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Student Killed Driving Solar Car

Lev13than writes "Tragedy struck the University of Toronto's Blue Sky Solar Racing Team on Thursday when 21-year old student Andrew Frow was killed in a car accident. It appears that Frow lost control of the low-riding experimental car and was struck by a minivan head-on. The team was driving from Stratford to Waterloo (about an hour west of Toronto) as part of a tour of universities in Ontario and Quebec to mark the one-year anniversary of the 2003 Blackout. This is a big setback for solar power advocates, especially as the blackout anniversary will pass with remedial legislation stranded in Congress. More information on the accident is available here." The vehicle's design is not really street-safe - this will be a problem as more efficient, lighter cars share the road with Hummers.

21 of 847 comments (clear)

  1. I hate all of you. by News+For+Turds · · Score: -1, Troll

    Fuck you all. Suck my dikc bizzatches!!!!

    go to hell

    Love always,
    News For Turds

    --
    -- You are such a fucking fag
  2. Hummers by glam0006 · · Score: 1, Troll

    Maybe bulky, horribly inefficient vehicles like Hummers shouldn't be allowed on the road..

  3. Re:bad design, not the power by Nosf3ratu · · Score: 0, Troll

    Maybe the car companies should get government funding to develop more energy-concious cars?

    Or, at the very least, stop getting funding from Big Oil.

    --
    The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori
  4. Mini-vans are EVIL!!! by Donoho · · Score: 0, Troll

    Seriously...

    They clog up the carpool lane (as well as any other you might want to pass in) and now they're striking out against advances in technology that would surely spell their demise...

  5. So .. do we get rid of... by DeionXxX · · Score: -1, Troll

    So... do we get rid of HUMMER's or Solar Powered cars? Wouldn't common sense dictate that the bigger car is the threat and should be disallowed?

    I don't know of economy car that could get in a head on collision with a HUMMER and the passenger survive.

    I truly don't understand why the government allows such large cars/trucks share the road with small/midsize cars.

    -- D3X

  6. You see? by Kenja · · Score: -1, Troll

    You see that you hippies? Solar power is DANGEROUS! So just go back to filling your tank with dead dinosaurs like good little consumers.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
  7. Money by lucky_thirteen · · Score: 0, Troll

    It seems to be the American way to be wasteful these days.

  8. Stratford to Waterloo by isorox · · Score: 0, Troll

    Should have taken the Jubilee line

  9. michael, you tree hugger by bgarcia · · Score: 1, Troll
    this will be a problem as more efficient, lighter cars share the road with Hummers.
    I've got a little piece of information for all of you tree huggers who are too busy worrying about Hummers, Excursions, and Suburbans. There are even BIGGER vehicles on the road! Semi-trailers, buses, dump trucks, garbage trucks... all of these vehicles are even LARGER THAN A HUMMER!!!! You are NEVER going to be safe driving your little puny 90 mpg 2-seater vehicle because these vehicles are all over the place!!!
    --
    I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.
  10. And In Other News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    5,000 people died today in normal car crashes. Umm yea, sucks to be him, but it happens all the time

  11. Re:Experimental vehicles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    But his shadow will always be a mile long.

    As will his splat on the highway.

  12. Cause of the crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll


    I heard the sun was in his eyes, and he couldn't see the oncoming traffic.

    Ha Ha

  13. Re:Not fair by aflat362 · · Score: 0, Troll
    Any time is fair to slam Hummers, Yukons, Ford Expeditions and the like

    They are fuel hogs. The increased consumption of gasoline increases our dependency on foreign powers and further pollutes the earth.

    They are dangerous to other drivers. With their gargantuous mass and high bumpers, they will do much more harm in a collision than a reasonably sized vehicle.

    This in turn makes people think theat if they too buy a larger vehicle they might stand a chance in an accident - furthuring my first point about fuel consumption.

    --

    Conserve Oil, Recycle, Boycott Walmart

  14. Re:Experimental vehicles by Ignignot · · Score: 0, Troll

    I agree that his death is tragic.

    On the other hand, a hero he is not. He got in a traffic accident and lost his life in a car that should never have been driven in traffic. Saying that the vehicle is the image of progress and green compliance is unrealistic at best - if all cars were as light and underpowered as that solar car had been, gasoline consumption would be less than a tenth of what it is today. The sad truth of it is, he died demonstrating something that we all know already - that the solar cars are nothing more than pie in the sky dreams. Only by removing crash survivability as a design criterion are they able to produce something that can get you from one place to another. Progress is not trading our safety for some environmental activists' peace of mind. I find myself both sad and angry - he was clearly a giver instead of a taker, but he was giving his time doing the wrong thing.

    --
    I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
  15. Re:It's sad by eam · · Score: 1, Troll

    > Anyway, the car could have changed the way that
    > people live.

    It sure changed they way the driver lived.

  16. Re:Some observations by greymond · · Score: 0, Troll

    As an out of control vehicle it could have has easily been hit by a truck as a Hummer and had the same outcome, perhaps even an impact with a small hybrid Prius would have had the same outcome (but been far more ironic).

    It could have been hit by a MINI Cooper and still killed the guy.

    I hope their fudning is given to another team with common sense.

  17. Re:bad design, not the power by js3 · · Score: -1, Troll

    it cost you 750,000$ and one life. Was that worth it? I don't care how much heart you pour into something safety should always be first. Human life is much more valuable than your measley 750k

    --
    did you forget to take your meds?
  18. Re:SUVs shouldn't really be a problem... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    So you're a chauvinist control-freak? They drive MINIs, huh? Good to know.

  19. Re:Perspective from another solar car team by amightywind · · Score: -1, Troll

    ...everyone comes out looking like insensitive clods

    That poor fella must have got crushed like a beer can.

    --
    an ill wind that blows no good
  20. Re:Was this bicycle technology? by Animats · · Score: 0, Troll

    They overdid weight reduction, and the thing was blown sideways into the path of another vehicle. Too much sail area for the vehicle weight.

  21. The only answer: Ban MiniVans by nurb432 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Yup that is our problem.. Must ban mini vans since one intentionally killed this poor college student trying to save the earth..

    They are evil and must be removed from the face of the planet..

    Then we must sue the car makers for selling the evil devices..

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----