obsidian05e55

Agree..

This was a friend, and yes i agree street racing is wrong, if in fact thats what happened. The news likes to put these twists on it. Was he speeding? Yes! Was he wrong? Yes. Did he deserve to lose his life?? Think not.

This has been posted on many forums, and some people need to look at it as if it was your friend, or family member before making hurtful comments. None of us know what really happend. We all are guilty of speeding on public roads, and if you deny that your fooling yourself. Bet people would be a lot less judgemental, if it was your friend, or family member.

Again, RIP to CJ, and my condolences to his friends,and family.

Hope this never happens to the "Saints" on this, and other boards.

skokkosis

thank you obsidian, and may CJ rest in peace, he was a great guy...

as for you, putting in your stupid 2 cents... he was a former officer, and there's something many come across their lifetime, called an epiphany, he was an officer, and if asked, he said he loved, but not more than working these machines we passion for, he left the department, to join his closest friends in their business which was and IS doing great, due to their success he followed his dreams, to build these machines further in aspects of power and looks, it is passion for the vehicle that brought him to heaven, but do not come here especially as someone that MANY of us look up to, a "super moderator" to drop your 2 cents of SH*T... we all know the law, if im breaking it doing 5 over, or 40 over... it happens, just as easily as you can not wake up in the morning, or trip down a *******g flight of stairs, nobody knows when our eyes will shut, that is why you should live your life tot he fullest everyday, and be glad that you are ok, instead of coming around here in such an immature manner acting like a big shot, just because it happen behind a while, doesn't mean that you may not wake up tomorrow, wake outside of your home, and get struck by a vehicle that has lost control, nothing wrong there, but simply going through your daily routine, and your luck has ran out, please be more mature about a topic of such severity and don't come here upsetting people that knew him.

may he rest in peace, thank ctown for placing this on the forum

gthal

If Dodger63 was suspended because of comments in this thread then that is silly. If that's why, it is a mistake by the Mods and an embarrassment to MBWorld.

balthaser

What embarrassment? Don't think so at all. I consider this rules well executed.
And IMHO, one of his "friend" should go with him.

People are entitled to expressing their opinions but insults.

gthal

I agree with you in principle but what I find bothersome is that there is name calling ALL the time on here and nothing happens. Worse than what was in this thread. I have no problem with the rules as long as they are being applied consistently for everyone, all of the time. My guess is that if his comment was directed at you or me, then nothing would have happened... maybe a warning.

Anyway, this is OT... no need to debate it here.

hyperion667

not to sound heartless: but ish happens.....
if you think it's okay to race........then be prepared to meet the reaper

PoliticalIcon

You are 100% correct. We all drove like idiots when we were younger. I would hope that most stopped in there early 20's. I also agree with the car guy comment. We are a dying breed, we should respect one another no matter what car we have! BMW, MB, Audi etc... We all enjoy driving.

The kid F'd up, He didn't deserve to Die. He's just like any other human being, gets temptations and wants to get his heart racing. Did he make a mistake? YES, Did he deserve to pass? NO, No one does!!

Guys, Remember, Track's get your heart pumping, blood flowing and hands shaking in no time. Difference is you're lowering your risk by a great margin, Track's have many safety designs, Sand, Run Off, Gravel Etc.. Keep this stuff off the street!

Don't get me wrong though! No one is saying that you can't give it a little here and there, if a quick run to 85-90 on an open interstate and a quick slow down gets your heart pumping. Do it! Especially if it will satisfy you enough to deny an opposing race.

RIP

hyperion667

I just read through this hilarious thread and there are so many people that
are completely ignoring the fact that dude was just plain stupid..............
it's actually that simple.....yes, it is sad......but he made a choice, just like we all do....
and yeah, the fact that he was a cop: he should have known better......
police are held to a higher standard are they not?

why is everyone so hellbent on defending this guy???

Dark_Knight

because he was one of "us" in some way he was our brother, I'm sure he loved these machines like we do and the wonderful sensation of speed, that same passion we all share, lets face it you dont buy a C63 for twice the cost of a C300 unless you love the speed, I'm sure this fellow felt that passion stir in him to when he drove his M

melmanc55

+1 Ahhh so true on these boards....

+1

ajag

Very sad news. Condolences to his family and friends. Another reminder to keep control of our egos on the public roads and take it out at the drag strip or track in a controlled environment where the only potential victims are oneself and others who are also fully knowledgeable of the risk they are taking.

propain

I'm not defending anyone. His actions and the effect it had were his own fault. He is the one who had to live and die with the finality of his decision. His family will now suffer greatly. If there is an afterlife he will also get to see the result of that bad decision and watch the pain he caused.

My problem is with the the insensitivity that followed. He was the one who died and his family will be the ones who suffer. Everyone else who didn't know the man is meaningless and while you have the right to an opinion maybe sometimes you should just keep it to yourself.

I would love to see some of these people who are so entitled to their opinion say some of the dumb things like the MOD did and a few others to the face of this guys family or friends. 5 words, you don't have the *****. So enough with the internet thug BS. Let the man RIP and keep the opinions you wouldn't say to anyone if you weren't hiding behind your keyboard to yourself.

VaclavSV

First off its really sad that someone so young lost their life! For all of you that knew him, Im truly sorry. That being said though he was street racing, and lost control. He took his own life, through his own decisions. A lot of people feel the need to prove their worth through racing on the street and I think its absolutely senseless. Especially when you take into account he was a former police officer -He should've known better! The OP's message was bang on and shouldn't be overlooked. Its not worth it to risk your life and the life of others while driving recklessly on the street. Just imagine If he hit and killed others. Im only 21 but think its important to realize limits and boundaries as well as responsibility if you're going to own a high performance car. He was 26 and by no means is that too young to have a lapse in judgement like that. One could say he paid the price (Reckless comment), however, I feel that he was extremely unlucky and suffered the worst! No one should have to die for their actions. Its sad to think that these stories have to happen for us to think twice about street racing.

MRAMG1

Gentlemen, very sad news to say the least. My condolences to his family.


When you play, bad things can happen, and it is truly a shame that someone had to lose their life over it. RIP.

For you old timers remember the Bluemax? If memory serves me right didn't he get like 10 years in jail

Take it to the track guys, someone out there needs you.

Again, RIP

cptdaz

I seriously cannot believe the number of people rationalizing and defending this type of behavior. You make it sound like the driver had no other choice but to go over 100mph on a public road and that it's all an unfortunate accident. The matter of fact is he made a deliberate and conscious decision to endanger himself and others on the road to feed his own ego. And I frankly cannot think of a more inconsiderate and selfish reason. What if instead of an empty moving trailer he plowed into a pedestrian or a van packed with a family or a schoolbus full of kids? Even if he didn't there are still far reaching repercussion for the rest of us. These type of news only propagate the negative stereotype of anyone driving modified European sports cars. Anytime a LEO pulls you over or insurance jacks up your bill, you have people like this guy to thank for.

VaclavSV

Well said Daz! I totally agree with you.

gthal

I don't think anyone is condoning or rationalizing the behavior. I completely agree with what you are saying and I, for one, am completely against stupidity when driving, driving recklessly and endangering others. I have young kids and completely get pissed off when there are idiots on the street.

However, the issue for me is the very insensitive comments when there are people here who actually knew the guy. You wouldn't go to his funeral and tell his buddies he deserved it so why basically say that here when there are people here who knew him.

Have a seperate discussion around reckless driving... Condemn those who do it... I agree... BUT, when there are people here who knew him personally, a bit of sensitivity and restraint is warranted IMO. I think that is what most are really saying.

PoliticalIcon

+1

From M to AMG

I thought that BMW M3 was a pretty safe car.

I know of a BMW M5 that saved this guys life, and was curious why the M3 with all the safety features was unable to?

Do you think that if he was in the C63 he would have been safer?

I








http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccT_S6KZPT4



May you rest in peace, and our condollences go out to his family...

melmanc55

If you are going 5 miles over the speed limit you are endangering your life and the life of others. Posted speed limits are there for your protection and for those driving on the road with you. For those of you that track your cars and always obey the speed limit on public road (like i know all of you do) thanks you for your responsible behavior. I know for those of us that get our cars over the speed limit can learn from you experience and non hypocritical comments.

P.S. May the person in this article rest in peace. I lost my dad in a car accident. I know what his family is going through. He was hit by someone who lost control in wet weather and crossed the median and hit him head on....

ctown113

TO ALL:
I was shocked to see how twisted this thread got. As I've stated before, the point of the thread was to NOT STREET RACE and used a personal story that "hit home" as an example.

But I can't side with the people saying hurtful personal things about the CJ and his "poor judgement" to "street race". As others have stated, haven't we ALL made mistakes? I know I certainly have, some more severe than others, and I count my blessings to still be alive to talk about it. That said, I was appalled at some of the things being said back and forth between members that were directly insulting CJ.
It was an accident... and as a result of it, a dear life was lost. Some of us knew him, and some of us didn't... and the lesson to be learned is to try and use better judgement whenever you're faced with a choice of taking a chance and whether or not it's really worth it. Yes, in this case, it wasn't worth it.
But let's not get all technical and political about it, idc who you are, if someone you know passes away, it's a very SAD and SENSITIVE event no matter how it happened.
A lot of these posts were uncalled for and inappropriate IMO. I'm not defending or condoning his choices, but I AM defending his "right to being human" that made a mistake, and a costly one at that. No need for all this extra personal stuff in pointing fingers at him or him being a former police officer..
Again, my condolences to CJs family and friends... Let's keep this about "not street racing"
And if we're done with that, and we got the message. Let's close this discussion.
Thanks~
(In the future, i will definitely, think twice, and then 1 more time, before I post a thread, sorry if this thread caused people to get suspended? I didn't even know that could happen!)

cptdaz

That implies that fatal accidents never caused by someone going under the speed limits, which is incorrect. Speed limit isn't a magical number that save or kill depending on which side of that number you happen to fall into. By the act of driving your car, public road or private track, you are endangering your life and that of others to a degree. But what we are talking about is the statistical likelihoods. Your chance in causing a fatal incident is exponentially higher faster you go on a public road.

Plus you don't seriously believe the risk for driving 5 mph above speed limit is the same as speeding 100+ mph on public highways? Do you?

jim07

This thread is getting ridiculous! I would bet my first born everyone of us has street raced, taken corners too fast, 0-60+ w/ burnout, driven a car at 100 MPH, and all on public roads. This guy was on of "US". Is street racing wrong and dangerous --of course! We all know that.
If you have never done ANY of the list above please add your name below & please feel free to judge others. This is not aimed at the OP, just the self-righteous posters.

Driving Saints list
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cptdaz

That's the impression I get from comments along the lines "everyone break the law/make mistakes...". While I agree that we should condemn the action not the man, why can't or shouldn't do that here? What better place to caution and educate all drivers on the potential consequences of excessive speeding or highway racing than here, on a car forum? Wouldn't a better place for respect and remembrance of the guy as he was on whole be at the funeral or memorial page? I don't know CJ and as I suspect neither does majority of the forum. The only thing we know of him is this particular action. It's perfectly understandable for those negative first impressions to show up when we speak on the subject. As a parent, how can you not understand? What if it happened to the other car, driven by a total stranger to you and that 17 yo passenger was your daughter?

balthaser

5 mph could be crucial, especially on winter roads.

I remember one time(six or seven years ago?) I was driving on I-65 S towards Indianapolis. My friend was getting deployed to Iraq and he asked me to drive him to the guard base near the airport very early that morning. Speed limit was 70, but I was driving 7 or 8 over it. Then at some point, I saw a couple police cruisers way ahead with their lights activated. I slowed down back under 70 mph.

But before I drove past the police cars, I spotted on my left at least three vehicles had run off road and landed on the grass of the divided median. Immediately my car entered into that section of the highway, I knew what's the cause. It's BLACK ICE on the road. I could feel my car lose lots of grip and slide smoothly on the top of the ice. Luckily, because I slowed down thanks to the police officers turned on the emergency lights, I still had control of the car. I was saved. Had I kept going 78 or even 80 mph, I'm pretty sure I would have been another one diving into the mud, smelling the near zero degree fresh air mixed with the extra grass flavor boost.

So yes, please do not underestimate that 5 MPH. But of course you can laugh at it, make fun of it, until you hit that slim layer of ice which will likely reject your life.