Firing squad is appropriate.

What a GREAT GREAT man.


You didn't know your G35 was a gotdman Nissan Skyline so I strongly suggest not speculating. We have NO IDEA what happened at all. Let the authorities conduct their investigation before asshats jump to conclusions.

How inappropriate to say the car should have protected him better when we don't know the facts. A great man was lost, period and we don't know if it is b/c of natural causes or of the accident.

 

Speaking on the shear safety of cars like LFA, can you have crumple zones if most of the cars structure is carbon fiber?

 

This is really sad news. Hiromu Naruse was a legend and like many legends like him, died doing what he loved. RIP.

 

Yup. It's engineered and molded into the structure.

 

Having done Accident Investigations for many years I have to agree with Lobux. Most people have no clue when it comes to airbags and their perceived benefits. In a side impact they are a wonderful thing because they help keep the passengers from coming in contact with the rigid areas of the passenger compartment. In a frontal impact... not so much when you look at the numbers posted on wiki 3.3 million deployments and only 6,300 lives saved... not real high numbers here. Not that this was the case here but, when someone is not belted into a car and the bags deploy, I have seen people launched into the rear passenger compartment by the bags. ALWAYS wear your seat-belt! Given the view of the helmet I would say the driver was injured by something in or entering the passenger compartment. If someone dies before the collision you will find very little blood loss due to the fact that the heart aka the pump is not working.

 

Why do most people simply assume the LFA had no airbags? If you look at the video you can clearly see a lot of white airbag material inside the cockpit...or do people really believe it is a body bag they let journalists simply take pictures of?? Probably the German firefighters cut the airbags to better get the body of Naruse out of the wreck.
Also the German firefighter reported that there was one fatality in the Lexus, and he didnt mention anything about a second passenger so Naruse had to be alone, while he clearly mentioned 2 passengers in the BMW vehicle. That would easily explain why no airbag on the passenger side went off and if people are bothered to check the LFA's technical details they would know the LFA doesn't have curtain airbags but 'seat belt' airbags. As this doesn't seem to be a prototype with a roll cage and race seats but instead a production ready standard trim it is safe to assume the car was equipped with those seat belt airbags. The only plausible explanations are that, as mentioned above, debris entered the cockpit and killed Naruse (explaining the blood-stained helmet)
or that he was simply killed on impact by high energetic trauma.

The reason the front of the LFA seems to be heavily damaged is cause of its carbon fibre construction which simply shatters on impact, as it is designed to do. The passenger compartment looks intact so there is no reason to assume he died due to structural or safety problems.

Also keep in mind the BMW is the heavier vehicle of the two, and also alot higher so that the LFA might have taken the biggest blow on impact. Also the BMW passengers suffered life threatening injuries so please stop this BMW 1 - Lexus 0 safety comparisons. Such comments just show how stupid, selfish and ignorant some people are these days :-(

Let us just stop speculation for now and wait for the official report on what exactly happened. Naruse, may you rest in peace and i hope that your work will be continued as a tribute to your legacy.

 

Here you go:




Pic of the car hours before the crash

 

Here is an official statement from Lexus USA regarding the incident:

 

very sad. have to say from reviewing the video that my take is the LFA driver was cutting the corner (in his left lane) at speed and hit the 5 series coming the other way.

we'll probably never know although i'm sure the police already know what happened from skidmarks, and other analysis.

either way, very sad.

 

The LFA also has the first seatbelt airbags...fyi

^^ looks like it was a 3 series, but maybe it was the new 5. they look too similar now.

 

Its a 3 series, there were some shots online from the rear of the BMW

 

RIP
wow, that's scary
these high-speed cars are tested thoroughly while we (the consumer) have the luxury to just buy these thing without having to think what actually went through

 

thats not airbags what you see but a covered dead person waiting on investigation. the hearse is waiting on the other side of the road to recover him later on. i doubt a race car has airbags.

 

not sure if they would remove airbags from the race version, but the standard LFA has:

http://www.netcarshow.com/lexus/2011-lfa/

 

I disagree, air bag saves lives.

When someone is not wearing a seat belt and crash they are dead regardless of air bag or not, the air bags will only provide them that slim chance of surivial. Instead of launching thru the windsheild and onto the road they ended up in the back seat of the car where it's still relatively safe.