polizei144

more people die talking on there cell phone while driving , or changing the radio station....why is it one person dies doing something that no one has been hurt in for years suddenly becomes a problem that needs to be stopped ...yet nothing is being done about the epidemic of stupid drivers. or un safe vehicles ...or any of the real problems on the streets...rant over

my hart goes out to the family for there loss.

phatnackySS

TRAMS_AM

mikedrawcar

It's not like the universe gives you a choice: Would you like to go out doing what you love or have a random death? Would you rather crush yourself up the ass of a Lexus or spend 15 years trapped in a nursing home?

Any day can be your day to go, no matter what the hell you're doing or how much you are minding your own beeswax. There's no such thing as safe.

NovaloadMissesPolar

If we stopped something everytime the first person got killed, we wouldn't have snowsports (or any sports), auto racing, divorce, or sex with Arabian stallions. I'm pretty sure, if you google long enough, there's even been a fatal curling accident.

Turboner

In my opinion, the problem w/ the lawyer (sorry for those caught by association)-run society is that those who really take risks on a regular basis (off-roading, sports, racing, stunts, etc.) accept their responsibility and mortality. It's those who do not go out and expose themselves to the fun of truly living and experiencing that find it repulsive when something slightly negative/painful (hot McDonald's coffee, etc.) occurs and reminds them that they are vulnerable, despite their best efforts to forget. And that's where some scumbag comes in to help them forget again, and make some fast money. In my opinion, as it seems with many others here, you must embrace and accept your mortality to enjoy it.
If I'm gonna die, I wanna be doing something fun.

mikedrawcar

hootjigga

ZeGerman

MZЯ

Reiji

mytdawg

It takes a lot for a family to not want to lash out in the event of such a tragedy. To keep that perspective is a tremendous testament to their character. I can only hope this doesn't devolve into a quagmire of finger pointing.

Mad_Science

I certainly don't want to encourage people to do illegal and dangerous things and specifically if they aren't equipped to be doing such things. Mentally, physically or otherwise. Some people just shouldn't try dangerous shit and that's all there is to it. You have to know your limits. I've found mine, thanks.

Over my lifetime I have seen a specific trend towards eliminating risk taking behaviors and I find that, in and of itself, unacceptable.

All of us don't fit into the 9 to 5 corporate bullshit view of the world. And somewhere there are people with spreadsheets trying to figure out what the exact cost of a skateboarding accident is and how to minimize any possible way of having to help said skateboarder out if there is any possibility of them ever needing medical attention.

So obviously it hits a nerve. I do participate in a number of activities seen as risky by some, most of them are legal still but I don't know for how long. Although it's something I likely would have tried if it had come up when I was younger, I probably wouldn't try illegal soap box racing now. Take the risk out of it and it wouldn't be the same, I guarandamntee you.

But I understand it and even envy them. To many of us there is no reward without risk. I only really feel like I'm alive when I do something that kind of scares me. Otherwise I'm just waiting around to die, taking up space and breathing valuable oxygen.

I'm sorry someone lost their life but the participants knew what they were getting into. At least it was not an innocent bystander. I think that would be a lot harder to deal with.

mytdawg

"What are you going to do, wrap everybody in EPS at birth and never let them out?"

IMO, this situation is the limiting case of a litigious society extended far enough into the future.

I almost prefer the Matrix.

teamtestbot

And for those that would pick apart the choices Matt made...just go fuck yourselves.

milo_carrera

selfhatingotaku

poxpopulus

FЯeeMan is slowly cЯawling out of the new commenting system

The physical aspect of manipulating the Soap Box is a form of exercise versus playing Gran Turismo. It requires some basic mechanical aptitude and mechanically-applied creativity not to mention the design prowess of these cars using a wide variety of materials and techniques. All for the sake of creating a zero-emission sport where the tragic irony of a parked SUV was an unknown hazard.

Shouldn't it be legal so that the sport can become more safer? Shouldn't it be legal at a time gasoline is $109 a barrel, in addition to our society being the most obese of Earth's cultures, all the while America is feeding corn to cars and not children? Why not legalize the Soap Box Federation? Whether or not this form of racing is legal won't prevent death. Making it legal, however, would encourage the act of preserving life for the racers and maybe the rest of the planet.

The stairway to heaven also has a hill.

BlueRSX

elwood

mytdawg

Alright, fair enough. But where do you draw the line? If that's the case then I want to see riding horses as an exclusion. I want to see riding bicycles and skiing as excluded. I want to see everything that anybody anywhere may possibly see as encouraging injury or death as being excluded from health insurance policies. Moving a television set upstairs might be excluded.

If you are going to pick and choose riding motorcycles or car racing or snowmobiles or extreme chess than you are making subjective determinations on whose risk taking activities are acceptable and whose aren't. It's amazing how many people think that skiing is a respectable risk taking activity but skateboarding isn't. It's just perspective.

Either health insurance covers your health regardless of activities or it doesn't and there's no sense in having it. That's about where we are now.

mytdawg

-chet

And as always, don't try this at home kids. If you survive many many years of stupid stunts, the injuries come back to haunt you long after you forgot what happened.

mytdawg

elwood

elwood

Why do you hate America?

[/kidding]

lascauxcaveman

I know, I know. Law of averages, unregulated thrill sport, and all, yada yada. But still.

Damn.

lascauxcaveman

It's not like this man died from unfortunate unpreventable mishaps, he was doing this because he wanted to. How many of us here have had a little mishap from doing what we love? Sliding into a ditch pushing a corner a bit too hard, sprained ankle from playing football with the guys, recurring rash from a drunken romp with a lady of questionable repute...

Markstre302

Or they'll convert them into undercover police interceptors just like that Cobra a few weeks ago.

WarShrike

Agreed. A quality family indeed; no talking about lawsuits, just of loss. Half mast for these hoons. RIP.

poxpopulus

Markstre302

Tomsk

mytdawg

@bruxell: What would you expect to happen when you let people race downhill in hacked-together homebuilt creations that can reach dangerous speeds? I hate to be a downer but a situation like that, with lax safety rules, is just asking for an accident and one eventually happened.

elwood

Just because you're really, really good looking doesn't mean you can't die in a freak gasoline fight.

rlj676

Don't forget your breath mints and your dandruff shampoo and a clean pair of underwear. You don't have enough going on if that's what you worry about.

I feel for the people involved but I don't think it's appropriate to close up shop and give up because somebody lost their life doing something they should have known could be dangerous.

It's gotten ridiculous between air bags and ABS and all the automation and electronic gizmos and supplemental restraints. I don't want to be that fucking safe.

I don't want a cavity search every time I try to go across a border or get in a plane or order a pay-per-view movie. I think it's natural for a percentage of us to fuck with danger and I'm sick to death of hearing about social costs and "costs to business" and the other statistics to make it look like danger seekers are costing the good men and women of this country hard earned money.

Maybe it does cost society money but not near the amount that it costs us to fund the military industrial complex to find new and interesting ways to get us killed. Fuck the money. It's dangerous crossing the street, driving to work, changing a damn light bulb. What are you going to do, wrap everybody in EPS at birth and never let them out?

So scrape the boy up, find a big ass hill, and break the law in his name. Celebrate his life, don't mourn his death. We got a short time on this planet and most of us got things to do. Everybody else can slap their sandals over their socks and go wring their hands in their bomb shelters.

Crap.

mytdawg

workingonyourinvoice

Elhigh

jakay11

And they just made a big push to make things safer and limit crowds and stuff.

I went to most of the last season to shoot pictures (search flickr if you want), and didn't get around to contacting them to figure out when this season's first race was going to be.

Kinda glad I wasn't there.

I really really hope Paul doesn't catch shit for this. He's a cool guy and did his best to keep the spirit of the SFVISBF alive while trying to make it safer and low-profile.

Damn.

Mad_Science

Capt. Mazda Sisko

beercheck

Vintage Racer is out taking pictures

bruxell

sliderule

bruxell

smalleyxb122

mehugtree

dolo54

Alright, San Fernando Valley Lawmakers, how about this:

Sanction some downhill events. Once a month, close off a few streets, line them with hay bales, and charge an entry fee (why does a revenue possibility always speak to lawmakers?).

smalleyxb122

poxpopulus

I can't play the video, is that a corpse on the pavement in the still picture??

workingonyourinvoice

dolo54

nick2ny

nick2ny

Too bad for the racer. That's got to be a suck way to die; in a soapbox race car.

graverobber- It says Loud Pipes Save Lives

smalleyxb122