In another thread ( https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...atalities.html ) we have two women dead from being passengers in a Corvette where the guy was presumably showing off, hit a hydrant at high speed, and so on.

Since they had 3 people in a Vette, they obviously weren't being cautious anyway, but...

I have 3 boys and a girl, the youngest being the girl (9), so it's new to me. I've already started to talk to her a bit about what to do if a guy wants to "show off" in a reckless manner in a car.

But what have women found that works? What can you say that a teenage girl can actually say that de-escalates such a situation?

Obviously the 45-year-old-man approach of "grab driver by scruff of back of head and smack into wheel 3 times" doesn't work for everyone, so I'm trying to be realistic.

I'd imagine "I'm a nervous passenger and if you want to impress me, do it with safety, not stupidity" conveys the message but not in a way a horny teen will process. So what works?

And guys, if you must chime in, tell me what would convince YOU, not how a man-pretending-to-be-teenage-girl would handle it!

 

As a father of a daughter who just turned 21, I often think about this as well. I've also read the other thread and I easily grow tired of all the Darwin award comments as if no one on this Forum ever made a mistake, especially when they were younger. Yes, it seems as though alcohol was a major contributor and that makes the decision, of both the driver and passengers, even more heart wrenching for their families. Innocent lives were taken by a not-so innocent lack of judgement.

To answer your original question, I taught my daughter to always follow her instinct and if she's ever in a situation like this, either as a passenger or driver, that she can call me to pick her up anywhere, anytime, with no questions asked or inquiries until she is ready to discuss the situation.

I'm sure prior to getting in the car, that there was some club hopping, dancing, etc. that warranted these two young ladies to squeeze into the passenger seat of a new Corvette. The result was obviously tragic based on the actions and lack of good judgement by the driver.

 

I think MSG C5 has a good point. It's easier to avoid a situation than get out of it, so that's where your discussion with your daughter (and your sons too) should focus.

 

I agree, though I assume the low hanging fruit of "don't get into a car with someone who's been drinking" is already covered. I'm more worried about the (sober) hero trying to impress.

And that could (and more likely would) be in a Honda Civic than a Z, so it's not really about the car.

 

Not all things like that are fueled by alcohol. Some times it is just youthful showing off and sometimes it is road rage.

A couple of decades ago while I was driving my 71 BB Coupe a young guy and his girl friend pulled up beside me and then he stomped on the throttle and pulled in front of me and was accelerating hard. I saw some arm waving from the girl and then the passenger door opened. It was amazing that she didn't get injured but the guy slowed down and she unfastened her seat belt and got out of the car before it could come to a stop. She immediately started walking back the way we came using the sidewalk. I could see she was furious. The idiot driver then proceeded to try and challenge me to a drag race at the next traffic light. I figure he later had to do a lot of groveling to get back in her good graces or maybe she just dismissed him as an idiot and found some other guy.

Bill

 

Tell her to tell the guy he will get some if he drives home slow. You may end up with a pregnant daughter, but at least she will live to tell the tale.

(You can tell I don't have any kids LOL)

 

Empowering your daughter (or son) won't happen in one conversation.

I remember being a young thing, and I did leave a few dangerous situations. I also have told my children these stories, and told them they can always blame us for their rectitude, and we would always come and get them with no judgement from us.

Fortunately, we were in a position to allow our children the full-time use of a car, so they never were put in this particular position to begin with, but we were "blamed" for other stuff they chose to not do, and I'm glad they "blamed" us.

 

Or like me......no daughters.

 

Yep.

Sharing stories is probably the best way to communicate these things.

 

Without going into too much detail. I can tell you what worked very well for a old friend of mine, and a very popular girl I grew up with back in high school. Her name is Peggy, and she had already lost her father in Vietnam.

Unfortunately it was after another tragedy, and four of her girlfriends died, in a very foolish high speed accident in our neighborhood.

Peggys friend, Barbara had gotten a very nice used 72 Grabber Blue Mach 1 Mustang for a early graduation from her parents. Everyone was envious, especially the guys.
The accident happened on one of those long straightaways, with no stop signs, but an intersection every several houses, on a Friday afternoon, just after school was let out.
Barbara ripped the car in half on an oak tree. The back of the car was still hanging on the tree, the front clip was three houses down, you couldn't tell if there was a passengers compartment, and everybody who lived in that part of the neighborhood got to see it on their way home from school.

If you started driving like an idiot with Peggy in the car, she would go Batshit crazy, and start pounding on the dashboard, cussing and screaming for her to be let out of the car.
After a couple of those incidents. Nobody drove like a fool when Peg was in the car, and she was still as popular as ever.

 

NOT a hero by any stretch of the imagination.