Rules regarding dangerous driving?

[Sugarphreak]

Just wanted to check and see if we have standing rules here on Fitfreak about either bragging, describing or encouraging others to use dangerous driving techniques. Where is the line?

Obviously street racing; be it drag, drift or sprint racing on anything other than a closed course is grounds for having posts deleted or members banned.

Where does the forum officially stand on something from the opposite side of the spectrum for eco purposes or as it has been coined now "hypermiling"? For instance a few that have me concerned are using excessive tire pressure on public roads, drafting too close behind other vehicles and a new phenomenon where you actually turn you car engine off on public roads while either coming to a stop or on the highway.

There has been some debate over them and in doing some research there seems there could be serious consequences for people involved in these activities.

-The tire pressure debate is simply absurd, anybody who does autocross knows that running anything about about 42psi effects the car negatively in every way and braking seems to be negatively impacted at anything over about 38. I keep seeing people asking about tire pressure and 10 people jumping in with 55psi to save 1mpg of fuel. The recommended is whatever is marked on the driver side door pillar period. Anything other than a slight variance of a couple of pounds should be kept on a closed course as far as I am concerned.

-We all know drafting is dangerous, there is several cases of this which are easy to find even on FF. Encouraging it or bragging about getting great MPG using this technique shouldn't be tolerated.

-Finally tuning your car off while it is moving strikes me as a bad idea. Granted you may get a few pumps of braking and the Fit has electric steering, but relying just on your battery for steering and what pressure is left for the brakes should only be done in emergency situations where it can't be avoided. It is illegal in some states and it sounds like insurance companies are taking a zero tolerance policy towards it. It is only a matter of time before somebody gets seriously hurt (or hurt others) doing this stuff.

The purpose of this request is not to fuel an on going debate. I have tried to present this in a fashion that explains clearly what my concerns are and I would like to hear an official statement from the moderators and admins on where they stand.

Footnote:
To all my eco buddies, we had some good times discussing this and I am glad we kept things civil (well, at least they were always pretty civil and understanding between us). I accept your side and understand where you guys are coming from. I like to think I have played the middle ground fairly on these issues, my primary concern all along has been safety. I would encourage you to continue posting with your safer techniques, but for the three I mentioned I would just like to see an official stance on the issue.

Cheers

[solbrothers]

HATER!!!!!!!!1 leave teh hypermilers alone!

[Sugarphreak]

^^^^lol, I had a feeling you would be the first to post Solbrothers!

Try and look at the bright side here, every time you guys start up one of your mileage topics you get 10 people who slam you. If the mods are ok with the stuff then great, you have full rights and you can reference this link and tell them where to go.

[solbrothers]

[FITrunner]

I don't condone any type of dangerous driving, racing, hyper miler, whatever. However I also accept that we are all human and random acts of stupidity happen.

Bragging, doesn't bother me. I'm too old to put up with it and just ignore your ass unless you are actually someone who matters to me.

That being said it's a free country, feel free to drive like a psycho if you want. Just no whining like a wuss if you get busted, lose your ride, or worse get into an accident. Take it like a man and don't make excuses. Because you can bet your rear end I will be on the side of the prosecutors to have you put away. Nothing personal, it's a society and public safety thing. Keep the stupidity on the track.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by solbrothers

Hahahaha!!!

[Kyle is raaddd]

Originally Posted by solbrothers

haha chris crocker ftmfl
have you seen the bitch please one?
it's actually damn funny

but on topic, **** hypermilers!
if you want to hypermile get a damn yaris!

haha jk

[solbrothers]

lmao! i don't think the yaris gets better mileage than the fit

[ChrisN]

^^^ about the same. I own one.

[kelsodeez]

i agree. but this is a losing battle until hypermilers get more bad publicity (which they have been and will) and someone gets seriously injured. in my mind, it is absurd risk your life for a few extra bucks and bragging rights of how many mpg's you get.

[TOOL]

I can see why the Hypermiling craze has gotten so big. I mean in a economy like we are in now, people are doing everything and anything they can to save a few bucks. BUT, doing things like turning your car off on the road while in motion, or doing the "Pulse and Glide" are very dangerous to yourself, and other inoccent lives of the roads that we share. I view Hypermiling as just as dangerous as street racing.
I think FitFreak should and will make a Hypermiling specific rule in the future.

Tyler

[Raaaaaaaaaay.]

IMO, I think theres a lot of vids thatshould be removed from this site and theres a lot of vids that shouldnt be removed due to showing Fit owners certain mods on their cars.

Granted more than half are on public roads but what can you do? So with the vids being on public roads, youre breaking laws. Unless youre driving the limit and following all laws. Then why make the vid? What are you showing off... Youre Navi? Who cares...
And bringing up the Eco section. Some of their techniques are beyond stupid.

So; I dont think theres a line. Its whatever that Mod or Admin whats to do about the situation. Of course if its a street racing vid (drag) it will be removed ASAP.

I havent even clicked into the KraftWerks Vid thread. I KNOW most if not all those vids are on public roads. And if we were going by the rules, they should be posted.

[Sugarphreak]

^^^ That is a good point, there is no doubt questionable content here and there.

The arguments surrounding the controversy are making the threads about the topics useless and now spilling out into other threads other than the eco section. We need a resolution on this immediately to resolve this problem.

Basically where I am going with my initial request is to identify some things which basically qualify as outright stupid and maybe shouldn't be encouraged on here. Once these issues are clearly identified the next step of letting other members report threads that glorify or encourage the use of them on public roads.

At the end of the day it is up to you guys (mods & admins) what goes on this site, it has always been my understanding safety is a number one priority. In my OP I have proposed three items which I believe are a cause for serious concern and could lead to injury or death of members or other involved. Now it is in your hands to agree, disagree or amend them to uphold the FitFreak.Net forum values.

[Kyle is raaddd]

ray has a great point.

i wish we could have street racing vids here
i wanna see a fit beat another car haha!

[Raaaaaaaaaay.]

Beat another car? Vespas give me a run for the money.

[kancerr]

personally i think all of those vids and posts should be deleted if its not a closed course. there are plenty of other sites where people can go to get that kind of info. fitfreak.net (my opinion) shouldnt be one of the sites that allow this stuff. some people are willing to try anything to go faster or to save a few mpg. i drive like an asshole 50% of the time but i dont ever come here talking about the things i do. there are a lot of young members on here too...just think its a bad idea.

[Sugarphreak]

Bump for Admins to provide response

[Sugarphreak]

Hi can we get a bump for an official call on this please, either FitFreak endorces using dangerous techniques to increase fuel mileage or it doesn't. This shouldn't be left open for interpretation.

[solbrothers]

i dont see why you guys are hurt by the hypermilers, when someone posted a video of them speeding in a parking garage. now THAT is illegal

[Sugarphreak]

I am not hurt by hypermilers, I applude people who take it seriously and use due dilligence and extra care to ensure they are not putting others at risk.

Infact I wouldn't even be posting if people started putting up disclaimers when they talk about the specific items I flagged. Where I have a problem is when people encourage others to use these techniques and then go on to say it is safe and there is no risk accociated.

Even CleanMPG.org uses disclaimers in thier main title, they are letting people know that some of the items are infact dangerous and even illegal and that people are increasing risks. Yet here we have nothing

Originally Posted by cleanMPG.org

Some posts may describe situations which may in some cases be unsafe or illegal in some jurisdictions. Please use common sense and consult your local laws to make sure you do not hurt yourself or others or break any laws.

While yourself and others on this forum may use a lot of precautions and never get in an accident, your sucsess is encouraging others to use the same techniques and without at least letting people know they could potentially damage thier car or even injure or kill themselves or others as a result is negligent.

Here is an example of something I would be fine with;

To increase gas mileage you can use a higher pressure in your tires

However you should be aware you may negitivly impact your cars braking and handeling as a result. When using pressures exceeding the sidewall max you should also be aware that there have been some cases where blow outs occur and even deaths as a result of a blow out while filling. Please use caution when following this advice.

Instead we have people taking about safety margins and saying you can overfill your tires past the sidewall max no problem, encouraging the use of higher pressure citing increased handeling and braking not taking into consideration that people may be using different tires with different thresholds.

Like I was saying, I want clear direction from the admins; This shouldn't be left open for interpretation.