Fatal car crash in the OC. Ferrari involved.

???????? Just so you know...there are plenty of situations where ALL the brakes in the world won't save your ass.

 

I'm hearing Luicci was the passenger (Ralph Abinader, 24). Still don't know who the driver was, but whatever the case it's extremely unfortunate and unnecessary.

 

My condolences to the families... and I wish him the best on recovery...

 

This is a car that has computer aids that allow a novice driver to drift the car with out loosing control...And he did that... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWwqt6-jU4w&feature=related notice how the computer oscillates the throttle...

 

Even Michael Schumacher crashes an F-1 car on occasion. No amount of experience, talent, or technology can save everyone in every situation.

Maturity is a factor in car accidents, particularly those involving excessive speed and obvious dangerous driving. Statistics don't lie on that note.

However, maturity and age are quite often two different things. I think we need to remember that. I've met some very mature 20 year olds and some very immature 50 year olds in my life.

We love driving our cars. But, we know the risks of driving in an unsafe manner. When you drive unsafely, expect bad things to happen. The more unsafe, the more bad. We cannot tell for certain at this point but suspicions are that this was a major factor in this tragedy. It appears to be a single car accident until the tow truck (which was an innocent bystander) was hit.

For those who talk about fires, they occur in all cars when the fuel tank is ruptured. Let me remind you that the last accident like this one in Newport completely broke the car in two pieces and no fire of any sort occured. It's a random event of a violent accident.

Once again, let's hope for the best for the person still undergoing treatment and the families involved.

 

My condolences to the family and friends. Always terrible when this happens.

And stupid ass "everthing is a right" America needs to impliment tougher standards on acquiring a drivers license. No if's, and's or but's about it.

And this would be good in several ways, but I won't get into that in this thread.

Great quote!

Not only respect of power, but property and others.

 

...unless they are turned off. It's all speculation. After things settle down the actual series of events that lead up to the accident and aftermath will likely be public. For now, we should hope for the best for the survivors.

 

Very sad

 

Rest In Peace.....

Shocking, to see a machine from the showroom to destruction........

Prayers for all concerned......

 

Sounds just like a rev limiter.

 

Kind of early to speculate on "blame" for this unfortunate accident. Electronic devices like traction control, drive-by-wire as well as unforseen things like other drivers not on the scene after the accident can contribute to misunderstanding the circumstances. At the bottom line, living right assures us a peaceful afterlife. May God have mercy on all those involved.

 

and just can't understand how the skid mark started all the way from the right side of the road (where the bike lane is) to the left side crossing all 4 or 5 lanes of traffic and jumping over the median. It's really scary just looking at the skid marks.

If he was driving on the right hand side and let's assume he was going really fast, what could trigger the sudden skid mark ? blown tire? or sudden turn on the steering?

It just doesn't make sense looking at the skid mark.

 

Losing control at a high rate of speed rarely does.

 

JJ thinks he was in a controlled drift using computer aids, at least that's what he said. ???

 

Possible scenario: He is flying down the road, another slower car is ahead and others around so his options are limited. He realizes too late he will not make the openings between the cars so he hits the brakes rather than the car in front and hits the curb. Still on the brakes he bounces off and goes across all lanes side-wise, including the center divider where he now hits the truck on the opposite side. Since the height differential between a tow and a F-car is substantial and they are constructed out of deep gauge steel vs CF and aluminum his impact will be great.
Sad and unfortunate that this was avoidable. Our prayers to both occupants and their families.

 

The video shows what appears to be a euro car, that would have launch control. There's no launch control in US cars. Computer aids here would minimize any wheel spin. Now if he turned them off he could probably drift the car, that might create an oversteer. Once in a difficult to correct overstear he'd be skidding out of control. The kid was probably jerking around at high speed and lost it. Him being a novice, didn't have the experience to correct the skid once it began. I suspect that jumping the median is what compromised fuel lines, then crashing into the truck brought everything to a hault with gas poring onto the hot cats. Not long until the whole thing catches fire at that point. Pulling someone out prior to flames would be very risky and lead to the rescuer being badly burned too.

Very unfortunate but driving like that created a high probability of tragic outcome. And, you know the rest.

 

I'm curious why the CHP has still not released the name of the survivor---

December 28, 2009 1:18 PM
Driver in fatal Ferrari crash still not ID'd


NEWPORT BEACH – Citing an ongoing investigation, police today said they still are not ready to release the identity of the driver of a gray Ferrari that veered onto the wrong side of East Coast Highway in Newport Beach on Christmas Eve, killing the vehicle's passenger.

The high-powered sports car was traveling between Jamboree Road and Bayside Drive about 5:15 p.m. Thursday when, according to police, it jumped the center median, slammed into a tow truck and caught fire.

Ferrari passenger Ralph Abinader, a 24-year-old Huntington Beach resident, was killed, and the driver remains in critical condition, Newport Beach police Lt. Steve Koudelka said today. The tow truck's occupants suffered minor injuries.

Preliminary reports suggest that alcohol was not a factor but that the Ferrari was speeding before it careened out of control, police have said, cautioning that the cause is still not certain.

"Because the investigation is not complete, there are no pending charges at this time," Koudelka said, adding that authorities hope to be able to release the driver's name later this week.

Attempts to reach Abinader's family have been unsuccessful.

 

For those that are familiar with that stretch of road, it has a series of very loose (wide), fast "S" curves that are combined with gently raised bridge, a slight hollow, then a taller hill (southbound). Before the bridge a left, then a very gentle curve to the right for the bridge, a short straight with a dip, and a long open right hander going up the hill. All can be taken very quickly under the right conditions. When I was young and stupid.......

If you were to use enough speed that the car became unweighed at the crest of the bridge with the wheels pointed slightly right, the rear end might want to step out to the left as traction was lost. The natural thing would be to counter-steer to the left and try and catch the slide. No idea if the car spun at that point, but once traction is lost, it's pretty common. Then as the car settled down in the dip after the bridge, full traction would be restored, meaning that whatever inputs there had been with minimal traction, would be vastly amplified.

That means either a giant spin or a tank slapper that got out of hand.

The crash appears to be right around where the Porsche/Bentley dealer is located, which is where the road curves right again and heads up the hill. So about right for the unweighting/over-correction to play out.

Cold tires, dew, another vehicle to dodge could all have contributed in addition to sheer speed.

(Please correct me if I got the direction wrong)
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They were heading the other direction, going toward the bridge not away from it. Or, in other words coming from Corona Del Mar heading to Newport. The skid marks clearly indicate the 430 bounced off the right curb and slide sideways to the median. It is a weird feeling looking at the marks on the road. RIP

 

Thanks, the report on the first page here said the car was south bound.

 

I thought the same thing until I went by the scene and saw the marks. Another poster had suggested excess speed coming into the downhill right sweeper and having to avoid slower traffic. This seems plausible as heavy braking or heavy steering input could unsettle the car, especially if the nannys were defeated. Even if he caught the red light at Jamboree, from a dead stop at the light to the first sweeper is easily a quarter mile, so easily possible to be in excess of 100. You would come up on slower traffic pretty quickly. If he had a green light at Jamboree and was really on it....

 

True enough, slow cars merging onto PCH from Jamboree can mess up your trajectory - with fatal results if going at the car's/driver's limit already. And as you note, that long downhill run allows for lots of speed to build up - whether the light is green at the top or not. Speed, downhill, corner....... brakes? If at the limits, any touching of the brakes would result in a less than desirable weight transfer.

 

Just a wild ass guess but maybe they can't reach one of the two parents yet because one is unreachable on vacation.

 

It is also interesting to note the first mark on the right curb is the apex of the long, downhill sweeper. It is also slightly off camber so it would not take much if the car was indeed at the limit. High driver skill level would be mandatory. I think the traffic is the key to solving the mystery. Something unsettled that 430.