Reminder how unsafe the open road can be!

[Matt Monson]

Car has already ricocheted off the bridge wall on the right.

[ClickClickBoom]

Originally Posted by winders

@ClickClickBoom lives in Boulder Creek (same area as the accident location). I wonder if he has heard anything about this.

First I have heard. One of my favorite roads, every single one takes a different set of spidey sense. My rule is only fun drive during the week. I pretty much leave the 911 parked on the weekend. I drive on Falken Azenis 200 tread wear year round, rain, shine, cold and hot. Blanket statements about tire types are misleading. Driving in these hills, wet often equals slippery add some leaf or moss and it can go from F1 traction to hockey rink in 2 corners. Having driven in a large chunk of the western world, I will say the coastal range areas can be some of the most technical roads around. I have put 60k miles on this car, 90% in this area, the price for error can and will be high. From oncoming traffic to driving off a 300ft cliff.
Side note, Owning and flying a taildragger airplane, as soon as I start thinking I am ready to fly the space shuttle, that little plane cuts me off at the knees, that’s after 23,000 hrs of flight time, 20,000 as PIC. but only 5-6000 in taildraggers over 30 or 40 different makes and models. Point is, currency is everything, car or plane. Plus from the damage to the cars it appears the speed delta was probably fairly large. Not to mention the dirt or turf below the right rear bumper.

[Otter74]

Watch a slow-motion video of a crash test and you’ll see how much the human body moves during a frontal collision - In a car this old, head injuries while correctly belted in a severe collision wouldn’t entirely surprise me. As for the belts, all US-market cars have been required to have front shoulder belts since about 1968.

[Flojo]

Oh dear!
"airlifted" gives a guess that injuries must have been severe :-(
hope he gets well soon.
that only counts

[pmax]

Looks like there’s a roll bar. I wonder if it played a part in the reported head injuries.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Otter74

Watch a slow-motion video of a crash test and you’ll see how much the human body moves during a frontal collision - In a car this old, head injuries while correctly belted in a severe collision wouldn’t entirely surprise me. As for the belts, all US-market cars have been required to have front shoulder belts since about 1968.

I'd expect neck, shoulder, spinal injuries before head if he was belted in. And esp. a twist since there is only one shoulder strap.

[G50911]

Originally Posted by Reiver

A reminder to not outdrive your skill set and stay on your side of the road.

not factor at all. for bay area folks, this exact place is the cause of several accidents. black ice is present just before the bridge and CHP confirmed it to be the culprit. if you notice the pic, he slapped the right side of the bridge before heading into the oncoming lane.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by G50911

not factor at all. for bay area folks, this exact place is the cause of several accidents. black ice is present just before the bridge and CHP confirmed it to be the culprit. if you notice the pic, he slapped the right side of the bridge before heading into the oncoming lane.

Driving too fast for conditions is 100% driver error. The ice had nothing to do with it. I bet hundreds if not thousands of other vehicles crossed that bridge with no problem that day.

Like driving at 75 MPH in heavy rain and saying the rain caused the hydroplaning. Nope, just driving too fast for conditions.

It is a shame he crashed, and I hope he makes a full recovery. The car can be replaced.

[jac1976]

Okay. Enough with the speculation. The guy crashed. Mechanical failure, road conditions, driver error, 2020, or a combination of all of them. It shouldn’t make a **** to anyone posting here. Give well-wishes and be done with it.

[Walt Fricke]

Guess the sign was right.



Note apparent damp pavement. Same last November closer to the bridge.



That's three warnings. However, I'm not sure I'd have believed there would be ice in mid-30s weather. But if I saw pavement coloring like in the Google shots I hope I would have taken something off. What time was the accident?

[pmax]

Originally Posted by Walt Fricke

Guess the sign was right.



Note apparent damp pavement. Same last November closer to the bridge.



That's three warnings. However, I'm not sure I'd have believed there would be ice in mid-30s weather. But if I saw pavement coloring like in the Google shots I hope I would have taken something off. What time was the accident?

Reportedly, 8.30am so overnight icing is not unexpected.

Sorry I deleted my post you responded to but here it is again.

Don't ignore the signs.

[pmax]

Originally Posted by jac1976

Okay. Enough with the speculation. The guy crashed. Mechanical failure, road conditions, driver error, 2020, or a combination of all of them. It shouldn’t make a **** to anyone posting here. Give well-wishes and be done with it.

... and lessons to be learned. Good thing that 1500 wasn't a bike or pedestrians.

That roll bar for example, is it advisable in a road car ?

[jac1976]

Is anyone arguing the roll bar? It may have contributed to his injuries and this is a known risk with a roll bar, but it did not cause the wreck. This is my point. This is what is being speculated.

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by jac1976

Is anyone arguing the roll bar? It may have contributed to his injuries and this is a known risk with a roll bar, but it did not cause the wreck. This is my point. This is what is being speculated.

The roll bar is behind the driver. No issue in this case

[Walt Fricke]

While we are being accident investigators, here are a couple of questions on the circled areas and other things:



Is the triangular area circled the left side door wing window? Broken off from the upper frame?

Is the left side door area circled a dent in the door?

These would indicate the driver was thrown violently to his left, which seems consistent with the likely vector - car moving from right to left after smacking right rear on bridge.

Accident investigators use dumps of sand, gravel, or other accumulated debris under a vehicle as a way of locating the point of impact, on the theory that the impact shook this kind of stuff loose. Here, the POI isn't much in doubt, though the SUV might have moved back a bit if the driver had hit the brakes hard pre-impact. But why would such a well prepared 911 have that much crud (circled) on its underside back there? Especially after the contact with the right rear and the bridge concrete railing, which one might think could have shaken stuff off there?

Note the steering shaft exposed. The crash likely popped its fiber cover off as the front end collapsed (and absorbed some energy). Porsche was rightly proud of the fact that the steering shaft offset and two U joints meant the steering wheel was less likely to be shoved back into the driver, and in the photo the steering wheel looks to be about where it should be.

From my experience, I think examination of the floor pan where passenger feet would be will show it was displaced 6-8" rearward, and folded up, like a pinch weld seam, and this damage will have propagated to the center tunnel, moving the pedal cluster back a little. And a little is enough for the clutch not to disengage.

Looks to be a 2.7, no rear flares added, but given a slight retro look by removing the trim under the doors. No telling what the motor is, though. Also has aftermarket brake calipers. Those, plus the roll bar, suggest a pretty active DE history. The stickers on the quarter window suggest club membership or memberships, or event attendance? Someone will know if he is PCA or POC or NASA?

I'm a bit surprised to see the SUV's (or is it a pickup?) left front tire flat. Wow - absorbed enough force to knock the bead loose? Or something? I do have an extra sense of security driving my GMC5500 tow vehicle.

[safe]

Black ice catches people out, its hard to see, can catch you well below the speed limit. It barley matters what tires your on unless they are studded.

I let the 911's rest this time of year... I don't trust the safety of a 40-50 year old car. The driver of this wreck is lucky that big truck didn't completely big foot it.

[Reiver]

Walt...the door was most likely destroyed when removing the driver from the vehicle.....the 'jaws of life' work efficiently and dramatically on material.

If you live in this area then all of the weather hazards should be known: e.g. early morning ice especially under overhanging tree's and on bridges cooled top and bottom that thaw last...it is fall...wet leaves are like banana peels. Driving aggressively around blind corners with no real road shoulder is not the place to let it out unless under controlled conditions....a sponsored hill climb etc.....

Overdriving the conditions is driver error...... I hope the individual recovers to try that corner again.

[Solamar]

Originally Posted by Walt Fricke

While we are being accident investigators, here are a couple of questions on the circled areas and other things:

Accident investigators use dumps of sand, gravel, or other accumulated debris under a vehicle as a way of locating the point of impact, on the theory that the impact shook this kind of stuff loose. Here, the POI isn't much in doubt, though the SUV might have moved back a bit if the driver had hit the brakes hard pre-impact. But why would such a well prepared 911 have that much crud (circled) on its underside back there? Especially after the contact with the right rear and the bridge concrete railing, which one might think could have shaken stuff off there?

I'm a bit surprised to see the SUV's (or is it a pickup?) left front tire flat. Wow - absorbed enough force to knock the bead loose? Or something? I do have an extra sense of security driving my GMC5500 tow vehicle.

Just a guess, but I noticed the pile was under the oil tank. Could be absorbent shoveled on leaked oil.

I'm also guessing the truck went further up the hood with it's front bumper all the way up to the windshield, then rolled back off the hood.

Best wishes for a full recovery.

[sugarwood]

SpeedHunters ?

[RWebb]

no one mention the vertical offset?

low sports car meets high clearance truck...