[ds968]

The star of the Fast and Furious movies was killed in a crash today, in Los Angeles. He was a passenger in a Porsche driven by his friend who was also killed. Tragic, but so is every accidental death no matter who it is, so ... just be careful out there ! This photo from the scene is surreal.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/vi...-hrtab-900

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[JTP]

Very sad.



The loss of a Carrera GT is sad too.

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[Rap]

Tough to tell that is a car.

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[paulzebo]

Trees always seem to work their way to the center of a car. I had a friend in high school back in the 70's who was killed when his Camaro slid sideways and hit a tree. The tree cut the car in half literally. This year I had a "friend" take me for a ride in his Nissan GT-R. Up on the 101 freeway he decided to weave in and out of traffic doing 120+mph. I don't know what was going through Paul Walker's head last night, but during my ride I remember thinking this is the stupidest thing I have done in my life. I don't let my "friend" drive anymore. RIP Paul.

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[Chris Vais]

Playing at race car driving on city streets, what could possibly go wrong??? According the accident investigators, high speed was a contributing factor.

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[ds968]

And the driver owned a racing team ( of which Paul was part of ) ostensibly a highly skilled and experienced driver who should have had more common sense to realize that a street should never be confused with a track. Overconfidence in either yourself or the car is a grave mistake. And if a driver of that caliber lost control of a Carrera GT and caused two deaths, I shudder to think of the imbecile at the wheel of a mustang or who knows what else, racing on city streets thinking they're invincible and putting other people's lives in peril in the process, not just their own.

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[ds968]

So there has been much media coverage of this accident and without exception every news channel reporter, every friend or acquaintance speaking about the accident, every expert being interviewed by the media , which I have heard so far continue to call the car PORSH . Arrrrgh. I' m going to start mispronouncing the name of every American car of which I can think next time someone says PORSH .

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[cosimo]

It certainly is sad when someone dies accidentally but I never heard of Paul Walker. I am not a fan of F&F. The media attention is a bit over the top. He was only an actor for God's sake not some kind of hero. Then there is all those mispronunciations, AGH!

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[JTP]

We rarely hear of Private or Sergeant Joe/Jane that gets killed overseas but we hear loads of media coverage about an actor who gets killed doing something dumb or one who overdoses on drugs. As sad as it is about Paul Walker, I guess it only matters when the rich and famous get killed and not the ones who really matter and actually do something for our way of life.

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[ds968]

Yup, as I mentioned in my original post; losing anyone else is just as tragic, but in a country ( and arguably a large part of the world ) obsessed with celebrity that's what will always get the most attention..and ratings. One can only hope the visibility will cause a few wannabe street racers to think twice before they get behind the wheel with a reckless driving mindset. So if that saves even one single life...nah, what am I thinking, there's no chance that'll happen..

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[Rap]

Ever hear of the phrase, " won't happen to me"? Drug addicts, especially adolescents use it everyday. Doesn't work with cars and street racing either.

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[Cloud9...68]

Yup - very true. If you lose control of your car, even if you do everything right and catch the spin perfectly, you have little or no control over where the car will be pointing once it stops spinning. On a track, this usually means you run off - no big deal. On the street, it's equally likely you'll be headed straight for a post, tree, or other unyielding object. Way too many variables to be driving like that on the street - definitely not worth the risk.

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[968TDG]

I watched the first couple of f&f movies before I moved out to California 8 years ago. I was in Santa Barbara racing Hobie Cats one weekend and I passed Paul Walker on the sidewalk, he's the only celebrity I can remember crossing paths with. I get that it's annoying celebrities get way more attention than others when things like this happen, but he was actually an extremely generous and caring guy, so it is certainly still a loss. I've definitely had that feeling of being in a car with someone else driving and feeling like I shouldn't be. I'm not a control freak, but I do like to be in charge of my own safety when possible <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[rxter]

And they are wondering if the fire killed them. Take a look at the car sarge...



I loved those movies. Stupid, pointless entertainment that included fast cars and scantily clad young women. Playing to my base instincts for sure.



I'll miss Paul's stupid, pointless grin and the smile it always put on my face.

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[ds968]

Does carbon fiber burn / melt easily ? I understand the GT has a lot of CF construction <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/huh.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> That said, by all accounts the car hit the tree and light post at over 100 mph. In a car which had only the absolute minimum safety features designed to barely squeak by the U.S. standards and way back in 2004, I would tend to doubt the two died as a result of the fire; that impact probably killed them instantly.

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[rxter]

Yeah that was my point. Fire appeared immaterial given the impact - that's why nothing happened for a minute between the impact and the fire. Indy drivers in monocoque race cars don't survive those sorts of crashes.

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[ds968]

One of the local channels dug up a video clip of Jay Leno driving the GT, clocked at 185 MPH ( at Taladega I think..) and coming off a bank he spun the car four or five times.. did not hit anything but after he car came to a stop and he got out , as much as he tried to make light of the situation and keep his composure, he looked pretty shaken up.. I bet he never takes any of the multiple supercars in his stable on the street and drives them at reckless speeds.

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[Rap]

I have certainly become much more careful driving on the streets after starting DEing. That's not to say I don't occasionally drive over the speed limit but I've slowed down and am much more situationally aware of my surroundings. Course hitting a wall at Watkins glen gave me a whole new perspective on life! Cars and scantily clad chicks always bring a grin.

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[ryker]

Investigators determined that Rodas was traveling from 81 to 94 mph but I think we all need to be aware that another contributing factor was the age of the tires, 9 years! I know many of us do not travel enough miles to wear down the tires but we need to be aware of the age.



http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me...z2x1urYeiE

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[ds968]

Tires aside, they mention that an after market exhaust was installed on that car " to increase the horsepower" . When flash and I took my car to a specialty shop in west LA for the alignment ( after the suspension mods were done ), the shop was installing an after market exhaust on a Carrera GT ! Not the same one, LOL, that one in the shop was a silver color. And at that time the GT was a brand new car, the very same year the model was sold in tne US I believe .. I recall we both scratched our heads trying to figure out why anyone would put an after market exhaust system on a new top of the line Porsche, a vehicle which already sounded like a Formula 1 car, and had more HP than any human being can handle on the street. But I suppose tne owner who spent $ 600 K for tne car thought another $ 25 k for a customized exhaust ( that's what we were told the price tag for the job was ) would " enhance " his driving experience .

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