Donnie Barnes wrote:
I never said the government *should* regulate these cars. The car manufacturers should have some sense, though, and not build cars like this that don't have proper safety gear. When a high enough profile tragedy *does* happen, we're going to get the legislation, like it or not.
Sure, SM has idiots. But they are also 120HP cars with full cages. So they have an infinite amount more safety gear than the Blue Devil and roughly 1/4 the power and only a few hundred pounds less weight. I'd rather be one of the SM idiots in a crowd of 90 other idiots at VIR full than even take *one* lap in a stock Blue Devil at 10/10's. Or 9/10's. Sure, I'd drive one if I had the chance, but I wouldn't take my chances with anything near the limit, and because of that I doubt I would enjoy it any more than SM.
Look how many people have been killed in CGT's already. Now the Blue Devil will have that kind of performance at probably 1/4 the cost. Oh, and there will probably be more of them produced, too. Doesn't sound like a good recipe to me. If you're gonna build it, at least put a cage and fire system in it, dammit.
--Donnie
Car Makers.......Sense.......
These are the same genius' that made the Aztek and gave away the market to the Japanese and Koreans. They are going to look at it as if I make it, can I sell it for 20% more than the std. model and if they can't afford it, I'll sell them the std model. The proper safety gear is what will pass NHTSA. Every time NHTSA proposes new safety regulations the same car manufacturers whine and pay lobbyists to bribe the government so they don't have to do it. Don't you think that we would have had anti-lock brakes, air bags seat belts, etc sooner if the car makers added them because they were better? Do you think that people would pay extra for them in enough quantities to justify the cost? These are businesses that are driven (no pun intended) by the market and customer demand. If some idiot buys a Blue Devil and then proceeds to go meet the real thing
just because he is too stupid to drive within limits of sanity...oh well. Luckily, there are not that many of them who actually drive their cars as opposed to waxing or collecting them for 20 years until some other idiot pays $1M for it at Barrett Jackson so the risk factor is lowered.
The biggest risk for real people who like to race sanely is that insurance for tracks will rise and club's fees because of that and entry fees because of that. The only way to try to keep that in line is to make sure that as clubs we are careful to make sure that when someone is let loose on the track, they are controlled. That does not mean that if you have a high HP car you can't participate, but your instructor should watch your attitude carefully and make sure that the student heeds instructions and is not yahooing.
jMHO. (OMG I can't believe I am making a market arguement) the ACLU is going to revoke my membership..
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If we allow the government to regulate the cars we can buy we will all be driving either Hummers if the Republicans stay in office or PRius' if the Democrats get in. The government can never legislate intelligence. They already mandate minimal safety laws which are fine. Even though these are relatively cheap, they are still above the price of most people which will keep the sheer numbers of idiots down. Since it is a Corvette, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the buyers will be waxers who won't drive them. This leaves a small portion of morons that will kill themselves. If it is just themselves then Darwinian principles take over. (or if you prefer un-intelligently designed humans) 
) I think that the real burden is on us as clubs and the tracks to make sure that we are doing a good job screening the people who run with us and our instructors to make sure that if someone is acting like an idiot and driving outside of their limits no matter what car they drive that we modify their behavior or don't let them participate. Unfortunately, racing, HPDEs, even AX to some extent is dangerous and mistakes will happen and people will be killed, hurt, and cars will be damaged, these events just have to be minimized and not just by having people sign a waiver.
