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The First Wrecked Polaris Slingshot, Circumstances Still Iffy

When it comes to crashing a new car or bike, the matter is “when and how badly”, instead of “if”. Our Slingshot-contaminated buddy NickJ has just tipped us on what seems to be the winner of the “First Crashed Polaris Slingshot” award. The trike does not look exactly totaled as we sort of expected, but the story it came along with is interesting, if a bit weird and full of what ifs.
The first wrecked Polaris Slingshot 3 photos
Photo: slingshotforums.com
The first wrecked Polaris Slingshot needs some front wheel realignmentThe first wrecked Polaris Slingshot
Now that Polaris’ Slingshot has hit the road and anyone with a valid license is able to test drive/ride it, we can expect more crash stories, just because. It appears like this hybrid machine does indeed test a rider/driver’s full skills. It is called a motorcycle, yet has nothing of a two-wheeler’s dynamic characteristics, and despite the fact that some expect it to feel like a car, it just doesn’t.

A crash story with some interesting details

The fellow who posted the photos of the crashed Slingshot says the trike belongs to a friend who is also an experienced rider and driver, yet that somehow he got his right foot caught in the clutch pedal while slowing down behind stuck traffic in the mountains of northern Georgia.

Basically, his right foot was impeded by the left one depressing the clutch pedal, causing insufficient braking power and leading to an impact. The front left wheel of the Slingshot hit the rear right wheel of a stopped car and was displaced, with wrecked suspension elements and a suspected bent frame.

The response of other members of Slingshotforums was fast and firm, and many pointed out that some things in the story just don’t seem to add up. The purpose of this piece is not to investigate the crash, so we’ll only stress some of the things these guys said. First comes the potential distracted driving, because of the “loud drive line noise” reported by the original poster, with questions ¬¬regarding the type of shoes he wore for the ride being also an important factor in determining the real causes of the crash.

Shoes and the first hundred miles crash

The type of shoes has crucial importance in the story, because, wide casual shoes or boots may indeed hinder unimpeded pedal operation. If you take a look at the gear F1 or rally drivers wear, you’ll notice that these guys are using special, narrow shoes which follow the foot anatomy closely.

This is because the pedal boxes are smaller, because of the very construction of the vehicles. Especially in the case of rally cars, where pressing both the brake and the acceleration pedals at once is a common technique, wearing wide shoes is a major no-no.

Now, the full details and causes of the first Slingshot crash will most likely be discovered later. What matters more at the moment is that these vehicles can be just as dangerous as any others out there. Also, in Slingshot’s case, statistics seem to hold true: the first hundreds of miles are the most dangerous, especially as the operator of the vehicle has no real on-road experience with the trike.

The guy who crashed this Slingshot was taking it home after being delivered to a dealer some 120 miles (193 km) away. So much for a maiden ride…
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