Just heard word that there was a multi-car fatal in the OC with a Ferrari involved. Anyone hear anything? Sucks to hear this on Christmas eve. Edit: Bayside Drive & E. Coast Highway. From TV footage, car looks like it struck a flatbed towtruck. Car is destroyed. Definitely a fatality as there is a body covered.
According to Ch7, they say it's a Lamborghini - but from the video, it looked to me like a dark grey 430 Spider. I could be wrong though. The car is destroyed and VERY difficult to tell the make/model. Horrible news on Christmas Eve.
I live about a half mile from the scene, but can't get there due to road closures and haven't been able to get any further information. So sad. That's two Ferrari casualties in Newport Beach this year.
1 Killed in Fiery Ferrari Crash in Newport Beach KTLA News 6:37 PM PST, December 24, 2009 NEWPORT BEACH -- One person was dead Thursday evening after a Ferrari crashed into a tow truck in Newport Beach and burst into flames. The accident happened on Pacific Coast highway at Bayside at 5:12 p.m. Two people were trapped in the sports car. One was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The other person in the Ferrari was extricated from the vehicle and taken to Western Regional Medical Center in critical condition with severe burns. Two people in the tow truck suffered minor injuries. PCH at Bayside will be closed for several hours while an investigation is underway. Copyright © 2009, KTLA-TV, Los Angeles
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4211598789_b2c756c0b3_o.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4211605125_92e83c606b_o.jpg Friend of a friend lives right near the scene and was right there after it happened, pictures are pretty bad. Apparently the victim (a young man) was decapitated in the accident, so, so sad. RIP.
The roughly 1/2 mile of PCH between Jamboree and Bayside Dr. is closed and is now a yellow-tape crime scene, so one can not get near the wreckage. This will likely continue for several hours. It was totally dark with no street light illumination. What could be seen of the wreckage in the dark from about 50-60 yards appears to be a rather long flatbed motor car transporter and a lump of something else. Those two items are very close together, which I think is significant. The wreckage is just Northeast of the Porsche-Audi-Bentley dealership. The empty flatbed may have just left there or it is just a coincidence the truck is near the car dealership. That long stretch of PCH, which is maybe 3-4 lanes wide is separated by a median of maybe 6-10 feet width with no shrubs or trees. Yahoo speeding is not uncommon if traffic allows. The truck in the northbound land is nearly perpendicular (75 degrees in pilot talk) to the roadway and pointed as if it were entering a driveway to the right. It would have taken an enormous amount of energy to move the truck by impact to that position, or the truck driver may have turned the truck in that direction, perhaps to avoid an oncoming vehicle from the opposite direction. That the car MIGHT have been southbound and jumped the median is a possibility. I say this because it is curious that a sport car hitting a vehicle at high speed ends up resting right next the impart and not carried a good distance away by its speed. The investigators can/will share no information but I do believe they are not sure if the car was southbound or northbound. Maybe they are just being coy. There is also a question if the car is a Ferrari or a Lambo. A guy who knows Ferraris who came upon the scene right after it happened thinks he saw a F430 wheel. Nothing else about the car was recognizable, except it is believed to be grey. The car had no license plate, which indicates one of 3 things here in CA: 1. Car recently purchased and license plates had not arrived in the mail. Usually takes 3-5 weeks. 2. The owner had received the plates months ago and not mounted them. Some people would like others to think their car is brand new and not the pre-owned purchase that it is. 3. Some owners here have "dealer" license to avoid 8.75% use tax and just rely on the paper window sticker, which is the temporary registration certificate. Here is a total-total-total WAG (Wild Ass Guess) as to what happened: Truck is northbound. Car is southbound at yahoo speed. Car jumps the median into northbound lane. Truck driver swerves hard right to avoid being hit by oncoming car. Car strikes the bed portion of the truck, not unlike ramming into a wall. Car bounces off the truck just a few feet as it burst into flames. Car driver killed instantly and good chance the passenger will die. Two people in the truck are injured but TV overhead shot in low light does not appear to indicate a mangled cab. The truck and wrecked car were setting in the dark with 6-8 officials standing on the far side of the road opposite the wreck. No one was doing anything near the wreck. Where the officials inspecting something over there or were they just discussing the situation? One scenario is they may wait till day break so as to see more of the crime scene. The temperature of the roadway at 5:12 pm might qualify as a "cold tire" situation, which of course affects the coefficient of friction of the tires. I once heard/read back in the late fifties Enzo would not sell you a car until you demonstrated you could handle it. True or not, it is not a bad idea. If Ferrari dealers were to ___________________________ (you fill in the blank) each owner would receive a driving course of some type. What this accident proves is that cars are no less a weapon than a gun or tank. They are capable of killing. Yes, thank you, that is true of all cars. It's just that 400-600 horsepower makes it a more effective killing machine.
+1 Definitely a grey 430 Spider. The dual hoop roll bars and wheels were the only thing recognizable. Judging from the aerial video of the mess on the roadway, the driver was probably driving at an extremely high rate of speed. There is hardly anything left of that car. It's amazing even one person survived.
I sure hope its not one of our members! Tragic on Xmas eve! It's definately 430 wheels and probably a spider. Image Unavailable, Please Login
OC Register says the 430 jumped the median... http://www.ocregister.com/articles/ferrari-225895-killed-divider.html
My thoughts go out to the Family.. How many Fcars have crashed in Socal this year?? Wasnt there a crash a few weeks ago???
I live on Harbor Island, a D Bag driving a car similar in color was gassing it all afternoon and street racing against anybody who would pay him any attention. I was near Ruby's in CDM this afternoon the first time I saw him. My guess it was the same guy. Too bad he fried his passenger in the process. That's 3 dead guys since Saturday for me. We were in Vegas for the gun show and after dinner a good Samaritan was helping another driver and got run over for his trouble on the freeway. Coming home we sat on the 15 for 2.5 hours after some wingnut crossed the median and went head on against a car leaving Vegas ( the CHP had one body uncovered as we drove by). Now this.
Absolutely ridiculous to be speeding there at this time of day on this day of all! Rush hour on PCH is crazy let alone the day before Christmas. Just saw the evening news. Looke like a pile of scrap thrown down the road. Hardly anything left to recognize. Yellow tarp over body near rear tire of flat bed truck. Come on people, use some sense. Both deaths in OC this year were senseless and tragic and involved a high rate of speed on surface streets. Some people should not be allowed to own or drive these cars, I swear. Perhaps Ferrari should compel every new owner to take a high speed/performance driving school before taking delivery. It's not like we don't have any in FCA.
Hey Vince. Im with you on that one.. Just look up the standards of driving it takes to get a license in Germany.. They give away licenses like toys in a cracker jack box out here... then Add fast car with little experience and thats what you get....
Peace and heartfelt love to the families, no matter the circumstance i hope never to ever ... no words can explain ..
Unfortunate! But a good reminder that the Gift of Money can't replace the Gift of Life or Common Sense. I can't imagine the pain this will cause and scar their familys forever on Christmas...