Drag racer Scott Kalitta's accident report

[URY914]

Found this on another forum.....

Kalitta had a BAC of .25 25% over the legal limit.

Died from blut force injuries in excess of 100G-force and approching 200G-forces.

Apparently the clutch locked together, while Scott was applying the brakes and still was in control of the car couldn't slow it down because the motor was still propelling the vehicle and ran off the end of the track at 125+ MPH. After which hit several objects including a concrete wall, soild support pole, the cast iron counterwieght of 22,750# crane, a Chevy Van and an ATV before finally coming to rest on the ground.

New Jersey State Police are listing the cause as

Castrophic engine failure
Insufficient Braking
Insufficient Auxiliary Braking (parachute failure)
Driver Toxicology

Basically a DUI and violation of NHRA

The complete report is here...

http://www.njsp.org/news/pr091708.html

[Laneco]

Got to watch those decimals there - .25% would be fatal or at least hospitalize most of us...

Scott Kalitta was .02% or 23mg/dl. Yes, over NHRA requirements but most states are .08 to .10 for DUI.

angela

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by URY914

Found this on another forum.....

Kalitta had a BAC of .25 25% over the legal limit.


http://www.njsp.org/news/pr091708.html

You read this wrong. It was 0.02% BAC which is 25% of the legal limit (0.08% BAC). It is however in violation of NHRA limits (which I assume are 0%).

[Stanley]

Originally Posted by URY914

Found this on another forum.....

Kalitta had a BAC of .25 25% over the legal limit.

A BAC .25 would make him flat out drunk! The report says he had a BAC of .02 Which means he probably had a beer in the hour or so before the crash.

nevermind. looks like some others pointed that out too. When I first read the .25, I was thinking why didn't anyone else notice that he was drunk.

[UconnTim97]

I wonder if 0.02 could be the result of a night of heavy drinking, Though not very responsible the night before a big race. Seems more likely than a beer before a race.

Just a thought.

I also wonder what kind of fuel was in the car(not too knowledgeable about NHRA), and would that affect a BAC test in a catostrophic crash of this nature?

[Mericet]

At 4:20 in the afternoon it is unlikely to be from a party the previous night. Most likely a beer in the hour or so before the race. The legal limit in all 50 states is now .08. Since the test was done postmortem, it was done using a blood sample. It is doubtful anything he breathed in during the run would have affected the result.

[450knotOffice]

I highly doubt his .02% BAC had even the slightest bearing on the outcome. He was doing everything right and died a sudden horrible death anyway. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do once the events were set in motion. Sad.

[pwd72s]

body decomposition can cause alcohol reading even if there were none when a person was alive. I wonder how long after the crash the samples were taken?

[m21sniper]

There is nothing sad about this, nor is it a tragedy.

The man died in the pursuit of his favorite pastime, instantly, and with no pain. We should all be so lucky.

[Cornpanzer]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

There is nothing sad about this, nor is it a tragedy.

The man died in the pursuit of his favorite pastime, instantly, and with no pain. We should all be so lucky.

Yeah, except for the minor detail that he died prematurely, leaving behind children and family. He wont see his kids grow up, grandchildren and all that other minor stuff that makes for a fulfilling life. Sure we all want to die quick, but I would prefer that my death be when I am old, gray and content. Not by blunt force trama when I am in my 40's!

I bet if you could ask Scott, he would tell you that it is sad and a tragedy. I bet his family feels that way. Death should never be taken lightly IMO

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Cornpanzer

Yeah, except for the minor detail that he died prematurely, leaving behind children and family. He wont see his kids grow up, grandchildren and all that other minor stuff that makes for a fulfilling life. Sure we all want to die quick, but I would prefer that my death be when I am old, gray and content. Not by blunt force trama when I am in my 40's!

I bet if you could ask Scott, he would tell you that it is sad and a tragedy. I bet his family feels that way. Death should never be taken lightly IMO

Well, I don't know that Scott is concerned with it now, but it is very sad for the family/friends who are left behind.

There is some truth to what sniper said. There are worse ways to die. Death is not happy or sad for those who die, it's the living who get emotional about it.

If someone had been able to tell him ahead of time, "you're going to die in this pass" in such a way that he believed it, he probably wouldn't have gone, but he did, and now he doesn't care.

[URY914]

Just to set the record straight, I copied and pasted the post from the other forum complete and unedited. I did not make the .25- .02 mistake. As so many of you have pointed out, over and over again

[cgarr]

Don't these engines run on alcohol?

[masraum]

Actually, if you read the report, the post is a bit off.

The vehicle continued from the point of engine failure to the end of the racetrack (approx. 2300') on fire over the course of approximately 7.07 seconds. Upon reaching the end of the paved racetrack, Kalitta’s vehicle entered a “run-off” area constructed of pea gravel at a speed of approximately 125 mph and was positioned near the center of the racetrack’s right lane. As Kalitta’s racecar entered the “run-off” area, the front of the vehicle appeared to pitch upward, allowing air under the vehicle’s fiberglass nose resulting in its separation from the chassis. Over the course of the following .5-second, the vehicle took flight and traveled toward the right side of the run-off area and over the western concrete retaining wall. Immediately thereafter, the vehicle impacted a steel post that supported the right side of a cargo net which was in place to stop race vehicles from passing this area of the racetrack. This impact was specific to the right side of the vehicle and caused separation of the right front suspension components and damage to the right side engine exhaust system. The vehicle continued forward and impacted a piece of heavy equipment (JLG model 600S telescopic boom lift vehicle with a specified (dry) weight of 22,750 pounds), which was positioned outside the “run-off” area by the ESPN television crew. This impact caused catastrophic damage to the vehicle and additional separation of chassis components and the vehicle’s engine. Beyond the boom lift vehicle, a Chevrolet van and a Suzuki Ozark ATV, which were also positioned by ESPN television crew, were damaged by collision debris. The largest portion of the race vehicle came to rest in a grassy area 250' south of the shutdown area and 153' from the initial pole impact. Scott Kalitta was contained in this portion of the race vehicle and had sustained fatal blunt force injuries. A review of information provided by Delphi, which was recorded by accelerometers, mounted to the Kalitta vehicle revealed multiple impacts producing over 100G, with some approaching or exceeding 200G. No information was obtained from the RacePac data recorder installed in the Kalitta vehicle. Post mortem examination confirmed that Scott Kalitta’s death was caused by multiple blunt trauma injuries.

I suspect that Scott had 7 seconds to think about how it was going to end. That was probably unpleasant. The first few seconds probably not but the last couple might have been unpleasant.

[VINMAN]

Kalittas primary cause of death was spinal separation. His fire suit did an incredible job of protecting him. Only burns he recieved where around his eyes where his hood eye cutouts were.

[Jeff Higgins]

Doesn't anyone else see the bigger picture here? The New Jersey State Police included "driver toxicology" in a situation where that had absolutely nothing to do with it.

This has become the standard modus operandi of law enforcement responding to an accident scene. Hell, a guy could be driving down the road with a BAC of .02% and get hit by a meteor, and the official report would still list "driver toxicology" as a factor contributing to the accident. This has been allowed to go way, way, too far.

[legion]

A couple of things:

1) His BAC was .10, which is 25% over the legal limit of .08. That is not a beer before the race. That is 3+ beers before the race, depending on body weight.

2) He broke NHRA rules. Could they have requested the toxicology?

3) Yes, doing BAC testing as standard procedure for everything is quite disturbing.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by URY914

Just to set the record straight, I copied and pasted the post from the other forum complete and unedited. I did not make the .25- .02 mistake. As so many of you have pointed out, over and over again

Don't get your panties in a wad. Look at the post times - all of us were likely typing at the same time.

And if you don't want to get slapped, check your sources because "copy and paste" is not an alibi

[gprsh924]

Originally Posted by legion

A couple of things:

1) His BAC was .10, which is 25% over the legal limit of .08. That is not a beer before the race. That is 3+ beers before the race, depending on body weight.

2) He broke NHRA rules. Could they have requested the toxicology?

3) Yes, doing BAC testing as standard procedure for everything is quite disturbing.

Where did you get that BAC number Chris, because in the official report it says .02

Driver Toxicology
Post mortem toxicological analysis of blood obtained from Scott Kalitta during his autopsy revealed the presence of Ethanol at a level of 23 mg/dL. This level converts to a BAC percentage of .02% BAC. This level, 25% of the legal limit for intoxication in the State of New Jersey, remains in violation of NHRA rules (Section 1.7, I., B.1.) as well as N.J.S.A. Title 13 Chapter 62 New Jersey State Motor Vehicle Racetrack Regulations.

http://www.njsp.org/news/pr091708.html

[legion]

From my days as a bank teller, I learned that when something is written out it is usually correct over a value written as a number. "Two" versus "2".

I assumed that because the initial post said: "25% over the legal limit", and the legal limit is .08, then a BAC of .10 was what was intended. I disregarded "BAC of .25", assuming the number was a typo.