Gumball fatal crash--it was only a matter of time

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Per metro.co.uk


Two British drivers taking part in the Gumball rally have been arrested in Macedonia after an alleged hit and run incident which left one man dead and his wife fighting for her life.

The 67-year-old died on his way to hospital and his wife was in a critical condition after a Porsche taking part in the super car race crossed the road and ploughed into their VW Golf.

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Have any of you actually gotten close to gumballers during one of these events? Irresponsible show-boating, sleep deprivation, and very obviously inebriation were staples when I met them a couple of times. Some cool cars and nice people but utter tts with the worst I-can-buy-you attitudes ever. I can't believe they have gotten away with this for so long. It wouldn't have been so bad if they had run off the road and killed themselves. It's sad that others have to suffer.

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time for reckless behavior to end. i don't have a problem with organized motoring events on public roads--but not "wink, nudge, it's not a race" type of crap. a certain Porsche owner's antics are well-documented in court records and youtube videos--he even posted on here a while ago. sadly this will affect the public's perception of all sports cars and result in more scrutiny on Le Mans-type drives.

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MDMA said:

I love the Gumball

Amazing cars !!! It sounds a bit like sour grapes on here that people are slagging off some of the competitors for having a "better than yow" attitude

there's plenty of arrogant people on this site, but i don't see them getting slagged ?????

It's a shame that innocent people have been killed, but i'm sure the 911 drivers didn't do it on purpose, so it looks like a terrible accident. Terrible accidents happen all the time... what about innocent spectators getting killed watching rallye driving, shall we ban that too?

Listen , there is a difference between an accident and reckless endangerment. We all like cars and fast driving. We don't go around racing on public roads and endangering others by wantonly disregarding the law. I have first-hand experience of gumballer behaviour (had one at my house for fourteen hours in the hope he would sober up, but he didn't, and I had to drive him and his car back to his girlfriend). 2 mins after dropping him off, i saw her allow him to take the wheel. gumball nonsense is not remotely acceptable.

Edited by Mon Ami Mate on Thursday 3rd May 20:15

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tinman0 said:

add vantage said:

time for reckless behavior to end. i don't have a problem with organized motoring events on public roads--but not "wink, nudge, it's not a race" type of crap. a certain Porsche owner's antics are well-documented in court records and youtube videos--he even posted on here a while ago. sadly this will affect the public's perception of all sports cars and result in more scrutiny on Le Mans-type drives.

The problem, as i see it, is that they've never downplayed the "race" bit. They've never shied away from people using that term, and thats why they seem to have cultivated a bad image.

Can't see it being the end of Gumball to be honest.

If you read a bit more about Lonman though, the person you are infering, you'd discover that hes quite a talented driver. Problem is that people copy what he does, and they don't have the talent to back it up.

true, he's talented--to some degree. while he was over at my place, he spent ages downloading videos of himself sliding around some bend on a track. don't know how much talent that is, but let's say he is able to control his car well. fine. does that mean one should drive drunk? how about his repeated arrests and driving antics on public roads as seen on video? acceptable? it's criminal.

Edited by add vantage on Thursday 3rd May 19:44

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tinman0 said:

add vantage said:

true, he's talented--to some degree. while he was over at my place, he spent ages downloading videos of himself sliding around some bend on a track. don't know how much talent that is, but let's say he is able to control his car well. fine. does that mean one should drive drunk? how about his repeated arrests and driving antics on public roads as seen on video? acceptable? it's criminal.

where did the drink driving bit come from?

from me dropping him off because he was too far gone to drive, only to have his gf let him behind the wheel.

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jbl930 said:

This is a horrible accident, you could almost class it as murder, BUT none of us complain when we see Clarkson speeding all over Europe in races against trains, planes etc, we all speed, those that say they don't are full of sh1t

there's an element of recklessness, attitude of invincibility due to wealth/car, adrenaline, fatigue, alcohol, peer pressure, etc., that are much more prevalent in the gumball. each of these increases the risk. keep upping the risk, and you will eventually end up making it a foregone conclusion.

we all engage in varying levels of stupidity/lawlessness (though not all laws are sensible/about safety) on the roads, true. but not to this extent.

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paoloh said:

Clarkson has stated " it is not speed that kills, it is stopping very suddenly" Funny but true

not always. you can keep going right through a sharp fence spike and get turned inside out. it wouldn't slow you down, but you will find out how much you need your brain matter contained inside your skull to sustain life. see, we can all argue the toss.

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nervous said:

me too. as ever, theres an awful lot of double standards going on here.

im sure we all agree that its a tragedy, but must we all pour all over this endlessly? its awful, it shouldnt have happened, just like all terrible things. were not helping though, most especially yelling at each other about it.

please, just this once, lets not do this. its too awful, and in our own small way within our own small world, it feels like were making it worse.

if it was an ordinary, unforeseeable accident, i would agree with you. but this was just waiting to happen. that the victims are innocent people makes it much, much worse.

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Maximillion Cooper said:

I am informed that the incident was reported immediately by the drivers. Both drivers are extremely traumatised by this occurrence."

Reported immediately by the drivers? To who? Each other? Oh, that's alright then.

Maximillion Cooper said:

This is the first time anything like this has happened in 9 years of travelling through over 40 countries

Not for lack of trying by the out-of-control imbeciles who took part in your "event", mate.

Edited by add vantage on Friday 4th May 00:30

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All those who are defending the Gumball in any way have obviously not witnessed the boozing/bravado/stupidity/recklessness first-hand.

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- Red where blue should be (wrapping around the back) and vice versa.
- Different wheels.
- Photographed from the same side, unlike the comparisons between other pics.
These two are certainly different cars.

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You are assuming the cars were painted/stickered symmetrically on each side. They weren't. Look at the middle of the roof. The blue goes up there and stops abruptly. So, the only way to compare is the wheels and by looking at pics of the same side. Yes, it is the RLS 9 car (#74).

The one with the registration ending in APO (#75) has different wheels and paint and is incorrectly identified by some as the one involved.

Edited by add vantage on Friday 4th May 00:51