Many of us have seen one or more of the “Fast and Furious” franchise of movies. These movies depict, and largely glorify, the lifestyle of illegal street racing, involving beautiful cars, beautiful people, and fun. In the movies, 100-mile-per-hour-plus races down city streets, back alleys, and highways are common. In a grotesquely tragic twist of irony, one of the movie franchise’s main stars – Paul Walker – lost his life on November 30, 2013, while speeding down a street in a Porsche Carrera GT. The car in which Walker was riding slammed into a tree and then literally ripped apart and burst into flames. Photographs of the car depicted a mangled and twisted pile of charred metal that resembled a heap of scrap metal more than a car worth in excess of $400,000.
The car was capable of reaching speeds of 205 miles per hour. The prior owner of the car, who himself is a professional Porsche racing driver, indicated that the car could be tricky to handle. Authorities have indicated that speed was likely a factor in the accident but official results of the cause of the accident will not be released for approximately three months. However, it has also been stressed that the driver of the car, Roger Rodas, had plenty of experience with fast cars—he was a former professional race-car driver. Autopsies of the two men were delayed in order to allow obtaining dental records, as their bodies were so badly burned as to be indistinguishable from one another.
The accident is a grim reminder of a reality—speed kills. Speeding in and of itself is a cause of approximately 5% of automobile accidents, but driving too fast for conditions and driving too fast for curves are the number one and number two decisional errors leading to accidents. Moreover, speed is a factor in nearly one-third of fatal accidents across the United States. Said another way, while speed is not the biggest cause of accidents, it is a significant cause of deadly ones in the United States.
Results released from the New York City Department of Transportation indicated that, in 2012, speeding was the top cause of fatal motor vehicle accidents. A recently-released study by the Governor’s Highway Safety Administration also found that speeding was the cause of approximately one-third of all fatal automobile accidents involving teenaged males, compared with rates between fifteen and twenty percent involving males between the ages of 35 to 45.
If you or someone you love has been injured in an automobile accident, the consequences can be devastating. This is true regardless of the cause. However, if excessive speed was the cause, you may be feeling as if you have been victimized twice—once by the accident and once by the extreme disregard for the safety of others by the driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision. The professionals at Barrett Law PLLC understand the emotional turmoil that individuals experience after a serious automobile accident. We can stand by you during this difficult time, helping you through the maze of issues that you are now facing. You should not have to face them alone.
Barrett Law PLLC has been representing the rights of individuals injured in motor vehicle accidents in Mississippi for more than seven decades. If you or someone you love has been injured in a motor vehicle accident, please contact us today to discuss your rights. We can be reached at (800) 707-9577.