Really, it’s surprising it took them so long.
But it is much more surprising that automotive journalists are leading the chorus ululating for the outlawing of the Dodge Demon muscle car. The automotive journalists at Automotive News – which is (or was) to the car world what The New York Times once was to the news-gathering world, cree that the Demon is “inherently dangerous to the common safety of motorists” and demand that it be “kept off our roads.” See here.
This is not much different than discovering an editorial in the morning paper written by Bernie Sanders arguing that the IRS should be abolished. When did automotive journalists morph into Safety Nags? And when did our roads become their roads?
It’s embarrassing.
First, on account of its general idiocy.
The Demon – a hot-rodded version of the already very hot-rodded Hellcat Challenger – is indeed very powerful. And very quick. And so? There are many such. There are motorcycles that are quicker.
Shall these also be “kept off our roads”? If not, why?
Automotive News says the mephitic Dodge “spits on” the industry’s goal of improving safety. That it “knowingly places motorists in danger.”
How so?
The Demon meets every EPA and DOT fatwa. It has catalytic converters and air bags. It has passed all the required crash tests. It is safe – by the government’s own standards. And it is 100 percent legal, according to the letter of the law.
What more do they expect?
Quoting the odious Ralph Nader – the non-engineer (and non-driver) who lied about the Corvair he never drove – the Demon is “unsafe at any speed.”
Nonsense.
The Demon is safer than the average new car. It is based on the Charger – which is a large, heavy and very solidly built sedan. It has the same high crash test scores and is objectively safer to be inside of than the compact-sized joy kills that Nader and his new friends at Automotive News appear to favor.
If the standard is “too much” power or “too much performance,” then at least two-thirds of all the cars currently in production must be outlawed and Kept off Our Roads forthwith. A new Toyota Camry or Honda Accord is quicker and faster than most Ferraris made during the ‘80s. The humblest Hyundai is capable of 100-plus MPH road speeds – far faster than the fastest legally allowable speeds.
Who needs that sort of power/performance?
Any 1,000 cc sports bike is as quick as the Demon – and this has been true for at least the past ten years. Why no saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety keening about them? Probably because the automotive journalists at Automotive News can barely drive and forget riding. (I happen to know this to be the case. Their lack of outrage about the performance capabilities of motorcycles is a an act of omission; they simply don’t know much about bikes and so it has escaped their notice that they are exceedingly quick. Demon quick, in fact.)
There’s another angle to this business, too.
