2020 Chevy Corvette C8 Test Driver Nearly Takes Out a Group of Motorcyclists
That’s not how you drive, man.
People of the greater Las Vegas area, be warned: Your fine metropolis is currently playing host to the first mass press drive of the mid-engine 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8. That means dozens upon dozens of journalists are wandering those unfamiliar desert roads as they take their first crack at one of the most highly-hyped cars of the last decade (The Drive's review is coming next week!). Ergo, the chance of something dangerous happening is just a little bit higher.
Spreading around the car internet today is this scary clip showing a group of three motorcyclists nearly collide with a C8 Corvette on manufacturer plates as the driver makes the boneheaded decision to come to a complete stop in the middle of the road. We'll set the stage for you—filmed from the lead rider's helmet camera, the video depicts the group following an Accelerate Yellow Corvette at a safe distance as it zips along Route 167/Northshore road in Valley of Fire State Park at around 75 mph.
The rural road is pretty much abandoned save for the four of them. But without warning, the Corvette driver suddenly slams on the brakes and halts in the roadway, forcing the bikers to brake down from highway speeds to a crawl in about three seconds to avoid a crash. It appears the driver was attempting to make a U-turn, in the middle of a long sweeping curve, no less. As the bikers filter around him angrily, his face isn't visible enough to show whether he even understood what he'd just done.
We don't know who was behind the wheel or whether they're a journalist, influencer, or an unfortunate GM employee. But we do know that exact car is part of the fleet being used for review drives this week, so the connection is clear.
There are a few fundamental rules of driving—a big one being that you don't stop in the middle of the road. Not something you'd think would bear repeating, and yet this video exists. Some online chatter holds that the maneuver wasn't actually that dangerous, that the bikers should've noticed the brake lights, and/or that it's all fine because nothing actually happened. That's all garbage.
This was a stupid thing to do, dead stop [no pun intended]. Even if you want to be generous and say the unidentified driver didn't notice those motorcycles behind him, Step One for slowing down for an impromptu U-turn is to check your six to make sure no one's behind you. There's no excuse that makes this OK—only apologies.
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