Iceter

Every year there are fewer and fewer car shows. Cars and Coffees are great, informal gatherings where you can drop in and leave whenever you want, you don't have to sit all day in the sun having your car judged, you don't have to pay and every month the mix of cars is different--not limited to one marque.

There are always jackasses who rev up their cars and accelerate too quickly out of the venue. At the C&C's I've attended, there will be 5% of the crowd egging them on and 95% of the crowd shaking their heads because they know that behavior like this ruins it for everyone.

You can show off your car without acting like an a$$hat. This disdain for Cars and Coffees seems a little out of place for someone on an enthusiast's forum.

Archimedes

Well, while I'd disagree with your use of the word enthusiast in that last sentence (I think we have different perspectives on what that word means), the middle paragraph of your post is exactly why these events make no sense for the venue hosting them or the pedestrians standing right on the edge of the street. Seems dumb to risk permanent disability or getting sued to the homeless shelter so a bunch of people can stand around and stare at their three year old cars with 1200 miles on them.

pc4ever

That's what happened at a recent event here. Cop was outside the C&C and got the guy for speeding and reckless driving.

Expensive day at the C&C.

I no longer attend these events and or any of the "cruises", which typically consist of a caravan speeding and weaving to keep up with the leader.

That "implied malice" post is sobering.

Big Swole

Continues to prove the Money CAN NOT buy Class or Skill!!!

Archimedes

So true. I did one PCA group drive event and I will never do one again. Shame that even those events are run so irresponsibly.

Kalashnikov

100% agree, but that is the future. And this is how this will play out:

1) Congress passes the legislature requiring all new cars to be 100% self driven, under the premise that this is the safety feature that will save 1,000s of lives per year and billions in medical costs.
2) In response to #1, insurance companies will raise the rates on the "drivable" cars to the cost-prohibitive level forcing all but the wealthiest to give up the manual driving.
3) Driveable cars will be trailer-ed to the closed events for some exhibition driving.

George Orwell and Aldous Huxley have NOTHING on our reality. Just imagine the repossession scenarios with self-driving cars, or cars serving as the state's ears and eyes...in case you commit any thought-crime.

terbiumactivated

Don't worry Kalashnikov, Ron Popeil will introduce the "manual to self driving" showtime conversion box / pocket fisherman, order now to avoid the rush.

skl

Don't look now, but I think Ron Popeil died a few years ago...

Hopefully I won't be around anymore when they get to the time I can't drive my original owner 914 on public roads just because I WANT to...

Chicago Craig

I get this for actual races, especially ones that involve high continual speeds. But this would imply that punching it at a green makes one liable for what the other idiot does.

Iceter

It certainly doesn't make sense for the venues that host a C&C, and it doesn't make sense to stand on the road to watch these testosterone flare-ups--especially considering the fact that the yokels standing on the sidewalk are encouraging the behavior in the first place.

As always, to tar the whole group because of the actions of the minority is unfair. And honestly, hundreds of these events go on each weekend across the country without any injuries.

There are two C&Cs each month near where I live. They're heavily attended by late-model cars but they also have a lot of classics in attendance. I like to see what shows up, as do a lot of other people. Perhaps having an interest in seeing cool cars doesn't make me an enthusiast by your definition, but perhaps your complete disinterest in seeing them defies my idea of what makes an enthusiast.

In NC, I know people who have been ticketed for "pre-arranged speed competition" for accelerating briskly away from a stop light. Engines were revved, acceleration was quick, but no speed limits were exceeded and no traction was broken. And no, they did not get out of those tickets when they went to court.

The charges that are applied in these situations are usually related to reckless driving or some other related charge that has subjective criteria that can be widely interpreted by the officer on the scene.

In this case, it's obviously warranted, but in others, not so much.

terbiumactivated

Pre-arranged speed competition? So what happens if you leer at a hooker in that town?

Jamie140

Reason no. 6 I drive like a granny.

Archimedes

No, I love to go to see well organized car shows or visit car museums or go to the races. What I have a less than zero interest in attending, is a CnC with a bunch of knuckleheads piloting there own cars in crowds with zero traffic control. For those that say 'this type of incident is so rare', I say the same thing I tell my son all the time when he's trying to play down the risk of something, 'it never happens until it does.'

Honestly, I much prefer to drive my cars than stand around and chit chat, so I rarely stop at the cool kid places when I'm out driving.

terbiumactivated

Lot's of hate for C&C but the last one I went to had a real deal 550 spyder which made my day

Milehigh981

Driver named http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/l...174454566.html

sounds like charges coming