The crash site and Paul Walker |
(CNN) -- Four days after the crash that killed actor Paul Walker and his friend and financial manager Roger Rodas, big questions remain unanswered, including:
Did anything go wrong with the vehicle?
The Porsche Carrera GT
the two men were in has three times the horsepower of the average car.
It's powered by a V-10, 610-horsepower engine. At $450,000 new, it flies down the road and is notoriously difficult to handle.
A top driver has called the car "scary," Autoweek magazine reported.
Rodas was the sixth owner of this one, the magazine said.
Rodas was driving Saturday, according to autopsy results released Wednesday by the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
Authorities say speed was
a factor in the crash. Still, Walker and Rodas were both experienced
drivers, leading many to question whether something went wrong with the
vehicle.
Jim Torp, a car
enthusiast who was at the charity event where Rodas and Walker had been
just before the crash, said he thought he heard some kind of blast
before the car slammed into a light pole. "What the first explosion was
-- I don't know if their tire blew up, because it sounded like a tire
blew on the car," Torp told CNN on Monday.
How fast were they going?
The area where the crash
took place -- a wide business park road in Valencia, California -- has a
reputation for being popular with drivers who like the thrill of going
fast. In recent years, authorities have tried to stop the speeding in
the area.
A 45-mph speed limit
sign was on the light pole knocked down by the Porsche. A security
camera video, which does not show the car itself, suggests that black
smoke started to rise from the vehicle about a minute after the light
pole and tree fell.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigation is focused on how fast the 2005 vehicle was going.
Skid marks on the
asphalt near the crash site, which indicate a car had done doughnut
spins, also are being examined, but Torp told CNN that he looked closely
at the skid marks and believes they were left by a car with smaller
tires.
Was anyone else in danger?
Amid the outpouring of
grief for the deaths of Walker and Rodas, many people are also asking
whether the ride had endangered pedestrians or other drivers. It took
place at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Online stories about the
crash are filled with comments from readers saying it's fortunate that
no one else was killed or injured.
In 2001, when the first
"Fast & Furious" movie was released, Walker talked about the dangers
of drag racing. "Nothing would be worse than a 120-mile-an-hour
blowout, on a surface street, you know, with pedestrians lining up and
down. You know, it's just common sense, it's just not worth the risk
factor," he said.
Authorities have ruled
out drag racing in this accident, and those who knew Walker and Rodas
say they were not the sort of people who would risk their lives and
others' in a race.
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