The worst rally driver you've ever seen

Fast cars and excellent driving skills might be the easy answers when asking how to succeed in rally racing, but after watching this video, a good teammate is obviously an important aspect of this sport, too. During the 2013 Rally of Coimbatore in India, driver Samir Thapar and his co-driver, Vivek Ponnusamy, didn't seem to be on the same page as the two attempted to navigate the course in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

We'd probably hear drastically different stories if we talked to Thapar and Ponnusamy about this particular event, but you know things are bad when "stay on road" and "turn the wheel" are commands given by the co-driver (and yes, that's a man running for his life in the screen shot shown above). As it turned out, though, it seems like the Ponnusamy was justified in his concerns to take care of the racecar. Race results show that despite winning three of the seven stages, this team ultimately ended the race with a DNF.

Scroll down to watch the video, and even though it's been edited down from almost 40 minutes to less than four, we get the idea that it wasn't a pleasant experience for driver or co-driver.

View the original article here

The worst rally driver you've ever seen

Fast cars and excellent driving skills might be the easy answers when asking how to succeed in rally racing, but after watching this video, a good teammate is obviously an important aspect of this sport, too. During the 2013 Rally of Coimbatore in India, driver Samir Thapar and his co-driver, Vivek Ponnusamy, didn't seem to be on the same page as the two attempted to navigate the course in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

We'd probably hear drastically different stories if we talked to Thapar and Ponnusamy about this particular event, but you know things are bad when "stay on road" and "turn the wheel" are commands given by the co-driver (and yes, that's a man running for his life in the screen shot shown above). As it turned out, though, it seems like the Ponnusamy was justified in his concerns to take care of the racecar. Race results show that despite winning three of the seven stages, this team ultimately ended the race with a DNF.

Scroll down to watch the video, and even though it's been edited down from almost 40 minutes to less than four, we get the idea that it wasn't a pleasant experience for driver or co-driver.

View the original article here

Video: Road-raging cop brake-checks driver and causes accident, caught on video

WARNING: NSFW language can be heard in the video.

Road rage is definitely getting out of control these days, and, apparently, police officers aren't immune to the urges of aggressive, vindictive driving.

In this situation, what we do know is that a North Carolina police officer – Onslow Country Deputy Craig Culpepper – was driving through South Carolina and caused an accident after brake-checking a motorist he had just cut off, and news station WNCT is reporting that the officer has since resigned due to this incident.

Now, we don't know what happened before the camera started recording, what the speed limit was or how fast the officer was actually driving, but what the film shot by the driver who eventually rear ends the officer shows is the cruiser traveling on the highway at what the cameraman/driver clearly believes is an inappropriately slow speed. When an opening on the right becomes available, said driver passes the police cruiser using a third lane and gets back into the left lane in front of the cruiser. This is where ex-Deputy Culpepper's decision making skills failed him.

The officer quickly passes the camera-wielding pickup driver on the right, cuts him off pretty close and then slams on his brakes, causing the driver to rear-end the police car. The report seems to indicate that neither the officer nor the driver was cited for the accident, and while most of the blame should be placed on the officer, it should also be noted that the driver was following the cruiser closely and trying to film while driving.

Scroll down to watch the video, but as a warning, there is plenty of foul language.

View the original article here

Report: Corvette driver escapes decapitation in crash by ducking

You wouldn't believe it by looking at the Corvette in these pictures, but the driver of the Chevrolet that slammed into the back of this moving truck survived with only non-life threatening injuries. The crash occurred near Los Angeles on the southbound 405 Freeway on Monday, March 4. Fire crews reportedly had to raise the moving truck in order to extricate the driver, who escaped perhaps the worst possible death imaginable – decapitation – by simply ducking prior to impact.

What's supposed to prevent a crash like this from becoming lethal is a Mansfield Bar, so named because the low-hanging bar affixed to the rear of semi truck trailers became mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after the death of popular movie actress Jayne Mansfield in 1967 from a rear-end collision with a tractor trailer.

The Mansfield Bar is designed to prevent under-riding, and in 1998, the rules governing them were revised to lower the bar to 22 inches off the ground. Even at the height, some vehicles, including sports cars like the Corvette, have leading edges that are low enough to clear them. That's particularly true when the car in question is braking hard and its weight is pitched forward, lowering the nose even more).

As we reported earlier today, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has conducted tests on currently sold tractor trailors and found that while all of the examples tested prevented under-riding during a full-width crash, their effectiveness fell sharply when the overlap of vehicle and bar was reduced to 50 percent and 30 percent. In the latter case, only one trailer managed to prevent under-riding, despite all of the trailers passing current US and Canadian crash standards.

Fortunately for this man, the combination of the crash-worthiness of the Corvette, the Mansfield Bar on the truck – and the fact that he had enough wits about him to duck at the last minute – all combined to save his life.

View the original article here