Leaking power steering fluid is reportedly the culprit in a car crash on Saturday that claimed the lives of Fast and Furious star Paul Walker (above) and his friend, Roger Rodas.
The $500,000 bright red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT the two men were traveling in crashed near a business park in Santa Clarita, California – bursting into flames after striking a tree and a light pole.
Sources close to Rodas – the professional driver who was behind the wheel when the crash occurred – tell TMZ that a fluid trail and straight skid marks “cements the theory the driver didn’t have steering control.”
“Also suspicious — the fire spreading so quickly in the front of the car,” the website notes. “The sources say flames would be expected in the rear where the engine is … but fire in the front reinforces their theory of a fluid leak of some sort.”
Here’s a video taken in the immediate aftermath of the crash …
(Click to play)
“Drive away! It’s gonna blow up!” one witness exclaims.
“The car is in half. I can’t tell if there is someone in there,” another witness observes.
Sad …
Walker was attending a fundraiser at Rodas’ garage to benefit victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines when he and Rodas – the co-owner of his racing team – embarked on a drive to troubleshoot the Porsche, which was reportedly stalling out.
The crash occurred at the end of this twenty-minute test drive – less than 500 yards away from Rodas’ garage.
Walker starred in all six Fast and Furious movies – and was in the process of filming a seventh when he died. He also starred in Clint Eastwood’s 2006 war movie Flags of our Fathers.
12 comments
Nope. Although he starred in the first two movies, Walker wasn’t in ‘Tokyo Drift,’ the third entry in the franchise. He came back for part 4 (Fast + Furious), and starred in the fifth (‘Fast Five’) and sixth (‘Fast and Furious 6’) films as well.
Think of it as evolution in action
At 0:20 in the video you can see what looks like someone trying to get out of the car.
What a bunch of douchebags filming this thing… “drive away, drive away… my nylon panties are starting to melt”.
Oh, G-d, you’re right, there is someone there in the flames. This just got worse.
His work in Varsity Blues was nothing less than Oscar-worthy. A shame some asshole wanting to show off his car caused this tragedy.
“tragedy”??? Yeah this ranks up there with the Hindenburg and the space shuttles blowing up. By next week nobody will remember or care. Most people probably didn’t even know his name before the accident.
“A 45 mph speed limit sign was attached to the light pole knocked down by the Porsche.”…cnn.com
From the looks of the car, they were going a little faster than 45 mph.
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/dec/01/paul-walker-dies-car-crash
Anyone care for a roasted marshmallow?
That car is demolished. Speed may have been close to 100.
I seriously doubt the steering fluid story. The driver was a garage owner and a race driver who would have checked out the over priced and probably way over powered car.
I aint buying this crap about a power steering leak. With so many vehicles on the road …. pfft!
Steering fluid my ass..