Oh Dear!

[Orionaut]

Oopps!

Unfortunately with a 600+BHP electronically controlled engine. effective traction control is pretty well essential. My Brother has a supercharged Jag which is a lot less powerful than that and with the TCS switched off it is almost impossible to pull away without spinning the wheels!

(I can only imagine that the electronic throttles are rather twitchy and rely on the feedback from the TCS to stop the wheels from spinning, without it it is difficult to control the throttles sensitively enough. Not so much of a problem with traditional cable throttles but a real issue with "Drive by Wire")

If there was indeed a TCS fault that could well explain the accident, especially if the road was wet!

 

[Orionaut]

I bet they did no such thing, they probably just aren't going to press any charges to to lack of evidence.

How would the police know how it was being driven at the time, there's no mention of CCTV. Cars driven sensibly don't suddenly leave the road for no reason.

Perhaps, though as I said in the OP. I can see how a TCS failure combined with "Drive by wire" and a 600 BHP engine on a wet road could result in a spin out, even if the driver wasn't being particularly over enthusiastic. (Particularly if the TCS fault was an intermittent and happened during, say, an overtake)

The thing is. on a wider note, how would the insurance deal with something like this??

Ideally the principle is to put the owner back in the position he was in before he took the car to the dealer. But you cant just go out and buy a replacement for one of those!

It is a bit like what I tell my customer with older cars that are facing expensive repairs...

"Remember, the car isn't worth what you can sell it for. Its worth (To You!) what it would cost you to replace!"

I imagine that to actively go out and buy one of those, especially at short notice, might be very expensive! (since one would probably have to approach an existing owner and persuade them to sell)