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Actually, most sports cars capable of 0-60 in 4 seconds or so can do it without screeching the tires at all. The contact patches are usually wide enough, and most vehicles nowadays have traction control which would prevent any breaking of traction and tire screeching anyway.

It also helps in passing in a short passing zone, or clearing a wide intersection. It it takes me two seconds instead of five to make a left turn across three lanes, that's less time for an oblivious on a call phone to pull out and hit me.

I drive pretty fast, but not recklessly or carelessly, and I don't cut off other drivers or tailgate. If I have a car with a little jump, one that can open up a safe distance before I make a lane change, that's safer than trying to squeeze into a narrow opening. Keeping in mind, of course, that defensive driving means trying to maintain safe following distance when you're surrounded by other drivers who are drunk, stupid or both.

In more than twenty years of driving, I've had four serious accidents (no serious injuries, but enough property damage to call the cops), of which I was charged in two, and two speeding tickets. One was in Parker, Florida, and the other was two miles north of the NC-Virginia line on 95. I'm not saying speed trap, but ... yeah, that's what I'm saying.

And there are plenty of times when a fast 0-60 time is a safety feature. There are some really bad highway merges in this country, and the faster I can get from ramp speed (or even in some bad merges, a dead stop), so I can merge without cutting right in front of or right behind another driver, the safer everyone is.

I hear ya. In western KY, the onramp merges on the interstates are brutal. You don't get a lot of room, and everyone drives 80. When I get to the top of the onramp in my Sentra doing 45, it can get real interesting sometimes.