Sales of supercars on the rise

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#1
Seriously, they should just ban all these supercars! Let the rich express themselves in other ways!

The Straits Times
May 15, 2012
Sales of supercars on the rise

Some drivers say they prefer to take the cars out for spin at night

By Cheryl Ong & Felicia Choo

SALES of supercars here have accelerated over the years, and some drivers of these high-powered automobiles say they prefer taking them out for a spin at night when the roads are clear.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) had on its records 4,149 Porsches, Maseratis, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Aston Martins last year, up from the 3,376 the year before.

The German-made Porsches seem the most popular, with 584 registered last year; Ferraris came in second, with 92 models registered the same year.

Even as these buyers vroom out of the showrooms, the question of whether they can handle these cars safely at high speeds may be another matter.

In the wee hours of last Saturday, a red Ferrari got into a three-way crash with a taxi and a motorcycle at the junction of Rochor Road and Victoria Street.

The crash has killed the Ferrari's driver, the taxi driver and his female Japanese passenger, and left two others injured and still in hospital.

The Traffic Police have been, however, unable to give a breakdown of the number of speeding tickets issued by type of vehicle, but one thing is clear - more such tickets have been issued with each passing year.

Last year, there were 225,550 speeding offences; the year before, there were 205,000, and in 2009, 173,000.

The owners of fast cars and driving clubs say they have seen more fast cars here in the last few years.

Sports Car Club Singapore president Rosalind Choo, 31, who organises night drives here for members, said that if there are more such cars, then it stands to reason that more of them will get into accidents.

She said that discipline and safety are the watchwords in the night drives she organises.

'It's dangerous to have people who don't follow instructions,' said the insurance agent, who drives a Mercedes Benz SLK.

The club sets up driving trips at 11pm twice a month for up to 30 cars, but, she said, they never go above the speed limit.

A 25-year-old sales executive who declined to give his name admits to taking his parents' Jaguar XF out after midnight when he feels the need for speed.

He said: 'I let my mind go blank. It's very relaxing. My average speed is about 130 to 140kmh, but I've hit 190 before when the road was clear.

'I slow down when I see another vehicle, and always drive on the right-outermost lane.'

Taxi drivers, who are on the roads more than most people, say they have seen more cars busting the speed limit.

Relief taxi driver M. Salim said races usually take place late on Saturday night and go on until early on Sunday.

'I was driving my taxi six months ago when these sports cars zoomed by at speeds of around 110kmh, from Orchard Road to Changi Airport and back again,' he said.

Some self-confessed speedsters say they favour expressways or roads with fewer traffic lights like Lim Chu Kang and Lornie roads.

But most like Mr Alvin Chan, 38, who drives a BMW Z4 convertible, do not think the risk is worth taking.

He said: 'I never ride at night on my own, or speed. I go to the race tracks at Sepang every month and go as fast as I like. It's legal and safe.'

ongyiern@sph.com.sg

feliciac@sph.com.sg
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#2
Quote:The club sets up driving trips at 11pm twice a month for up to 30 cars, but, she said, they never go above the speed limit.

haha... buy a supercar to drive at 90km/h. Don't make my toes laugh...
Many of them are already speeding at 130-140km/h before 12pm.
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#3
Maybe this driving club can send out their route itinerary to the TP so that there could be some discreet "validation" of the no-speeding claim.

Everyone of us who drives sees these sports cars speeding on all roads whether city or expressway more often than not. There are obviously exceptions who follow the rules, but they are in the minority.
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#4
Call me biased, but to me there are only two reasons why one would buy a supercar:-

1) To show off (i.e. flaunt their wealth)
2) To speed

The above are not mutually exclusive! Sometimes it's a combination of the two which leads to deadly accidents such as the recent Ferrari crash. Undecided
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#5
We should tweak our traffic fine to be based on the vehicle's OMV. A $200 speeding ticket is at most a mosquito bite to a Ferrari driver.

Demerit points, while useful, is frequently worked-around by getting a fall guy, like what our famous Woffles Woo did.

Without a punishment system that's painful enough, the Ferrari accident in Bugis won't be the last one.
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#6
(15-05-2012, 10:13 AM)bluechipstamp Wrote: We should tweak our traffic fine to be based on the vehicle's OMV. A $200 speeding ticket is at most a mosquito bite to a Ferrari driver.

Demerit points, while useful, is frequently worked-around by getting a fall guy, like what our famous Woffles Woo did.

Without a punishment system that's painful enough, the Ferrari accident in Bugis won't be the last one.

The demerit points should be used as the multiplication or power factor to the road tax.

$5000*demerit point or $5000^demerit point
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#7
(15-05-2012, 10:13 AM)bluechipstamp Wrote: We should tweak our traffic fine to be based on the vehicle's OMV. A $200 speeding ticket is at most a mosquito bite to a Ferrari driver.

Demerit points, while useful, is frequently worked-around by getting a fall guy, like what our famous Woffles Woo did.

Without a punishment system that's painful enough, the Ferrari accident in Bugis won't be the last one.

I feel the problem with the current system is no jail term for reckless drivers, or those who cause accidents. Many times you read in the paper about someone getting slapped with a fine of $X,XXX and a driving ban of X years when he got someone killed through negligent driving. On the flip side, our Govt jails people who steal like $XXX from someone!

Still, I am not sure if that's a good enough deterrant. Sometimes high spirits and alcohol can still make one foolish enough to break the rules.
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#8
(15-05-2012, 10:36 AM)yeokiwi Wrote:
(15-05-2012, 10:13 AM)bluechipstamp Wrote: We should tweak our traffic fine to be based on the vehicle's OMV. A $200 speeding ticket is at most a mosquito bite to a Ferrari driver.

Demerit points, while useful, is frequently worked-around by getting a fall guy, like what our famous Woffles Woo did.

Without a punishment system that's painful enough, the Ferrari accident in Bugis won't be the last one.

The demerit points should be used as the multiplication or power factor to the road tax.

$5000*demerit point or $5000^demerit point

Be careful what you wish for. For a $1,000 road tax car and 2 demerit points, you are looking at a fine of $1,000,000.
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#9
(15-05-2012, 10:42 AM)egghead Wrote: Be careful what you wish for. For a $1,000 road tax car and 2 demerit points, you are looking at a fine of $1,000,000.

I think that's the point yeokiwi was trying to make - that it would be a very effective deterrant!
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#10
I feel that govt should mandate every car should have a recording video.
Firstly to facilitate accident and claiming process.
second to support/submit evidence of those speeding and illegal parking.
Imagine every car is a potential witness!
If they(govt) can do that for an IU just for ERP, i don see why thay cannot do it for video recording.
The thing about karma, It always comes around and bite you when you least expected.
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