1.5mi is pretty darn short, though. And, on a really wide surface like a runway, it really messes with your depth perception according to the mentally insane guys on Top Gear.

Oh, and the next time I stub my toe on the stairs, I'm suing the tree which the wood came from for being too dangerous!

Quote from glyphon :

there's a wall on that end, and possibly also planes parked there.

Well all the more reason to do it, his lights would have shined on whatever was parked at the end, whether it was a plane or a car, but your not really going to spot the road stopping before its to late....

He should have bought a Tata Nano and fitted bugatti veyron brakes to it - that way he would be going so slow that even if he saw the drop at the last moment, he would be able to stop

Quote from JTbo :

He has money so it is very potential person to be sued because of possibility to access airport or something.

This is how flowerhats (or whatever you call them) think there:
"It was Travolta's fault, he killed them as there was no enough warning signs."

Any small airport has open access. Two of my neighbors have private planes (a Cessna 170 and a BEAUTIFUL Cirrus SR-22.) I've been on rides with them, and all you do is literally drive onto the runway and then drive over to your plane (which, by the way they don't park at the end. That giant loop is solely for taxiing and making u-turns.) I could drive over to my local airport right now (about 3 miles away) and just drive straight onto the runway and fool around if I wanted to.

Quote from Stang70Fastback :

Any small airport has open access. Two of my neighbors have private planes (a Cessna 170 and a BEAUTIFUL Cirrus SR-22.) I've been on rides with them, and all you do is literally drive onto the runway and then drive over to your plane (which, by the way they don't park at the end. That giant loop is solely for taxiing and making u-turns.) I could drive over to my local airport right now (about 3 miles away) and just drive straight onto the runway and fool around if I wanted to.

You can easily drive onto the runway @ Gibraltar (Via Winston Churchill Ave.)

Except its NOT a private runway - Jet planes land there

It is quite good for suicide attempts, if you turn left from the Windston Churchill Ave. onto the runway, and drive down the runway, you will eventually end up in Gibraltar Port!

Very sad story and what a watse of 5 young lives...

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=111454

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=111545

Posted already.

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=38152

there is already a thread about this im afraid.

Oh crap had a look and nothing was there. The M5 surely was the problem thank god that when i get to drive insurance will get in the way of me getting anything with any sort of power, if he was driving a fiat punto do you really think he would be trying to test the top speed on a runway???

There is lessons to be learnt from this as it could happen to any of probably not on an air strip though. For some reason him posting on that forum a few days before just makes it all the more sad, i don't have a clue why but it does.

Got to say that i was pretty obvious from his first post something might happen like they said on the forum he only had the car for 1000 miles and already he was hitting 140mph and complaining of it clunking on downshift.

Quote from pearcy_2k7 :

The M5 surely was the problem[...]

No it wasn't... The problem was the driver, being an idiot for two reasons:
1. Driving on a runway faster than the headlights could illuminate where he's going, and
2. for either trying to impress/brag to his friends with that or getting talked into the whole thing by them...

Quote from pearcy_2k7 :

The M5 surely was the problem

Not at all.

The problem was the kid was 18, he was drinking/drunk and had 4 other male passengers in a 500bhp saloon supercar. If anything, being in the M5 would have probably been the safest place to be doing those sorts of speeds, I've been in my dads M5 countless of times doing well over 280K in Germany and nothing happened.

His parents should not of let him in drive such a powerful bit of machinery its really that simple, cars are not toys and cars with 500bhp that weigh 1800kg's are certinaly not intended for kids to drive.

Isn't the drinking age in the US, 21 anyways?

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

Isn't the drinking age in the US, 21 anyways?

Sure is. It may be lowered soon though.

Quote from Stang70Fastback :

It may be lowered soon though.

Erm... that's news to me!

Its a combination of him being in hugely fast car, and being young and stupid trying to impress people, if he was in a fiat panda do you think this would ever have happened?

Quote from pearcy_2k7 :

Its a combination of him being in hugely fast car, and being young and stupid trying to impress people, if he was in a fiat panda do you think this would ever have happened?

Sooner or later, yes... It doesn't need speeds over 130 mph/200 kph to kill people, you know?

Quote from pearcy_2k7 :

if he was in a fiat panda do you think this would ever have happened?

But even a crash from 45mph could be fatal....

Quote from pearcy_2k7 :

...if he was in a fiat panda do you think this would ever have happened?

Yes...

what parent in the right mind would give an 18 year old such a powerful car??!

Quote from Dac :

what parent in the right mind would give an 18 year old such a powerful car??!

One that trusted his son i suspose.

Its not wrong to give your son/daughter a powerful car at 18, its just silly to do so if you know that at some point, there going to put there foot down.

If it was in the same circumstances, but instead of the kid being in a clio instead of a M5, im pretty sure he would try to show off and then end up making the same mistake as he did here.

You can trust your son all you want, but frankly 500 HP is INSANE. Even when your not thrashing it you could just push the throttle a little to hard on a wet bend and you WOULD end up backwards...

If i was in that situation I would want my son do to skid-pan training before i let him buy such a car (as it's obvious he can afford it on a £50k car!)

Quote from Jakg :

Even when your not thrashing it you could just push the throttle a little to hard on a wet bend and you WOULD end up backwards...

You don't need 500HP to do that. My friend let another friend borrow his V6 Mustang, and I was in the passenger seat. The kid who was driving spun the tires making a left turn from the stop sign and then lets off and the car oversteers, and he countersteered way too much and almost went into the curb. All of this on wet pavement. After that I decided never to get inside a car with him driving. At a low speed on a wet road, a 200HP RWD vehicle is just as dangerous as a 500HP RWD vehicle.

the car was actually his dads btw.

The fact is that if he had a fiat panda he most probably wouldn't of gone to an airfield trying to break the sound barrier with 4 of his mates.

Quote from pearcy_2k7 :

The fact is that if he had a fiat panda he most probably wouldn't of gone to an airfield trying to break the sound barrier with 4 of his mates.

The fact is that no matter what car he was in, he would have most likely tryed to show off to his mates. Lets face it, its what new drivers do. Its exciting as you have never done it before. Also, everyone likes to show off every now and then. And anyway, was it actually confirmed josh was the driver?