Start Your Monday Off Right With Some of the Least Intelligent Driving Ever Witnessed

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

Last week, I asked the B&B if this Civic-ramming incident was malicious or merely idiotic. No such question could possibly be raised about what you’re about to see. This video has it all: the stereotypical “Florida Man” (or possibly “Georgia Man”) in full assault mode, some of the most hellaciously dangerous motorcycling you’ll ever see, and plenty of Michael-Bay-movie-in-real-life swerving into oncoming traffic.

The best part, however, is how a fellow behind the wheel of a motorcycle that is literally faster than a Ferrari 599 Fiorano can’t quite escape the murderous attentions of … a previous-generation Ford Fusion.

Somebody sign that guy up for NASCAR!

Even if you have no interest in watching cray-cray hillbilly road action, the motorcyclist’s actions are worthwhile from the perspective of how people react under stress. I strongly suspect that he’s still following the route he intended to follow to work or school or whatever despite the madman in the 3,800-pound car trying to kill him. Time and time again he has a safe escape route that he doesn’t take because it’s not on his predetermined path.

He’s also piloting a vehicle that could effortlessly shed a Ford Fusion, even one driven by a maniac, but he’s unable to effectively use that speed advantage to escape the situation. And when the Florida Man™ pulls up next to him, he decides that the best course to take is to have a screaming match that neither of them can understand.

What’s missing from the tape, of course, is whatever the rider did in the first place to make the driver so angry. I can tell you what I’d have done in the same situation: pulled over, drawn my Cold Steel Recon Tanto, and let the driver decide if he wants to scrap it out with an armored person holding a knife. I figure that if the guy had a gun, he’d have drawn it at some prior point in the chase. Best to walk into a convenience store or fast-food restaurant and deprive the guy of the chance to kill you with America’s deadliest weapon: the automobile.

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • Analoggrotto I don't see a red car here, how blazing stupid are you people?
  • Redapple2 Love the wheels
  • Redapple2 Good luck to them. They used to make great cars. 510. 240Z, Sentra SE-R. Maxima. Frontier.
  • Joe65688619 Under Ghosn they went through the same short-term bottom-line thinking that GM did in the 80s/90s, and they have not recovered say, to their heyday in the 50s and 60s in terms of market share and innovation. Poor design decisions (a CVT in their front-wheel drive "4-Door Sports Car", model overlap in a poorly performing segment (they never needed the Altima AND the Maxima...what they needed was one vehicle with different drivetrain, including hybrid, to compete with the Accord/Camry, and decontenting their vehicles: My 2012 QX56 (I know, not a Nissan, but the same holds for the Armada) had power rear windows in the cargo area that could vent, a glass hatch on the back door that could be opened separate from the whole liftgate (in such a tall vehicle, kinda essential if you have it in a garage and want to load the trunk without having to open the garage door to make room for the lift gate), a nice driver's side folding armrest, and a few other quality-of-life details absent from my 2018 QX80. In a competitive market this attention to detai is can be the differentiator that sell cars. Now they are caught in the middle of the market, competing more with Hyundai and Kia and selling discounted vehicles near the same price points, but losing money on them. They invested also invested a lot in niche platforms. The Leaf was one of the first full EVs, but never really evolved. They misjudged the market - luxury EVs are selling, small budget models not so much. Variable compression engines offering little in terms of real-world power or tech, let a lot of complexity that is leading to higher failure rates. Aside from the Z and GT-R (low volume models), not much forced induction (whether your a fan or not, look at what Honda did with the CR-V and Acura RDX - same chassis, slap a turbo on it, make it nicer inside, and now you can sell it as a semi-premium brand with higher markup). That said, I do believe they retain the technical and engineering capability to do far better. About time management realized they need to make smarter investments and understand their markets better.
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Off-road fluff on vehicles that should not be off road needs to die.
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