WOW you know i have always felt concerned about accidents in the car, not cause of safety but what if the person infront is passed out and im on the back for W/E reason? specially if the car is catching fire. there is no way to get out. that sucks they probably part of the forums too.

murix

What? I have never owned a car with DSC, including my 8. That has not caused me to wreck.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

He has 18 inch OEM wheels so I doubt he has no DSC.

he DID something wrong, which was revving engine and speed up at stop light. Probably has stock tires and didnt know it suck.

Anyway, sorry to see someone died.

Racer516

Hopefully they were dead on impact. Raises concerns of fire hazard for the rest of us. The impact looks bad but no worse than some people have walked away from.

ROTORIP

I afraid they did not die on impact.

"...the vehicle fishtailed and then went out of control, striking the pillar and spinning around before catching fire. This morning the car was taken to the Cook County medical examiner's office where firefighters could be seen cutting through it to remove the burned bodies."

The photo does not represent the impact, but where where the vehicle came to a rest.

Design1stCode2nd

I got a screen cap of the video, blew it up and looked at the front left wheel. The driver had the stock 18's with summer rubber on them. Let's see: wet conditions, low or moderately low temperatures and showing off for the girls in the back seat combined with probably inexperience due to age of the driver.

Very sad, I feel for the familys of those kids. This should be a reminder to anyone out there not using common sense. Drive at speeds conditions allow and for F*#k's sake use the right tires.

75 degree in MD today. I still have winter tires on because its March.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

At least one of them did NOT die on impact. cuz ppl heard someone was screaming for help, but they cant get to the car cuz the fire started already.

*sigh* ...

CTrx8

iTrader: (2)

unfortunately it doesn't look like that from the article. rescue workers couldn't get to the people in the back yelling for help. i feel terrible for the families. this truly is a tragedy.

knowing the street they were on though, rain and 60 mph would certainly be a bad combo if they were on summer tires.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

My point exactly.

Summer tires gonna run like crap in Winter. You can move your car, but good luck on stopping it.

oh well.

Tanaka826

damn that sucks...

Steakboy42

I'm just saying DSC would've helped save it. Chalk it up to inexperience.

-Steakboy

JB_Rotary

Damn. I cruise through wacker drive all the time in the summer and I have hit some pretty dumbtarded speed down there too. Probably inexperiance + RWD + wet + speed.

balefire

iTrader: (2)

Temperatures in the midwest have been very warm the past few days. I doubt winter tires would have helped...

I'm also guilty of being a lower wacker dr fan and exercising bad judgement down there. Its curvy, few police, few people, and the walls echo the engine sounds...

i agree though... inexperience, rwd, wet, speed ...

thoughts and condolences. horrible way to go.

knight7

iTrader: (1)

this is a really concerning issue that now is going to flow. i mean that can happen more often i have always made jokes with my friends when they on the back of my car about if "we crash and the car burns you know you die right"never saying **** like that again

lshu

The sad thing is, I wonder if the firefighters couldn't pull the people out of the back because they didn't know how to operate the suicide door, or maybe didn't even know it was there. People getting in my car's backseat for the first time ALWAYS try to bring the seat down and try to squeeze through the crack, not knowing that there was a door.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

/\ Me too. I usually make my runs early Sunday mornings. I know the spot well and I don't understand how they lost traction.
For those of you that don't know. Wacker Dr follows the Chicago River. It goes east/west from the lakefront then makes a 90 degree bend to run north/south along the south branch of the river. The road is tiered with an Upper Wacker Dr , where all the business is done and Lower Wacker Dr., which is a faster way to get across the city & avoid traffic. The only thing on Lower Wacker is access to loading docks and parking garages.
The e/w portion was reconstructed a couple of years ago. The concrete surface is smooth and the area is well lit. The n/s portion has lots of pot holes, most of which have been patched.

MrSuicideDoor

what's lower wacker?

knight7

iTrader: (1)

in any case im going to keep a small hammer on the back by where the center console is. so "In case of fire break glass" and come out thru the back.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

A spring loaded center punch works great at breaking auto glass.

New Yorker

Wacker Drive is a very busy downtown street, running alongside the Chicago River. It was built with two levels: street level and a lower level—mainly for trucks to make deliveries without disrupting traffic. Cars can use the lower level, too. The lower level is called "lower wacker".

RX8Maine

I wonder if the guy was wide open throttle through that corner. In the rain, second gear can definately break the rears loose at full throttle. We can't all assume that he has the experience to feel the limit and use the right amount of throttle. When the car got loose, he may have lifted. I agree that he probably didn't have DSC. Those of you who use the road for fun all the time have probably built up your understanding of the road over time. Ask yourselves if you could go through there WOT at 60mph in 2nd gear, which is what it sounds like he did from the witness descriptions.

As for the firefighters not being able to open the rear doors, there is no excuse for that. The RX8 isn't the only car with suicide rear doors. Honda element (not so common), and crew cab trucks have used them for years, and they all have pretty much the same latch location.

climacus

I was going to say the same thing. If they can extract one of the guy from the front, they should have no problem accessing the suicide door on that side unless it was rendered inoperable by the crash.

When I let someone sit in the back, I always let them open and close the suicide door themselves, so they know how to pull the handle to get out.

reaper1

It feels like your driving underground. Alot of the guys like it because of the echo, you get from the engine.