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Posted on 01/26/2008 10:13:45 PM PST by dayglored
(CNN) -- Five young men died Saturday when the car they were in drove off the end of a private airstrip near Ocala, Florida, became airborne for 200 feet and slammed into an oak tree, authorities said.
"This had to be the worst vehicle crash that I have ever seen during my career," said Randy Robinson, a spokesman for the Emergency Medical Services Alliance with 27 years on the job.
The 2008 BMW was split in two in the wreck, which happened at 3:45 a.m., said Lt. Mike Burroughs, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol Troop B.
He told CNN the victims -- 18 to 20 years old and all from the area -- were declared dead at the scene.
Burroughs said it was not clear how the car got onto the private Greystone community airstrip -- the same one actor John Travolta uses for his aircraft -- but the car was driving north on Runway 36, which is 1.5 miles long.
"It is evident that the driver of the vehicle saw he was approaching the end of the runway," Burroughs said. "He attempted a braking maneuver and the vehicle slid sideways off the end of the runway."
The car flew through the air for 200 feet, he said, and struck an oak tree 15 feet off the ground, splitting the vehicle in two.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
There was a case recently in Spain where a fellow was speeding (100mph+) in an expensive sportscar and killed a cyclist and then sued the family for damages to his car.
Our community just had a similarly bad accident with kids hill topping - car split in half by tree, 4 boys (16-18 yo) killed, and all wearing seatbelts.
Yeah, it is. Another story about this, posted earlier on FR, noted that there is an 85’ embankment at the end, and the car went off the runway, up the embankment, and into the air - much like a ski-jump.
My guess - debris on the runway and/or not paying attention to how much runway was left in the quest to see how fast the new BMW was. Or, it could be the “Hey, watch me recreate the bootlegger turn in Tokyo Drift at 100 mph!” stupidity factor.
I wouldn’t trust too many of these measurements. It says the wreckage was contained to a 10 foot by 20 foot area. I think the correct translation is: It done went yonder, got smashed to smithereens and ended up all over tarnation.
And this kind of thing is why it's necessary for mammalian populations to have more males. But girls can be stupid, too. Why I didn't buy my daughter a nice car; she's driving an old one that she can barely flog to 50 mph.
Poor dumb kids. So sad.
200 square feet is 10 feet by 20 feet. Preposterous.
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When it comes to lawsuits, nothing surprises me anymore.
Many years ago, I read a book called the “Dosadi Experiment”. The fun part of that book was that whenever there was a lawsuit, the losing lawyer was executed by the winner.
Now THAT would definitely cut down on the number of frivolous lawsuits (not to mention reducing the excess number of lawyers) but sadly to say it wouldn’t fly.
Still, the general idea has merit. The way things stand now, lawyers do not face sufficient sanctions or counter-incentives against unnecessary court actions.
Perhaps if a lawyer losing the suit were to be required to pay a substantial portion of the judgment out of his own pocket, things could change.
They said he was going 100mph when left the runway. This from the Orlando paper:
Florida Highway officers said a gray 2008 BMW was traveling on an airstrip after 3:30 a.m. Saturday near Jumbolair Aviation Estates when it sailed off an 80- to 85-foot elevated embankment at the runway.
The vehicle was speeding in excess of 100 mph when it left the ground and traveled 200 feet into a large tree, Local 6 has learned. The vehicle hit the tree about 15 feet above the ground.
http://www.local6.com/news/15144329/detail.html
Rotate!
man you are good...my sides are aching....thanks
From the sound of things, seatbelts were irrelevant - I cannot imagine how fast they were going to have ended the way it did.
“but the car was driving north on Runway 36, which is 1.5 miles long.”
Say all the jokes you want I suppose, but I would hate to be the cops that had to break the news to the parents.
No parent wants to bury a child.
Prayers for thier greif, no matter the curcumstance.....
Darwin Award. And I’m surprised it wasn’t in the headline.
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