Paul Walker, Fast and the Furious star, dies in car crash

[Down Under]

Paul Walker, best known for his role in the The Fast and the Furious movies, is dead at 40.

His publicist Ame Van Iden said Walker died on Saturday afternoon.

The actor's representatives released a statement on his official Facebook Page:

"It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide. He was a passenger in a friend's car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news. Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences."

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported that both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

Walker played Brian O'Conner in the popular Fast & Furious franchise. The seventh installment was currently in the process of filming at the time of the crash, according to IMDB.

He also starred in the suspense drama, Hours, which is due for release this month.

The actor reportedly died after a single-car accident and explosion in Santa Clarita, California, the website TMZ reported.

 

[Hewson]

Wow that sucks.
RIP.

 

[MrPryck2U]

RIP Paul Walker.


I know he was popular for the Fast and Furious movies, but I thought he was great in Eight Below.

 

[Dalton]

We all know that Rusty Nail was behind this ...

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

Very sad. Its pretty ironic that he dies in a car crash.

I guess Porsche and actors don't mix well.

 

[gvox]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=183491698521946

Not trying to read too much into it but it does seem to appear that both cars that are involved in that video (other than his) are soupped up vehicles that sortof look like street racers..

 

[bono_212]

OH here we go. Internet detectives, back on the hunt.

 

[gvox]

That didn't take long..

 

[lemonfly]

RIP. From what I've read, he was a big-hearted guy who did a lot of hands-on work for charity. The photos of the burnt-out car wreck are damn nightmarish. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for next-of-kin to have to see what was left of their loved ones.

 

[Jive Turkey]

What a horrible way to go. I hope he died on impact.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=183491698521946

Not trying to read too much into it but it does seem to appear that both cars that are involved in that video (other than his) are soupped up vehicles that sortof look like street racers..

The car Walker was riding in was a 610 horsepower $450k supercar, the other vehicle in the video looks like a $45k ricer (that's if its heavily modded, half that $ if its not). Also the Porsche Carerra GT's owner was a professional race car driver, which makes this all the more ironic.

Of course im only speculating and don't really know about the other car, or what happened. Despite what the movies tell us I highly doubt that Walker and his friend would waste their time racing a supercar against some average street guys, if that's what they were. Likely they just happened upon the scene after impact..business parks or industrial parks are race bait on weekends when nobody is around.

Probably just a very tragic and ironic accident.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20131201/CARNEWS/131209998

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

RIP. From what I've read, he was a big-hearted guy who did a lot of hands-on work for charity. The photos of the burnt-out car wreck are damn nightmarish. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for next-of-kin to have to see what was left of their loved ones.

not to be anymore gory.. I read they had to delay the autopsy because both bodies were unidentifiable.

Paul leaves behind a teenage daughter and the other guy left behind a 8 yr old son.

 

[Lancemc]

Asshole question, but Fast and Furious 7 wasn't quite finished shooting, right?

 

[Jive Turkey]

I heard they were in post production and will be delaying the release

 

[Lancemc]

ah, thanks

 

[bono_212]

I heard they were in post production and will be delaying the release

That's better than what I heard, that they were still shooting.

It would be nice to have a final Fast film to remember him by.

 

[Lancemc]

This was a really strange surprise though. Another one of those, far too young, out of left field deaths which makes you reassess your perception of a person who's been a part of your life, in a minute way naturally, in terms of the media we absorb either with strong discretion or merely in the background, such is the way of cable tv so often. I can't say I have strong feelings for him as an actor or anything, but the F&F movies have become something really interesting in a weird way for a franchise that started off so forgettably, and he actually had a really strong presence in stuff like Joy Ride and Running Scared.

RIP Dude.

 

[bono_212]

The thing with me and Paul Walker actually goes a little deeper, for reasons that aren't exactly due to him, but just that his presence was a weird constant.

When that awful movie Meet the Deedles came out, it just happened to be one of those perfect time, perfect place situations: My mother, sister, cousin, aunt and I all saw it in an empty theater and just couldn't stop laughing. Had I seen it any other time, I probably would have thought it was stupid, just like everyone else, but I happened to be going to Yellowstone in a few months, so we were just eating the movie up. When I actually got to Yellowstone, my parents were actually right about to get divorced (I didn't realize it at the time, I just knew they were both very tense), and it was nice that my mom, sister and I joked about Prairie Dogs the entire time and can still make her laugh just by bringing them up today.

Then, after my parents got divorced, Fast and the Furious and The Skulls came out. My dad started his life-long love for Vin Diesel and TF&TF became a part of my life. I have never seen a sequel, honestly, because I just have this magic memory of watching that film with my dad, over and over again. The Skulls was kind of the same way, minus Vin Diesel. He loved that movie, and my dad so very rarely finds movies he loves. When he does, he watches them obsessively. So, both of those movies were a big part of my childhood at a point that was so very shaky for me.

So, when I think of him, I think of that. It's not all positive, but it's just a part of my life. I don't know, it's weird. Realizing he was only 40 made me realize that, in my view, all of that happened so long ago, but in reality, it really wasn't so long.

I'm sad he's gone, for his family and friends and child. It's awful to hear about someone dying so young.

 

[deep]

it is too bad when people die, especially of unnatural causes, and relatively young

but these deaths are the direct result of reckless behavior with little regard for their own lives or the lives of others,
if reports are correct about driving at a very high rate of speed on a public road


the car as mentioned, was a $450 Porsche, I think this is the model

how does that car, turn into this




again, I am sorry they died, I am glad they did not take out an innocent family along with themselves

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

Watching NBC news a little while ago they actually said that Walker and Rodas were not drag racing or street racing anyone, also they *estimated* their speed to be around 45-50 mph on the road where they entered a sharp turn and lost control. Looking at the car it may be hard to believe.... but that was their report.

 

[MrPryck2U]

I've also read that there might have been a leak in the steering wheel fluid and that was possibly why Rodas was not able to maintain control of the car.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

Yeah I heard that one about the leak in the steering fluid too, which could explain the explosion upon impact. Of course, excessive speed would explain that as well, assuming the car was going faster than 45-50 mph as NBC had earlier reported. Looking at that picture again its hard to believe the car wasn't doing 100 mph or better.

 

[corianderstem]

a $450 Porsche,

Was that a Black Friday deal?

 

[MrPryck2U]

Saw that too, but then I just said fuck it. Lol!

 

[Hewson]

Was that a Black Friday deal?

I gotta gets me one of those.

 

[gvox]

Looking at that picture again its hard to believe the car wasn't doing 100 mph or better.

It depends. A telephone pole totally devastates (read: slices in half) passenger vehicles actually designed with safety in mind at a mere 40mph. I would be surprised to find out that Porches have been subjected to any of these kinds of tests, to be honest. I can totally see a pole slicing a Porche in half at 45-50mph..easily, I mean isn't the engine in the back in that thing? There's literally nothing separating the driver from the pole

Having said that though I tend to think that they were probably travelling a bit faster than 45mph...

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

The Carrera GT is a mid engine car, I did read somewhere today that they estimated the car was going 90mph.

 

[corianderstem]

Welp.

Coroner: Paul Walker car going 100-plus mph - CNN.com

 

[gvox]

Dang. You don't even need drugs or alcohol at 100+mph. I hate it when people oversimplify it to "speeding kills", because I like to drive pretty quick myself...but after 100mph even the slightest driver error can cost you very dearly..and hitting a pole or tree at that speed is indeed catastrophic, guaranteed.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

Ive gone 150+ mph before on straight, flat roads, with no traffic. Of course its been a while since ive done anything like that, I have gotten up to 100 mph surprisingly quick while merging onto a highway without batting an eye. Its amazing how fast that really is considering the ease in which it is attainable.

As sad as this story is, it also serves as a good reminder that accidents happen and death does not discriminate. You could just as easily have a blowout on the HWY at legal speeds and die as you could doing something foolish at over 100 mph, I guess. We could assume the moral of this story would be that one shouldn't be driving that fast on public roads, even if one is a race car driver. And of course, even on a racetrack race car drivers aren't immune to fiery, deadly crashes.

I always hear guys at one of the car forums I visit say that if a person is going to drive a certain way they should only do it at the track. That may well be true, but also accidents happen and are not limited to public roads, but they happen at private race tracks as well.

So "speed kills", I guess, if you crash. Nothing kills more than death, though, and death is going to kill us all one way or another. With or without all of the speed.