Please think about this for a moment..

[AlanG]

I drove over the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow at 5:30 this morning on my way to work to see the police crash investigation unit working on an incident which happened some time earlier on the west bound carriageway.

The car in question was a a silver 4 door Impreza, probably about an 02 plate with what looked like Morrette type rear lights on it (The lamps with 4 separate lenses in the one housing?). From the distance i seen the car, it looks like this one will not be repairable, the damage is pretty extensive. Put it this way, it won't be driven away.

 The extensive damage also indicates the occupants will have received certain injuries, which at best in my opinion, will be severe bruising in the chest area. At worst? who knows.

Threads like these tend to comment on "hope they were all right" and "bad luck, hope you get it sorted" and indeed, as fellow owners and enthusiasts, this is commendable as we all have a passion for our hobby. If it was a stolen Impreza, they tend to go along the lines of " ******* deserves all he gets" and so on..

But.. (and this applies to me as well btw) can we please be more aware of what we're doing when we take our cars out.

(No disrespect to a recent poster of speeding thread). I read posts on things like " nearly got caught speeding", "got caught by scameravan", "crashed my car chasing a {insert make and model}" and so on.

Have a think for a second.

When the police are involved in all these incidents, they're building up a portfolio. If, you think about it, the more incidents they see involving Impreza's, they are going to take more interest in you, every time they see one.

Now, before you bang away at the keyboard in anger at me for typing such a post thinking i'm god almighty and that i'm a hypocrite.  STOP!!

Re-read what i said a moment ago..

{quote= and this applies to me as well btw}

I've been known to use excessive speed on occasions. Been caught for it. I took those chances. Have the shitty pants to prove it. (okay, i'm only kidding 'bout the shitty pants thing, but i was shaking!), but, there's a time and place for all the fun the Impreza gives and it's not in areas potential of congestion.

I take advantage of my cars performance when it's deemed in my mind to do so. All i'm asking is before you do something which you know is illegal in the eyes of the law, just think for a split second before you do it.

If you don't... you may end up like the unfortunate owner mentioned in the beginning of this thread.

Play safe, but be careful and don't draw attention to yourselves. It's not the image the marque needs.

[duncan_mccormick]

Well put and I couldnt agree with you more.

[drb5]

People call me a p**sy of a driver.

I've seen the damage more than enough, so i tend to look at the future more than the moment.

Well said Alan.

[oobster]

An excellent post Alan. [Y]

[WUZ]

100% agree with you Alan, we all go a little bit further than we should......but there is a time and a place for everything.

People who post about smoking other cars inside city areas are just asking for trouble. Assess when you can do it but keep it outside of the cities ie, country roads or motorways where you have more distance and room to assess risks.

RUssell

[micra_wrc]

good post Alan.

I know how powerful these cars are and tend to answer the "how fast have you gone, have you raced anyone" type questions with "not very fast and I've not raced anyone" [:|]

This may seem daft/girly/wimpy/a waste of owning a RA but I: a) am sensible when I drive; don't want to have an accident or be caught speeding;  c) dont want to spend money I dont have doing things associated with being in an accident (repairing car, increased insurance etc) and d) dont want to be scared to get behind the wheel if *touch wood* anything happens.

[cambscoobyrob]

mate im with u to! ive owend my scooby for a yr now and im a sunday driver! even all the lads at footie take the piss!!!! but i lost a best friend 3 yrs ago at 21 thro a car accident horrific, i was never a fast driver but from that day on i even moan at my mates if they doin stupid things. well said matey

[_jac_]

Yes well said Alan

Keep the spirited drives to the back roads...

Only a fool would drive fast in a built up area...

JAC

[Rossco_]

Indeed, a cracking post mate, i think it comes down to the old saying 'with power comes responsibility'

Makes sense

Well done

[Alan-G]

I use my Impreza's power to avoid hazerdous situations.

Had a 1.1 VW Polo once and tried to overtake a slow truck, the lack of power from the VW was horrifying and seeing a car coming towards me rather quicker than I thought I could get in front of the truck, wasn't so clever either and promptly sold it.

Great posting Alan.

P.S. I think i've been cloned or cloned you mate Lol.

[~ ~ Cal ~~]

Yip, a robust post my friend.........................lets keep any shenanigans & showboating  for Knockhill [au]

Been close to losing my license in the past ( just totting up basic motorway SP30's) but it makes you value

your job, house & car ........

Rgds

Calum

 

[euan_r]

yip, i certainly think about what the consequences can be before setting off on a journey.

Driving is a privilage not a right. I also quite like being *cough* healthy and active.

As for the bobbys think they are well aware of the situation already.

Think the impreza cant be seen any worse in the general publics eyes than it is already. unfortunatly

[andy]

The driver didn't make it. []

BBC Link

[scoobyiain]

Very good post, after what happened to me going to knockhill i will be taking extra care in my car or any other car. Very lucky to still be here and things could have been much worse.

My thoughts are with the loved ones of the driver who never made it.

[AlanG]

Just got home after work and drove past where the incident happened.

Cones are still in place, but looks like the vehicle hit the barrier where the off ramp meets the main M8 carriageway (near the end of the bridge heading west/southbound).

Lifes full of "if onlys". In this case what may have saved the driver would have been "if" he didn't hit the edge of the barrier full on.

Needless and sad waste of life.

[JamesF]

Fair point mate and now more than ever I keep my antics to B roads. Having become a father almost 2 years ago puts things in to perspective. Used to race around the town when I was a lad but looking back it was pretty daft but we live and learn if were lucky !

James

[chris_c201]

Scary stuff...

I was going to come on and post last night after seeing a white classic flooring it round a corner going onto pollockshaws road about 9pm in the wet.. he slid out and ended up whipping the car left and right trying to re-gain control. It made me think about the stupid things people do taking major chances on public roads...

On the other hand though who knows the circumstances to this crash and it needn't necessarily have been that the guy was pushing on.....

Regardless its a real shame and an eye opener for people who think their infallible !

[fai17]

Good post sir....

As a father of many i do look a most perspectivly and try not do daft/dangerous things anymore.

I dread to think leaving all my loved ones behind....

There is a time and place for everything so keep safe everyone.

Regards

[dipsy]

Good post.

[scooby doom]

Firstly well said, it's encouraging to see such positive views being expressed by members on what could be viewed as nothing more than an online gathering of 'Petrol Heads' by outsiders.

While I have only recently started to get involved with SIDC and Forums in general I have been tentative about passing comments on such topics. Reason being, I've almost 20 years as an officer of the law and was fearful of being viewed as the spy in the camp. I'm sure there must be others on here but I see like me they tend to remain genreally silent in that respect.

I have also been please at the unreserved accceptance at the couple of meets I've been along to so far - that said the antisocial nature of shift work has made me miss several recently.

Having personally had to attend at and deal with accidents similar to the one that started this thread, you never really get used to it and I have images that that will always be with me I'd rather not. Not to mention experiencing the reaction of nearest and dearest as they take in what you've just had to tell them.

So play nice and we won't have any reason to 'remind' ya, leaving pleanty of time to devote resources to the drivers of small three door hatchbacks with sticky on bits who seem to be intent on drawing attention to themselves and their inappropriate driving and representing all modified vehicle owners/drivers in this way.

[~ ~ Cal ~~]

Scooby Doom - good post............I think you'll find the complete opposite in here as you have pointed out. I for one, welcome you in here for alternative points of view, good information & harmless banter. So please post more and I look forward to meeting you []. Do you have shiny bottomed strides or are you a regular officer out of interest ?

Cheers

Cal

[scooby doom]

No gimmicks here, I'm the real deal.

[james666]

Great post i have gotta agree on this matter, i see daft drivers all day long. they seem to think that the brakes on their corsas or puntos and other wee daft cars will stop 32 tons of truck that they have just pulled in front of we all need to remember to keep the heed screwed on and play where we r not puttin others lifes at risk. as for scooby doom dont hide in the corner speak out and say wat u gotta say. yeah we all love to put the foot down but i need my licence for my job, no job no car no house etc.

[AlanG]

As chris-c201 says above, one cannot assume there was a form of reckless driving involved in this incident.

Indeed there are a great number of reasons which could have contributed, such as a blackout, heart attack, or even something as diverse as avoiding a wild animal, to name a few.

{The wild animal suggestion btw is from personal experience on that bridge}

Thanks for your input scooby doom. Like you, i also had to think about whether to post the topic up or not, for fear of being deemed a killjoy or trying to preach that we shouldn't enjoy our cars. Far from it.

Crikey, i drive a 600 horsepower Impreza for kicks, i wouldn't have built it to that extent if i wasn't going to experience what it would be capable of!

I decided to post, believe it or not, because the car had been modified and as such, felt it was necessary to mention on here, since we all have the same common interest.

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, i've seen two Impreza drivers "having a chat" with traffic cops and also watched on television ove the past few months (the usual reality tv programmes...you know the ones) where incidents recorded for the programme featured Impreza's. This dismays me, cause we're not all like what we see on these programmes, yet it's getting all too easy to be labelled as being an irresponsible driver because we drive these cars.

Another reason for posting (and it's a little selfish cause it's about me) and that is that on a few occasions recently whilst driving the Impreza, everytime i've passed a police car, they have looked over, or braked or braked and U turned when they've passed me.

This is disconcerting to say the least, although i can understand why they do it and believe they have a job to do and their reasons for taking an interest. On the other side of the coin however, should my car be stolen, i'd be glad of the interest that our law enforcers are giving our marque, as this may realise a conclusion to the theft.

[andy]

Another reason for posting (and it's a little selfish cause it's about me) and that is that on a few occasions recently whilst driving the Impreza, everytime i've passed a police car, they have looked over, or braked or braked and U turned when they've passed me.

This is disconcerting to say the least, although i can understand why they do it and believe they have a job to do and their reasons for taking an interest. On the other side of the coin however, should my car be stolen, i'd be glad of the interest that our law enforcers are giving our marque, as this may realise a conclusion to the theft.

I'd suspect that is more because of the attraction of the marque to thieving scum than because they suspect you're a boy racer. Quick number plate check, not reported stolen and they move on to other things.