[Cuda340]

A 2015 Challenger Hellcat was recently stolen in Haltom, Texas. The theft occurred because the owner let his son drive it to his high school.

According to the Haltom City Police, the car thief texted All Auto Tech, a local locksmith company and said that he was a student who lost his car's key fob. When the locksmith arrived at the school, the thief showed a student ID, but no proof of ownership.

I guess the locksmith was anxious to collect the $200 fee and no questions were asked. Incredible!

Challenger Hellcat stolen from school parking lot after locksmith unlocked car for thief | wfaa.com

 

[87GN]

I think the father was crazy. I remember what happened when Ward let Wally use the '63 Fury.

 

[Willpower717]

I tend to agree. You let your high school aged kid drive a Hellcat without you in the car the entire time, and you’ve got a screw loose. Also you’re an irresponsible parent, probably too busy trying to be the “cool dad” or “best friend“ instead of actually parenting. And you probably also need your ass whipped. The dad here should thank his lucky stars that the worst thing that happened is the damn car got stolen. I’ve never thought anyone deserved to have their car stolen until right now. Just my personal 2.

 

[Robs16Hellcat]

I have to agree, I know how to drive and I know how to handle big power and thats comes from decades of owning Big HP Muscle Cars, Racing, & Experience. BUT NOTHING WILL TRY TO KILL YOU LIKE A HELLCAT. That SOB will get away from even experienced drivers and is clearly not the kind of car you throw the keys to you son (or maybe even wife) and say... go ahead take it to school today
(besides the fact I would never park my HC in a school parking lot)

 

[Moparrebel]

I used to see the same thing at the High School near our house in Virginia. Student parking lot was full of BMWs, Mustang GTs, Corvettes basically much nicer cars than the teachers were driving. I used to shake my head at the cars some of those parents bought for their kids. Crazy.

 

[ironpony]

so once again it is the victims fault ?

no-one here knows the details, maybe the "kid" has been racing carts since 6 years old like Lewis Hamilton. Maybe he is next in line for a Nascar seat, like the HS kid that won at Phoenix this past weekend.

none of which matters, he drove the car to school, safely got there and some scum bag stole it with a little help from a good samaritan that got snookered by the scum bag.

 

[ironpony]

I used to see the same thing at the High School near our house in Virginia. Student parking lot was full of BMWs, Mustang GTs, Corvettes basically much nicer cars than the teachers were driving. I used to shake my head at the cars some of those parents bought for their kids. Crazy.

the late 70's our HS parking lot was full of 440-6 packs, 454's, 351 Clevelands, we all lived. My daily was a 440-6 Cuda that ran 10.50's and some friends were faster. And these cars had drum brakes, no air bags and seatbelts were optional. LOL.

 

[Willpower717]

so once again it is the victims fault ?

no-one here knows the details, maybe the "kid" has been racing carts since 6 years old like Lewis Hamilton. Maybe he is next in line for a Nascar seat, like the HS kid that won at Phoenix this past weekend.

none of which matters, he drove the car to school, safely got there and some scum bag stole it with a little help from a good samaritan that got snookered by the scum bag.

Not victim blaming. I don’t consider that dad a victim. I consider him an irresponsible moron.

 

[guzzler_of_gas]

the late 70's our HS parking lot was full of 440-6 packs, 454's, 351 Clevelands, we all lived. My daily was a 440-6 Cuda that ran 10.50's and some friends were faster. And these cars had drum brakes, no air bags and seatbelts were optional. LOL.

My late 70's HS parking lot was full of rusted out Kingswoods, Larks and Falcons...and we were happy to have them !

 

[87GN]

the late 70's our HS parking lot was full of 440-6 packs, 454's, 351 Clevelands, we all lived. My daily was a 440-6 Cuda that ran 10.50's and some friends were faster. And these cars had drum brakes, no air bags and seatbelts were optional. LOL.

Never saw that in my lot. A biology teacher had a GTO. Otherwise S-boxes.

 

[Nuke]

Something ain’t stirring the Kool-Aid with the story, as presented.

First, and most obvious, the locksmith did the job without being shown proof of ownership.

Second, the locksmith programmed a new FOB as if the originals were lost after parking car. What story could have been given to explain the absence of the original FOBs once car was unlocked and no FOBs in sight?

I think some skullduggery took place, like the locksmith fella (not necessarily the company, just the fella working for them) did what he did on purpose, either for extra payment (a big one!) or the promise of a future payment (a really big one!) once the car is chopped/fenced.

Given the details, or lack of, that’s about all that makes sense to me…

 

[ironpony]

Something ain’t stirring the Kool-Aid with the story, as presented.

First, and most obvious, the locksmith did the job without being shown proof of ownership.

Second, the locksmith programmed a new FOB as if the originals were lost after parking car. What story could have been given to explain the absence of the original FOBs once car was unlocked and no FOBs in sight?

I think some skullduggery took place, like the locksmith fella (not necessarily the company, just the fella working for them) did what he did on purpose, either for extra payment (a big one!) or the promise of a future payment (a really big one!) once the car is chopped/fenced.

Given the details, or lack of, that’s about all that makes sense to me…

with these cars don't you need one original to program another ??

Not victim blaming. I don’t consider that dad a victim. I consider him an irresponsible moron.

again without knowing the circumstances that is harsh. the "kid" could be driving racing since 6 year old or so. Jr dragsters, carts, atvs...............

 

[A Guy]

Judgy McJudgersons. Kid could be a straight A student who has proven himself trustworthy, has a job after school and needed a car while his was being serviced. But no, watch a 2 minute video and determine the father is an idiot who should know better...sheesh. He's his father he probably does know better, that's why he lent him his car

A Guy

 

[87GN]

Western Civilization will ultimately fall. When it does, the primary reason will be the fact that judgmentalism was the only remaining sin. Until that happens I will still consider the father an idiot.

 

[Willpower717]

Well guys, that may be true, but straight As mean nothing when it comes to how well you drive a car. I’ve personally seen too many kids get killed, including one of my very best friends, with my cousin as a passenger, in a ‘69 Camaro he never should have been driving at his age. 18 and 17. He obliterated them both. Just a few years ago in my town, kid killed in a Solstice GXP he’d had less than a week. Drove into a house when he lost it at over 100 mph. But don’t take my word for it, here ya go.

Teen Drivers and Passengers: Get the Facts | Transportation Safety | Injury Center | CDC

www.cdc.gov

I worked in traffic safety on the state and national level before I went back to school to become a physical therapist. I’ll stand by my comments on that father being a moron. I don’t care if the kid was a national go-cart champion, and valedictorian of his class. Hellcat to high school? Begging for a funeral.

 

[Nuke]

with these cars don't you need one original to program another ??

That’s if you are a regular schlub like us and buy an extra FOB to replace a lost one, you could do it as long as you had a working one already (actually you’d need two I believe). But that’s also for older cars only. I think that might have stopped with the 2015 refresh.

Either way, the locksmith would have the ability to program a FOB all by itself just by having access to an unlocked car. It’s a known security hole that Dodge had to come up with a solution for due to the proliferation of stolen scats And HCs when thieves would find one in the wild, break the window to unlock door, then program a FOB on the spot to steal the car.

 

[Willpower717]

Here’s a couple more links that might be of value on this subject.

Teen Driving | NHTSA

NHTSA offers info on teen driving safety issues, such as teen safe driving tips, along with links to states' teen driver license requirements.

www.nhtsa.gov

Vehicle choice can exacerbate teen drivers' risk

Teens' high risk of crashing is amplified by certain vehicles, and teens are more likely than other drivers to have the least safe types of cars, new studies show.

www.iihs.org

For anyone who doesn’t know, car crashes are the number one cause of death for teenagers, and it’s been that way since I was working in traffic safety 30 years ago, and before that. Putting them in high performance cars only enhances that risk, and it’s been proven in study after study over the years. A Hellcat easily gets completely out of control if you’re not a very experienced driver. It easily overpowers all the electronic nannies as well. There’s not a teenager on earth that needs to be driving one unsupervised. Not remotely worth the risk.
Forming an opinion based on life experiences, driving experience with the identical car model, and statistical facts regarding teen drivers, is quite different than merely being judgmental.

 

[Willpower717]

again without knowing the circumstances that is harsh. the "kid" could be driving racing since 6 year old or so. Jr dragsters, carts, atvs...............

Again, negative. Not harsh at all. None of that matters. Agree to disagree.

 

[Legonzo333]

My nephew who is 17 has access to a 72 Chevelle and his soon to be daily (Flywheel and Starter issues) is a E85 tuned Lexus with a turbo 2JZ. My biggest worry is carjacking and second is his age and the show off potential. But some kid in high school had a 69 Mach 1 and kept it on the track for the most part. I would much rather have a gear head for a kid then say Bevis or Butthead.

 

[Willpower717]

Obviously there are exceptions, but as a general and overwhelmingly common rule, high school aged adolescents have not yet developed the judgement, nor the driving skill, to be behind the wheel of a 700 plus horsepower car on the street. Even in the case of those rare exceptions, imo, you still don’t put them behind the wheel of such a car without direct, in car, supervision. And unless you’ve driven one of these things, and driven it hard, it’s difficult to appreciate how quickly it can get away from you, and how fast it’s moving when it does. When that happens, your reflexes better be honed and quick, or you’re in a lot of trouble. The number of these cars totaled, with adult but not sufficiently experienced drivers at the wheel, is evidence of that.