Excess speed in real life ain't as fun as it is in movies

[P-hack]

If you build your house on the typhoon railroad, how is that anyone elses problem, and why does fake celebrity get to tell us it is our problem?!?

[justme1969]

hmm hard to post this but ya do get what ya get in fast driving. I am very glad he diddnt crash it into a school bus or mini van full of fund raiser volunteers.
The movies showing street racings ugliest side glorified all or nothing do or die were not his design.
He Did however live that life in reality and glorified it regularly in interviews.
He did encourage street racing to a whole new generation after we had moved 80% of racing from the streets to the tracks in the 80s.
He died in exactly the same manner as hundreds of young and stupid people died who watched his shows.
I guess those are the facts as I see them.
I dont feel anything for him at all because of these facts, but I have sorrow for his daughter and countless friends who now must live with the fact they watched and encouraged his behavior to this end.

[radioranger]

Sad Event and highlights how people have been fooled over the years , myself included to equate speed with freedom.and personal power, I think that's why they let so many people speed today on the highway when easily cars could be programmed to not speed so fast, speed is not freedom, travelling at will where you want and when is , at least part of it I feel, tragic every time.

[niky]

Originally Posted by P-hack

If you build your house on the typhoon railroad, how is that anyone elses problem, and why does fake celebrity get to tell us it is our problem?!?

1. We've had that same argument locally... and the government is hot to remove people from danger zones. It's illegal to live in certain areas, for example... but this was a disaster on par with the Fukushima tsunami. Completely unprecedented.

2. Our entire country is on the typhoon railroad, there's really no place else to go. And given how chaotic the climate has been in recent years, what was safe ground in decades past is no longer so. My place used to get one or two feet of flood water every several years, no matter how bad the weather. In the past three years, we've had three floods over five feet (at my place) and a dozen feet at townships lower down than mine. Selling and moving are not an option because nobody is stupid enough to buy that land from the people who live there, and the economy isn't such that people who live in danger zones can afford to simply up and move.

3. I suppose the solution would be to leave the country. Millions have. But the immigration pipeline is very small and the cost is very high in a country whose minimum wage is around $200 a month.

4. Hundreds, if not thousands of the dead, died in evacuation centers. Hundreds of children died in one when an unprecedented storm surge flooded into the only secure building in the area and left them floundering in ten feet of fast flowing, cold water.

5. A "celebrity" is only a "celebrity" if people recognize them as such. He was recognized as such, and is known as a truly humble and down-to-earth guy... whether or not this was a front to absolutely everyone who knew him, including his friends, at least he was doing something for someone else.

6. It's not your problem, obviously. If you don't care, you don't have to donate, and no, Paul Walker wasn't forcing you to, so I don't see what your problem with the whole thing is.

[P-hack]

Originally Posted by niky

While his work on the "Fast and Furious" franchise has helped to glorify street racing, he's known for sponsoring charities and good causes.

The fact that he died while leaving a fund-raiser that he set up for the benefit of typhoon victims means that he deserves at least that much respect.

This is where we diverged and got a little political/solicitous. You insisted that he deserves respect for supporting your country. Meanwhile about 35,000 people die every year in car accidents in the US, and we have plenty of other money problems to boot (our debt exceeds our gdp).

And if you buy into fossil fuel driven environment change, well more glorification of cars doesn't help that one bit.

But to say it is unprecedented is also a little naive:
Typhoons in the Philippines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[niky]

Originally Posted by P-hack

This is where we diverged and got a little political/solicitous. You insisted that he deserves respect for supporting your country. Meanwhile about 35,000 people die every year in car accidents in the US, and we have plenty of other money problems to boot (our debt exceeds our gdp).

And if you buy into fossil fuel driven environment change, well more glorification of cars doesn't help that one bit.

But to say it is unprecedented is also a little naive:
Typhoons in the Philippines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I don't "insist" anything. If you don't care for charity, that's your own lookout.

And this country is as much my country as the USA is, since I'm a US citizen living on foreign soil. I just think it's nice a guy would take time out to try and raise funds to help people get back on their feet.

I've already stated that I don't particularly like that "Fast and Furious" glorified street racing. Irresponsible, illegal, juvenile street racing. Glorifying oil consumption? Hell... all media does that. Unconsciously, continuously. Just the fact that we sit here and talk about cars instead of rabidly endorsing cycling means that we are still glorifying oil consumption. But at least he channeled the fame he got from that into doing some good stuff.

And unprecedented means unprecedented. I find it funny that you can lecture me on the typhoon situation here, since I've lived through all the biggest ones.

If you read closely into the Wikipedia article, you'll note that the typhoon that hit Ormoc in the 90's caused so much death because illegal logging in the area had denuded the watershed to the point where flooding and landslides were a danger. The one that hit Compostela Valley was only deadly because of so many settlers insisting on living in the danger zone around the rivers.

This typhoon was worse. It rolled over the entire province like a tsunami. People were thrown dozens of feet in the air while they were busy lashing down structures and goods while preparing for the storm. People, again, in evacuation centers died. Concrete buildings were levelled. Modern steel structures didn't just have their roofs ripped off, the steel framework was often ripped off of the foundations.

Yes, the people were unprepared for it. In the same sense Japan was unprepared for the tsunami. Ergo: They took reasonable precautions, but reasonable just wasn't good enough. (yes, there were people living in danger zones, but again, a lot of casualties weren't... some heavily built houses on mountaintops were also levelled).

To call anyone "naive" in that situation would be akin to chiding anyone sitting in the Twin Towers on September 11 for not bringing a parachute to work.

[Frank Lee]

Coroner says impact and fire killed 'em. That was no 45 mph romp.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Coroner says impact and fire killed 'em. That was no 45 mph romp.

If they crashed at 45MPH in a Porsche Carrera GT, they could die only if they weren't wearing their seatbelts.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Coroner says impact and fire killed 'em. That was no 45 mph romp.

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

If they crashed at 45MPH in a Porsche Carrera GT, they could die only if they weren't wearing their seatbelts.

One of the earlier links included video surveillance footage, showing a light pole and two trees being knocked down before the car came to rest. Looking at the car images, I'd say that the car slewed sideways off the road. I agree that it was probably doing more than 45mph, but it also sure looks as though the passenger side of the car (where Paul Walker sat) is where much of the impact was. Even if the car had side airbags, the first impact took it out of the equation. The rest of the impacts would have been pretty traumatic to a human body. A seatbelt would not have offered much protection due to the sideways trajectory.

Why say kind words about Paul Walker's fundraising efforts, and ignore the efforts of less well known people? Because while everyone who works on such efforts deserves recognition, celebrities draw bigger crowds and raise more cash. A guy like him could charge money to make appearances; the fact that he used his fame for good works is, at the very least, notable.

[justme1969]

I will bet the company I work for who even has 2 divisions there will be donors of more and will logistically put it on the ground where it needs to be but wont get one bit of media attn.
Search "CEMEX and donate" you will see for yourself.
This charity goes out everywhere to most natural disasters and even a few man made disasters.