^^^ Could not agree more....

ALL CARS are death traps, no matter who makes or designs them...they can be a
LETHAL WEAPON.

The automotive mistakes of youth....I am sure we have all made them including myself. And if we are RX8Club.com, then we lived to tell about them.

Some people walk away and some don't. A very tragic situation, especially since the driver took two passengers with him. It sounds like that the person in the back seat definitely died from the heat and fire--a particular gruesome way to go.

Young male drivers operating high performance cars = high insurance rates. Statistics show that they are a lethal combination.

I never really thought about it, but riding in the back seat of a 2-door vehicle (or 4 door with rear demi doors) might make it slightly hard to get out if something were to happen to the front-seat occupants. I wouldn't be surprised if someone eventually sues some car company for that. I mean, this is America after all.

Very true! If someone can get paid for spilling coffee on their own lap...this should be an easy one to win.

I guess we could all buy a glassbreaker and stick it in the center console or in the passthrough in case the rear occupants want to bash the rear window to get out. Hopefully itll never come to that.

I was waiting for someone to mention the "S" word..

Therefore every car maker that has ever made a 2 door coupe with rear seats would or could be liable, and you go on about others posts and their "logic" ;)

Then another member swears about their car premiums because of this tragic RX-8 drivers accident, well America, what happens when someone sues an insured company and who pays for it in the end....we do the consumer.

Lets not take ANY responsibility for our actions...just blame something or someone else....no wonder the world is a F@#&ed place at times.

NO RESPECT AND NO RESPONSIBILITY.

A friend that went to dinner with the occupants of the car came onto one of our local forums, JGTCA.com. He said there was no drinking involved. He wasn't at the scene of the accident, but they had just left the dinner location in Chinatown on the near south side (22nd st.)
There is a slight bend in the road. But it is about a block before the point where they had taken off from the light. The light they accelerated from would have been at Michigan Ave. The wreck happened a block or two east of that light.

It is not just the 8. Any two door coupe or pickup truck with freestyle doors or extended cab.

Accidents happen!

its never anyone's fault, everyone is always an angel... until it comes time to sue someone :boring:

just hope it doesn't get national attention, or some lawyer will have a field day with people that died in a fire in a car where the gas tank is under the rear seats... that would be worse for this car then what happened when explorer owners with under inflated tires were speeding in their overloaded vehicles

:Eyecrazy:

I am happy to see that there are people with some compassion and empathy and for those who are so critical about the situation and speculating you can FUCK OFF! Do you know how hard it was for me to tell the families what had happened? This was a tragedy and it saddens me to see that people can be so critical without knowing any details.

I was best friends with the driver of the car, he was not a member of this forum because he did not have access to the internet, so instead I created a member name for him to let him know about any meets or rx8 news. He was a great person and I know he would have fit right in with the RX8 community. Me and him were suppose to be workin right now together to buy stuff for our cars and instead Im sitting at home getting hounded by reporters.

All i ask is that u pray for the 3 that died in that terrible accident and their families.

r.i.p. t.c., c.k., k.c.

What's lower wacker??? Haven't you ever seen The Blues Brothers?!?!? "This is definitely lower wacker drive..."

japican, i just dont know what to say.

our entire chicago 8 family is rocked by this awful news. even though i dont think i knew your friends, we are a close-knit group who are always willing to wave to a fellow 8 owner.

our thoughts and prayers are with you. i am so very sorry for your loss. 20 years old is just not enough. this is a horrible horrible thing.

+++

for those of you not from chicago:

lower wacker is one of those roads that anyone who has a catback is familiar with (first place i headed to after install to hear that baby roar). it's a partially enclosed road that runs underground with one side open to the chicago river. its kind of the "unkown" road as tourists are either unaware or afraid of it. 4 lanes (2 in each direction) with HUGE concrete barriers on the sides as well as the middle. it is a great attraction for those of us who like the sound of our engine/exhaust because it isnt well patrolled by cops (there really arent many places to park to catch people).

i know of many cruises that started or ended there and it has always been a fun time, but the road is NOT straight. it has many twists and turns and stoplights, some of which are very hidden until you are right upon them. if you were not familiar with the road, it could be quite nerve-wracking esp if there is other traffic.

the speed limit is probably 30 tho i know many of us have pulled 70s or so just for the hell of it. we are all guilty, whether on lower wacker or some other road near you. i know i feel terrible for the loss of these people. what a terrible way to go.

when you speak to the families, let them know the RX community mourns their loss. our thoughts and prayers to them and to you.

A college student with no Internet access? That's a big big stretch if you ask me. Everything is done on computers nowadays.

Japican, what details? What could have possibly happened for you to jump to your friend's defense when it's apparent his lack of skills and total disregard for safety killed three people?

This is not the Dr. Phil website. And I don't buy the "we should all shut up because he's dead and his family is mourning." He obviously had no idea how to drive this car and while we feel sorry that people died the fact of the matter is...his reckless behaviour killed two other people. Lower Wacker is a great road, signs are posted, rear wheel drive in the rain must be respected.

I'm tired of bouquets of flowers left on the roadside and hushed whispers when kids are too stupid to realize that cars will kill you if they're pushed beyond their limits trying to impress somebody. People die because of this idiotic behaviour and it just has to stop.

Not in anyway am I condoning his unwise actions but bruh you really need to chill the F#ck out & learn some respect...My heart & prayers to the families, friends, & victims...

some of you people make me sick.




I heart goes out to these families and friends. Very tragic story.

Man. That's sad. Feel bad for the families.

-Cody

+1

Too bad.

Drive safely.

You definitely need to learn some respect. Didn't your parents raise you right. Let me guess you never drove your car in a reckless manner, tried to impress someone, and you must be an excellent driver :jerkit: I don't condone that behavior either but I am also guilty of it at times.

At work, we take safety EXTREMELY serious, it's ingrained with everything we do. Unfortunately, we get a lot of people who want us to eliminate every single hazard in the workplace, which is impossible because there's a certain amount of personal responsibility and accountability that one must shoulder.

That being said, the majority of accidents, something well over 90%, are caused from unsafe behaviors, not unsafe conditions. If the temperature is hovering around freezing, and there's moisture on the road, one must take this into consideration and calculate the risk of their behavior + the existing conditions.

In this particular case, the accident looks like it was almost certainly behavior-based as high speed was involved, which is a controlable element. The one thing I did notice was there didn't appear to be any shoulder--there's barely any separation between the outside of the lane and the huge pilar, something that the driver should have perceived as a potential hazard in the event he did lose control of the car, which unfortunatley didn't appear to be a possibility to him.

Greasy looking road. RIP.

im sorry for the losses of those families, and hope this kind of stuff does not happen. its sad only 20 yrs old.... scary too. i go by wacker drive alot and never wudve thought it wud happen there....