DS and DH crashed golf cart

Yesterday DH took DS (11 next month) to play golf and was letting him drive the golf cart, and go figure, they crashed into a ditch with thornbushes. They are fine, just scratched up.
<deep breath>
Don't know what he was thinking. People have been killed by those things.
A kid in DS's class is a race cart driver -- this thing goes 50 mph! It just doesn't seem like these kids have the judgement to be able to drive things like golf carts, race carts, etc.
I told DH that it may have been illegal for him to let him drive the cart (we're in NH), but I don't know.
GRRRRRRRR!
Amy
mom to 3 in seats

((((hugs))))!! Try not to kill your dh. I know this would be hard, cause I think I would be coming up with a story to tell the cops if I was you! J/K...sorta

thepote said:

A kid in DS's class is a race cart driver -- this thing goes 50 mph! It just doesn't seem like these kids have the judgement to be able to drive things like golf carts, race carts, etc.

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not necessarily. my cousin is a former race car driver who builds race cars for a living. his son and daughter, 14 and 13, respectively, drive junior race cars. they do hit 50 mph for short bursts of time. but they are safe, as they are on a closed course with nothing to collide with except safety barriers which are designed to absorb impact and minimize energy transfer to the occupant. the cars have solid roll cages which are probably safer in a crash or rollover than a passenger car. they have 4-point harnesses and the driver wears a racing helmet and a fire-proof racing suit. the engines are small and the gasoline tanks are very small so as to hold just enough fuel for the race... so little to no chance of explosion or large fire. the kids are also trained extensively. these are the kids who grow up to be extremely safe and knowedgable drivers.

any sport can be safe, provided that best practice guidelines are followed.

southpawboston said:

not necessarily. my cousin is a former race car driver who builds race cars for a living. his son and daughter, 14 and 13, respectively, drive junior race cars. they do hit 50 mph for short bursts of time. but they are safe, as they are on a closed course with nothing to collide with except safety barriers which are designed to absorb impact and minimize energy transfer to the occupant. the cars have solid roll cages which are probably safer in a crash or rollover than a passenger car. they have 4-point harnesses and the driver wears a racing helmet and a fire-proof racing suit. the engines are small and the gasoline tanks are very small so as to hold just enough fuel for the race... so little to no chance of explosion or large fire. the kids are also trained extensively. these are the kids who grow up to be extremely safe and knowedgable drivers.

any sport can be safe, provided that best practice guidelines are followed.

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Maybe it's just MY kid that shouldn't be doing it
This other kid has been in a crash and was severly bruised by his harness on his entire torso. He and his parents were ok with it, I guess. He's still racing. And his mom is a family practice MD!

thepote said:

This other kid has been in a crash and was severly bruised by his harness on his entire torso. He and his parents were ok with it, I guess. He's still racing. And his mom is a family practice MD!

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well, different parents have different "comfort zones" when it comes to what kind of risks they allow their children to be exposed to. if it were my kid, and he was injured badly from the crash, i doubt i'd let him continue. but if it were bruises, and it was obvious that the safety features did their job, and he wanted to continue with the sport, i guess i'd let him make that decision. hard to know since i don't have kids that age yet.

Things like this make me grateful that my BF is as paranoid as I am. Anything like that he'd discuss with me first too.

It's true every parent is different. I started doing BMW/Porsche autocrosses as soon as I got my liscense. Would I let MY kid do that? No. Lol. But, it was FABULOUS training for me and I've avoided several accidents because of my driving school training, ect. They go through what happens when you hydroplane, ect. Not to mention I know what my vehicle can handle so I know when I can safely get out of the way, or when I would roll the vehicle anyway, ect. Things like that. I think every teenage driver should have to go to a driving school like that. Although, it is expensive...

SingleMomTo2Girls said:

I started doing BMW/Porsche autocrosses as soon as I got my liscense. Would I let MY kid do that? No. Lol. But, it was FABULOUS training for me and I've avoided several accidents because of my driving school training, ect. They go through what happens when you hydroplane, ect. Not to mention I know what my vehicle can handle so I know when I can safely get out of the way, or when I would roll the vehicle anyway, ect. Things like that. I think every teenage driver should have to go to a driving school like that. Although, it is expensive...

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i totally agree that autcross experience makes a better driver. i have many times recommended (on this forum too) that young drivers go to professional driving schools like skip barber, where they actually learn how to control the car, not just learn the bare minimums like driver's ed teaches. being able to know the limits of a car, how to be able to understand what the car is doing at all times, and how to be able to bring the car back from an out-of-control situation, is a very valuable ability. granted, things like stability control are great, and i have no doubt that they save people from situations in which there would have been a collision without stability control, but it's not 100% failsafe. it can't rescue a car from every situation. there are limits dictated by physics. that's why understanding those physics "by the seat of one's pants" is very important. i've actually had a lot of fun demonstrating to myself how to outsmart stability control

i will have no problem sending my kids to professional driving school so that they will have those skills for their lifetimes. of course, by then, cars will drive themselves.

I would let Hayley do kid races if she wanted, when she was older. The kids my cousin babysits do some kind of kid racing, and the youngest is only 7. To me that's too young, for my kid. But I'm pretty confident in the safety precautions that are taken, and I think Hayley would have a BLAST.

A golf cart? No way. Too unsafe, even at slow speeds, IMO. No safety features. I'm glad your ds and dh are okay!