Almost four-months after a tragic accident resulted in the death of actor Paul Walker , authorities have revealed what caused the Porsche, he and friend Roger Rodas were driving to crash on November 30, 2013.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol investigators calculated that Rodas was driving between 81 mph and 94 mph when his 2005 Porsche Carrera GT began to drift and lost control coming out of a curve.
The Porsche was traveling at an unsafe speed when Rodas slammed into a street pole that read 45-mph and exploded into flames killing Walker and his friend.
“The vehicle had no mechanical failure and the damage that occurred to the vehicle was from the collision,” accident reconstruction specialists with the California Highway Patrol wrote, according to a person, who requested anonymity because the report has not been officially released yet.
Nicole Nishida, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department had no new information regarding the investigation into the crash that killed Paul Walker on November 30 of last year and added that they “will have something very soon.”
In December, a report from the Associated Press said investigators had ruled out a mechanical problem with the high performance race car and other debris or adverse road conditions that could have caused Walker’s car to crash.
Eye witnesses told investigators that the car could have been traveling in excess of 100-mph and the report concluded that speed was the cause of the accident based on a “yaw” mark the Porsche’s tire left on the street in an industrial area of Santa Clarita, located about 30-miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Following the crash that killed Paul Walker, investigators noted several issues related to the condition of the car:
- The original exhaust system had been modified and could allow the car to go faster and could have changed its sound.
- The tires were about nine-years-old (manufacturer suggestions are to change tires every four years).
- The left rear brake rotor was worn below specifications, but this did not cause the car crash.
Paul Walker left a fundraiser for his organization Reach Out Worldwide, for what was supposed to be a quick trip down the street, but never returned and the car crashed into a ball of fire that could be seen from the scene of the event.
Both Walker and Rodas were burned beyond recognition and their remains had to be identified using dental records.
Frantic friends of Paul Walker, 40, and Roger Rodas, 38 , rushed to try to help, however, the intensity of the fire was too strong and prevented them from getting close. The two had become close and shared a love for fast cars. They co-owned a racing team and Rodas drove in the Pirelli World Challenge Circuit.
[Images via s_bukley / Shutterstock.comJoe Seer / Shutterstock.com ]
