JCtx

Indeed. A professional driver drives on a racetrack for a living, not as a hobby every once in a while; BIG difference. Problem is many amateur drivers think they're as good as a professional, hence the consequences. Not saying that's the case here, but it points that way. The accident would make more 'sense' if Walker was driving, since he didn't know the car at all. We'll know soon enough.

My guess is flying off the curve, lost control, hit the curb (and blew out tire, steering, etc -hence the fluid trail), and bounced towards the sign. I'm no expert to judge speed, but imagine how fast they had to be going to not stop the car in all those hundreds of feet, and still hit the pole hard enough to basically cut the car in half? My guess is triple digits. The only question left to answer is how 'excessive' their speed was before losing control, and at impact.

The car wasn't designed for that crash. You need a tank for that kind of protection . Doesn't get much better than the CGT, but add enough speed and a hard/solid object, and bad things will happen.

Very true. And they still call themselves 'gentleman drivers'; sounds better than amateurs .... which they know they are. One such guy (another actor-turned-racer) is Patrick Dempsey, also a Porsche guy.

David Salama

I believe the CGT was owned by Walker, but being driven by Rojas.

neanicu

Autopsy released :



http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?se...ent&id=9348471

the90

A fairly accurate approximation of the vehicle speed can be derived by a less-than-competent accident reconstruction team, a decent one can tell much more. Even given the likely fact that the EDR did not survive the crash, tire markings can tell people experienced in reading them everything they need to know (marks left from locked wheels with no steer angle, as opposed to yaw marks, which indicate steer and body side slip angle, and whether the vehicle was under throttle or braking when they were made).
Add to this the accident reconstruction software out there, a pretty accurate picture of what happened will be rendered. Of course, it doesn't answer why.....
Thoughts with family and friends of those involved.

alive555

here is the video from right across the street above street level.

according to this it hit and flattened a lamp post, a tree and came to a standstill on the second tree.

If its in real time then the speed, at the time of the crash with the lamp post wasn't very high. ie certainly not 100mph more like 30-50mph

Of course it could have been coming round the corner at well over 100.

that may come out from other cctvs.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?se...ent&id=9347872

Randy V

I'm sensing some sarcasm here.



Hey, when did you move to Encinitas? - I've been here 22 years.

500

How much energy do you think was dissipated when it hit the light standard? Careful analysis of this video will allow an estimate of the speed AFTER the first impact. There would have been significant energy absorbed in the first impact.

I'm sure a lot of questions will be answered eventually by a competent accident investigation.

Imo000

Many street and traffic lights have break away anchors. If this one had one, not much energy would be lost to breake it from the base.

Ed Hughes

I didnt know you were in Encinitas-we moved here almost a year ago. Off Enc Blvd, east of El Cam.

A bit of sarcasm.....

500

Yes, you are right, those are becoming common. My comment was based on the photo a couple of pages back that showed what appeared to me to be a conventional pole without the bolted base of break-away poles. However, I may not be aware of other design types that incorporate a different feature that is not visible from the outside. Natually the investigators will have the necessary information...

Adker

The first tree and the light pole were about 10 feet apart and went down within a tenth of a second of each other and went down FAST. After that, it took about a half a second to hit the tree that stopped the car which looks to be about 12 feet from the first tree. To go 12 feet in 0.5 seconds is around the speed limit posted. But, to go 10 feet in 0.1 second take a lot of speed. As soon as the video frames are timed and the distances between objects measured we will know for sure..this is all second guessing at this point.

In the future, every time someone asks me for a fast drive on the street, I will think of this event. I am guessing I am not the only one looking at it this way.

RIP guys

David Salama

By your timing, btw, 10 feet in 0.1 seconds is 68.2mph after impacting the light pole. Just finishing your calculations.

Adker

Yup, looks right and that was after the sideway slid and hitting the pole.

neanicu

Paul Walker's friend describing what happened. TMZ,I know....but the guy seems sincere :

beden1

Very sad to have experienced that level of frustration and helplessness in trying to help their friend.