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Checkout wsj article titled "Honey, I Wrecked the Porsche"
Honey, I Wrecked the Porsche - WSJ.com

Excerpts:

Auto makers are turning out a new breed of supremely fast sports cars that sell for upwards of $250,000 and share many characteristics of purebred racecars. But as more of them hit the road, often in the hands of inexperienced drivers, a growing number are ending up wrapped around trees, smashed into guardrails or otherwise totaled in accidents.

In the past 18 months, drivers across the world have cracked up at least six rare $1 million Ferrari Enzos -- only 400 of which were built. In March, a California man rammed his $300,000 Lamborghini Murcielago into five parked cars; while in England, a 39-year-old driver caused an international stir among car enthusiasts by crashing a Bugatti Veyron -- an extremely rare $1.5 million turbocharged missile with a top speed of 253 miles per hour.


Many of these accidents are, of course, just examples of pure recklessness. The Bugatti Veyron owner who crashed in Surrey, England, this year was said to be traveling at least 100 mph on a country lane before colliding with a station wagon. He was cited by police for driving "without due care and attention." The 26-year-old who crashed his 2005 Lamborghini into five parked cars in Santa Monica, Calif., in March was reportedly racing at 75 mph around a 35 mph curve. He was charged with driving under the influence.



While driving his yellow Ferrari Enzo for only the third time, Ali Haas, a 51-year-old plastic surgeon from Florida, ran over a spool of wire on the road. In most cars this would have been a nonevent -- but in this case the low-slung Ferrari was knocked airborne, breaking its grip on the road and sending it skidding into a guardrail. "If I ran over that spool of wire in my Ford Expedition, probably nothing would have happened," Dr. Haas says.

[1Day]

I absolutely agree, ppl are the tools who dont know how to drive, we cant blame the manufacturers for making faster machines, thats why it should be mandatory for any dealer/manufacturer not to sell a car with soo much potential without a driving course.

Even in second hand case the person should get cleared from the manufacturers or the govt should make that racing school be a mandate for cars with more than 400hp and intended for sports use..it would increase the price of the car as it could be built in but it would make a lot of sense and save lives and make ppl better drivers..i am not talking about safety schools, but proper race school for a day or 2..

I think Gm was thinking about it for the upcoming supercar the Z07/SS/BlueDevil which would be lighter than the already extremely light Z06 and a lot more powerful..

[ananthkamath]

legislating mandatory race school? i dont think thats gonna happen. as spectacular as accidents involving supercars may seem, the govt does not distinguish between them and more mundane cars. And statistically speaking, supercar accidents are a specular minority anyway.


For the record, you could kill/maim people going 75 in a 35 zone just as well in a 100 hp car as you could in a 600 hp car. you could do 100 in a 25 zone almost as easily too.

so while race school may be a good idea, cracking down on DUI (driving under the influence) is a better idea.

[1Day]

Originally Posted by ananthkamath

legislating mandatory race school? i dont think thats gonna happen. as spectacular as accidents involving supercars may seem, the govt does not distinguish between them and more mundane cars. And statistically speaking, supercar accidents are a specular minority anyway.


For the record, you could kill/maim people going 75 in a 35 zone just as well in a 100 hp car as you could in a 600 hp car. you could do 100 in a 25 zone almost as easily too.

so while race school may be a good idea, cracking down on DUI (driving under the influence) is a better idea.

But being in a super fast car makes it easier especially in hands of inexperienced drivers, anyhow the same logic would go for govt trying to mandate high hp cars due to emissions regulations, if they can do that they can do this..either way i understand that the accidents are rare and the govt wouldnt do it, i was only pointing out they could do that, this way it would make it a lot easier for ppl who have no clue..

[Mayavi]

Originally Posted by 1Day

I absolutely agree, ppl are the tools who dont know how to drive, we cant blame the manufacturers for making faster machines, thats why it should be mandatory for any dealer/manufacturer not to sell a car with soo much potential without a driving course.

Even in second hand case the person should get cleared from the manufacturers or the govt should make that racing school be a mandate for cars with more than 400hp and intended for sports use..

errr... why would the manufacturers want to hurt their business by not selling cars to people who can afford but can't drive? If such a clause is put, there wont be enough drivers to buy all mass produced porsches and ferraris, and there wont be the cars themselves as the companies would go out of business.

I have a better idea, for every enzo crashed, Ferrari should replace it with a new car and sell it to a different person. Ferrari gets to make more money, number of cars remain same and there would be a proud new ferrari owner. All happy.

Btw, all the high end cars that MB makes (CL, SL, S AMG's) can only be purchased by people in their 40's and thats their target market but by the time one reaches 40, s/he most likely loses interest in driving fast. Irony, innit?

[GTO]

In the end, its dependent on who drives it. And they must opt for advanced driver training in order to learn how to "handle" their supercar better.