Ready for this.... My friends wife was driving to do some shopping the other day when she was hit broadside by a 17 year old in a 5 day old 350Z!! It seems the 17 year old (who has only had his license 3 weeks) ran a stop sign and destroyed both cars!! His father bought him the car as a graduation present... It only had 340 miles on it and it was totaled.. I saw the photo's.. They had to cut the roof off the "Z" to get the driver out. He's in critical condition. My friends wife was in a Lexus and is a bit sore but nothing else.. Now tell me.. What kind of a parent buys there 17 year old a 350Z for a first car??? I hope he's learned his lesson... It could have been a fatal purchase.

Steve (k2we) Dobbs Ferry, NY 20,676 miles since Sept 17,2002

 

There are 17 year olds who can handle it & some who can't.

Too bad parents can't distinguish which group their kid is in.

Very pleased to hear your friend's wife is okay.

 

And the little bastard probably won't learn a damn thing from it if he lives.

 

sorry but no 17 year old litlle ***** *** spoiled punk deserves anything more than a 500 dollar beater. they need to learn the valuable lesson of working and earning.

 

Sad. I'm sorry, no one with a 3 week old license, no matter how mature, should be handed the keys to car with this much power. Of course, the kid could have run the stopsign with a Hundai, but the fact is people, myself included, feel very different when the get behind the wheel of a sports car.

 

I hate to get into the age discussion. I've had a full-time job since I was 13, got a 350z when I was 18 (no I didn't pay all of it myself). I now have 16,000 miles on it in just over a year with zero wrecks and zero tickets. Maturity and responsibility is NOT 100% linked to age all the time...

 

I think one of the MAIN points Wren57, is the fact the kid only have his license for 3 weeks and his dumb@ss parents bought him a high powered sports car.

 

I dont think the power of the Z was the problem here....

This kid ran a stopsign. He could have been in anything and suffered the same result....

Its good to know that your friends wife is ok. Nothing worse than having the person at fault walk away, and the victim stuck in the hospital....

 

I'm 17 with a Gcoupe.. I think this post is kind of harsh. I don't think the power of the car has anything to do with this. The kid is an idiot and ran a stop sign.

 

**** happens, i personally ran stop signs 2 times already! first time b/c my mind were distracted by my thoughts, second time b/c i didnt see it and know where it was and i've never been to that place before so i wouldnt know especially at night when it's 20+ feet away to be visible from the road. but i didnt get into accident cuz i've always been VERY lucky and i wasnt speeding either. i'm not saying that i should be proud or anything. i just think that accident can happen to anybody and from anybody. there are more factors in it than just age, gender, etc...

i feel sorry for your friend's wife.

 

k2we, I hope she gets better, but I agree (to an extent) that 17 year olds shouldn't really have the Z as a first car.

I started out at 15 on a '92 Ford Explorer (no airbags, no TCS, horrible brakes, etc) and the electric windows were broke so I had to open the door at drive-thrus (awesome!). However, I learned how to drive very carefully in that car because if I didn't, I could've easily crashed.

For graduation, I got my Z and I only put 100 miles on it in the first month learning to drive stick on public roads at 3AM (I would stay awake to practice at that time as to cause the least stress to myself and other drivers, as well as safety). I've never had a speeding ticket, but I do admit I do speed every once in a while (for some reason I don't speed as much in the Z as in other cars. It just feels fast at 25mph!).

Most 17 year olds should never be let inside the driver seat of the Z. So many irresponsible kids out there and they think they're invincible when they drive.

Edit: I'm about 19 now. Also, the good thing about manual trans is that I have to stop at stop signs, which I do anyways in autos (more of a California stop though in those).

 

LOL! You "young" ones amuse me. You act like all of us weren't 17 once. At that age, put me behind a sports car and I certainly will think I am more indestructible than if you put me behind the wheel of a 1990 Ford Taurus station wagon. It has been scientifically proven that adrenaline clouds clear judgment. Let's see... a 17 year old who just got his license and is driving a brand spanking new performance car. Ummm... yeah, the Z had nothing to do with it.

 

The kid is in critical condition & your friends wife walked. Hmmm?

That tells me the kid was probably double stupid and didn’t wear his seatbeat…

 

hope your friends wife is okay steve.

this car is dangerous in the wrong hands.

i find myself fish-tailing often simply by not paying attention and getting into the radio

 

This is very common in Vancouver.
People from Pacific rim countries send their kids to go to school here, give them a big chunk of change to live on, but guess were that money goes? Straight to the BMW, or Honda dealership, then to one of the performance shops to make the thing put out 400 Horse.
After having their license for about 2 months, now it`s time to go racing.

 

I actually drive my G pretty carefully. Why? If anything happens and it's my fault, I lose the car AND insurance for any other car.

 

I agree. Its always the driver that makes the decisions; just like the phrase "Guns don't kill people, People kill people". Everybody thinks all teens are immature, suck at driving, and also irresponsible. There are some teens that are mentally more mature than people in their 20's maybe even 30's. There are alwayz exceptions in this world; not all teens act like dumb@sses.

 

At any age, getting behind the wheel of a Z makes you just see what the car and the driver can do. I may not do the same silly thing's I use to do behind the wheel when I was 17, 26 now, but I can assure you that if it weren't for NJ insurance rates my Z's speedometer would have to show triple digits on an almost daily basis. I have to move...

 

seriously, most inexperienced drivers shouldn't be driving a car as fast as the 350Z. i know i'm much better now than i was when i first started. if i had a car that was remotely fast back then, i'd have been in trouble

 

Well, I know personally I have tested the limits on almost every car I've ever driven, but I make sure to do it in as controlled an environment as possible. They key to safety, in my opinion, is responsibility. Don't test yourself or your car in conditions you are not 100% safe with. If you don't know an intersection perfectly, don't powerslide through it; if there is heavy traffic, be patient and don't cut people off. Sure, racing the track is fun (I've done both drag and road in my Z), but not always available. Every now and then the desire to haul @ss through a yield thing or throw the rear around while making a right turn overtakes the desire to drive like a soccer mom. The key is making sure you know your surroundings and are comfortable with them. Once you are comfortable with your environment and your car, you are in control and can keep yourself and your car from having an accident.

Take it as an opinion from a lowly 19 year old.