You think he needs a license to do this? That's just another law to break.
Normally I'd say that speed itself isn't a problem, but 180... that's a different world. Aerodynamics are involved, and few vehicles are really designed ot travel at that speed, even if the engine is capable. On a straight, empty road with a capable car, he might get away with it. Unfortunately, if it is an empty road, he's going to have to call the cops and tell them to be there so he can get clocked, as the cops aren't normally going to try to run their traffic ticket money machine on a road that doesn't have any traffic. Not much profit in that.
As for shredding a tire or losing a wheel bearing, its probably not going to happen on a car that is capable of 180. There will be z-rated or better tires on the car and the wheel bearings aren't going to magically fly apart just from going 180. Turning the wheels at that speed is not a big deal. He could do 280.
Hell, I had near-bald, nothing-special tires on my Corvette when I hit 140 some 35 years ago. Things were getting a bit dicey, the front end felt a little light, but the nothing happened to these mostly worn-out tires nor to the wheel bearings. But then again, I had racing experience, and knew to be gentle with steering inputs. This kid, OTOH, is prolly not gonna survive, unless of course he has racing experience too.
The plane already has to be in the air, tho. If you have to summon it, the car at 180 will be out of sight and probably unidentifiable from the air unless its still going 180 by the time the pilot gets the plane off the ground and into the proper area.
Rent? What's he gonna rent that will do 180? Most rental agencies won't even rent to anyone under 25 yrs old, not even a Ford Focus, let alone a Ferrarri. His only chance for 180 is to be owning a vehicle that will do it, or borrowing one. Best possibility is a souped-up Ninja-style motorcycle. That's been done - guy got a ticket for 211 either early this year or late last year, in Minnesota I think. Clocked from the air in a speed trap with those lines on the road.
In reality, the kid doesn't have anything to worry about legally if he crashes, 'cuz he ain't gonna survive. His troubles will be over. Unless he has racing experience, at 180 he's probably going to twitch the wheel the wrong way at the wrong time, initiate a skid, and be totally poo out of luck with respect to what to do about it. Crashing at 180 is probably going to be an unsurvivable situation.
Dave Head
