French police nab cannonball run drivers.
Discussion
or a mineral water if we are driving 
nel said:
Just heard on French radio on the way home - probably be in the British press tomorrow.
The court at Bethune found them guilty of racing on the A26 at speeds of up to 200 kph (shock horror - not 125 mph!!). 3 month suspended prison sentence, Ferrari and Porsche definitively confiscated for sale by the state, and 1000€ fines! Talk about an over-reaction to a victimless crime! Same problem as in the UK - you'd get less than that for GBH in France! I assume that the vehicle confiscation will be over-turned on appeal or by a European court, but they have certainly sent a strong signal about Gumballs, Cannonballs, etc.
The court at Bethune found them guilty of racing on the A26 at speeds of up to 200 kph (shock horror - not 125 mph!!). 3 month suspended prison sentence, Ferrari and Porsche definitively confiscated for sale by the state, and 1000€ fines! Talk about an over-reaction to a victimless crime! Same problem as in the UK - you'd get less than that for GBH in France! I assume that the vehicle confiscation will be over-turned on appeal or by a European court, but they have certainly sent a strong signal about Gumballs, Cannonballs, etc.
Dug this up because I read an article about Canonball run cars being sold by the state. In fact the ones referred to in this article (in french - link below) belonged to drivers nabbed in September 2004 at around 120 mph on the A1 in northern France. Looks like the sentence didn't get turned over on appeal, so they ended up with £50k fines for speeding......
Absolutely disgraceful, and I'm delighted to report that lots of french people are horrified by such high-handedness too. At this rate the french will again start a revolution against repression while the brits moan and drink tea.....
www.leblogauto.com/2006/09/saisies-pour-exces-de-vitesse%e2%80%a6et-vendues-aux-encheres.html#more-6343
my objection to these lame publicity events has always been that they attract too much attention, serve as too good a target for the anti-car groups and will simply ruin it for the rest of us who prefer a more subtle hoon or just want to cross europe quickly. as shockingly obscene as the penalty is, these guys have now set the precident, oh great. another reason not to go to france.
Edited by francisb on Tuesday 7th November 07:20
I've been following the Gumball 3000/Cannonball Run/Carbon Black events for a little while now and I can certainly say that most of the people that take part aren't superstar cocks with loads of cash. There are so many normal guys that just have a very good car and took part because of the challenge. Some drivers that aren't so skilled and shouldn't be competing will be picked off by the police respectively. There have been a couple of accidents, but nothing our of the ordinary, tyre blow-outs, taking evasive action because of other road users, etc. Most of the people that take part are good drivers, hence why they aren't in prison and why there has been no serious accidents resulting in a fatality (to my knowledge).
By the way, all of these events are rallies, not races, if they were I would against them as it encourages irresponsible driving. There was an entrant in the 2004 Gumball 3000 that completed the event in a 2CV, and they weren't last! Have you ever gone out with your car just for the sake of driving it? Thats what they gys are doing. These guys are proving that speed doesn't kill, but some of you guys don't seem to get that.
By the way, all of these events are rallies, not races, if they were I would against them as it encourages irresponsible driving. There was an entrant in the 2004 Gumball 3000 that completed the event in a 2CV, and they weren't last! Have you ever gone out with your car just for the sake of driving it? Thats what they gys are doing. These guys are proving that speed doesn't kill, but some of you guys don't seem to get that.
The Hitman said:
These guys are proving that speed doesn't kill, but some of you guys don't seem to get that.
beautifully twisted. quite how you arive at that pathetic conclusion i dont know. thay are real campaigners for road safety LOL. you dont seem to "get" the objection, we all enjoy a spirited drive but these retards self publicity and attention seeking will simply turn the public and authorities against us all. why draw attention to it?
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francisb said:
my objection to these lame publicity events has always been that they attract too much attention, serve as too good a target for the anti-car groups and will simply ruin it for the rest of us
The Hitman said:
There are so many normal guys that ... took part because of the challenge.
I really can't see any "challenge" in simply driving along a road 
Get them out on a track-day or if they are loaded enter them in races and sprints... It's just a load of egotistical cocks out for a bit of self publicity. Edited by richb on Tuesday 7th November 09:05
tinman0 said:
The Hitman said:
These guys are proving that speed doesn't kill, but some of you guys don't seem to get that.
whilst i'd love to agree with you, iirc someone ran over a moroccon on gumball.
I have to confess, if it were not for my meticulous attention to the service and up keep of the GT2, I would have bagged a few too.
The Hitman said:
Have you ever gone out with your car just for the sake of driving it? Thats what they gys are doing.
So these people are just doing what other motoring enthusiasts do - having a pleasant drive in the country?
Are you really suggesting that the people who participate in these affairs aren't influenced by being amongst dozens of similar people in fast, flash cars who got together for the express purpose of going large?
On these events, why do they make in-car videos of themselves driving - or do they normally make videos of themselves driving to the shops as well?
Why do some of them drive like absolute, rabid, raving assholes - unless they actually are absolute, rabid, raving assholes?
The Hitman said:
These guys are proving that speed doesn't kill, but some of you guys don't seem to get that.
So all the high-speed accidents that have taken place on these events - as documented by the multitude of videos that these fools have taken and published to glorify their own imbecility - are typical of a random sample of normal people doing everyday driving? Oh wait, I forgot - these are motoring enthusiasts in fast cars, so if anything their standard of driving must be higher than average, eh?
If you point a gun at a crowd of people and pull the trigger, but no one is killed, that is hardly evidence that bullets don't kill.
You are quite right: speed itself doesn't kill.
Bad driving kills, and bad driving at high speed tend to be more lethal than bad driving at low speed.
If one is to judge from the video evidence - which after all is publicised by the participants themselves - too many of the people who populate these events appear to be piss-poor drivers. The fact that they drive badly quickly makes it all the worse.
tinman0 said:
The Hitman said:
These guys are proving that speed doesn't kill, but some of you guys don't seem to get that.
whilst i'd love to agree with you, iirc someone ran over a moroccon on gumball.
or the t**t in the ferrari trying to do a wheelspin in a busy town, losing it, hitting a curb and trashing his front end, real good driving!
Where is the challenge? they are by and large driving very new cars a few thousand miles on mostly motorways, hardly very challenging, they would be better off doing one of the banger rallies. But then again they arn't followed about by camera crews.
flemke said:
So these people are just doing what other motoring enthusiasts do - having a pleasant drive in the country?
Are you really suggesting that the people who participate in these affairs aren't influenced by being amongst dozens of similar people in fast, flash cars who got together for the express purpose of going large?
On these events, why do they make in-car videos of themselves driving - or do they normally make videos of themselves driving to the shops as well?
Why do some of them drive like absolute, rabid, raving assholes - unless they actually are absolute, rabid, raving assholes?
Being on an "event" has a lot to do with peoples behaviour.
What i've found over the last three years from my own events, is that an event magnifies behaviour, it doesn't cause a specific behaviour. You don't suddenly get onto the event and start taking risks, the risk taking was already present before the event, the event just magnifies it.
Also, the editing of Gumball leads to believe that everyone on the event is "driving dangerously" (whatever that is*), when in actual fact its just a small minority.
The problem with Gumball I think is that it is concentrating too hard on idiots. The production of the 2003 DVD in the US was superb, you followed certain characters. The subsequent productions have been utter rubbish. You don't get to meet characters, and you just seem to get these two dimensional cartoon characters who shout and swear alot. And then drive like plonkers.
(*whats the difference of you driving quickly on the Autostrada vs Lonmon driving fast on I-10?)
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=323111&f=23&h=0
It's the self-publicising behaviour of amoeba-brained cockmonkeys like this that really, really annoys me. I don't know who the individual concerned is or what he does (is he the one who drills holes in his head/chops his head off with an axe etc?), but I'd not want to be associated with a lower-than-Z-list 'celeb' like this, and would, if I'm honest, be ashamed to admit I'd been on a IdiotBall event.
It's the self-publicising behaviour of amoeba-brained cockmonkeys like this that really, really annoys me. I don't know who the individual concerned is or what he does (is he the one who drills holes in his head/chops his head off with an axe etc?), but I'd not want to be associated with a lower-than-Z-list 'celeb' like this, and would, if I'm honest, be ashamed to admit I'd been on a IdiotBall event.
Edited by nickf on Tuesday 7th November 11:03
smilerbaker said:
Oh well that make him a stand up guy, flooring a couple of doormen for doing there job. FFS
eh? how does that work. their actions led to a homeless persons beer being spilt and thats part of their job description?
if someone spilt your beer - would you expect them to buy you a new one?
tinman0 said:
smilerbaker said:
Oh well that make him a stand up guy, flooring a couple of doormen for doing there job. FFS
eh? how does that work. their actions led to a homeless persons beer being spilt and thats part of their job description?
if someone spilt your beer - would you expect them to buy you a new one?
Sorry what planet are you on? have you EVER been to a club that allows tramps in?? have you ever been to a club that allows you to take your drinks out into the street??
As its was a ball event I am guessing this wasn't your run of the mill 'ikon' type club either.
I have no love for bouncers, but they where just doing there job.
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