The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘It Appears He Was Drinking Heavily Before Climbing Behind the Wheel …’

Posted on | June 20, 2011 | 19 Comments

. . . of his 2007 Porsche 911 GT3. And now Ryan Dunn, one of the young idiots who became famous for being famously stupid on the MTV series “Jackass,” has gone on to that Big Reality Show in the Sky:

The double fatal crash happened at about 2:38 a.m. on Route 322 near Pottstown Pike in West Goshen Township.
According to the police report obtained by CBS Philly, Ryan was driving his 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 when it crashed into a wooded area and burst into flames. Both Dunn and his passenger, who has not been positively identified, died as a result of injuries they sustained in the crash.

Over the guardrail, into the tree, fiery death. And I know you’ll be shocked to learn that police believe “speed may have been a contributing factor to the accident.”

Wow. Driving fast in a Porsche 911? Imagine that.

Also, at 12:15 a.m. — about two hours before the fatal crash – Dunn reportedly Tweeted a photo of himself drinking with two buddies.

UPDATE: Thanks to the commenter who called attention to this episode of BBC’s Top Gear, which points out that the Porsche 911′s rear-engine design makes the car prone to skidding sideways — a drifter’s dream — so that it was once notorious as “the Grim Reaper’s company car”:

While I’ve never driven a Porsche, I have taken a few curves at high speed. Doing so safely requires (a) fresh tires, (b) a car with a low center of gravity, and (c) a careful attention to the momentum/traction situation. Were I to hazard a guess as to how Dunn wrecked, I’d imagine he came up short on (c), and started losing traction before he realized he was going too fast for the curve. Whether he was drunk or merely tired at 2:30 in the morning, the Porsche 911 doesn’t seem to be the most forgiving sports car on the market. Here’s the Associated Press report of the fatal crash:

Bookmark and Share
Category: Celebrities

Comments

  • Joe

    We have all done stupid things that should have caused us to meet our untimely ends, but by the grace of God and some luck, we have managed to get by.   I do not wish anyone harm, but you need to realize that if you keep pushing the envelope–it will likely catch up with you. 

    No evidence of a deer being involved?   Those critters love to take out vehicles–or so I have been told.    

  • Joe

    Jason Alexander is not acting there.  BTW did you Jason Alexander has a birth defect? 

  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous

    911 gt3 on top gear in 97′…

  • jwallin

    Wonder if they have footage of the crash.

    The ultimate ‘stunt’. Too bad about the reality part.

    Shame he wasn’t alone but then maybe the passenger was a willing participant.

    Possible suicide? A lot of one car crashes are suspected to be suicides. Best way to beat those suicide clauses in the life insurance policy.

    Porches aren’t that fast they’re just quick. There’s a difference. And like all rear engined cars they over steer and you can get crosswise just as quickly.

  • http://twitter.com/HoundOfDoom Mitch Tracy

    Speed was not the cause of the crash. 

    Having the bad judgement to get bombed, and then get behind the wheel is. 

    I realize that it’s sexy to go look, a Porsche went boom, but this ass would be just as dead if he was driving a Prius.

    Yes, we’ve all pulled stupid stuff before, and you know what, IT’S STUPID.  That’s why we call it stupid stuff.

    Didn’t he kill his passenger too?  I have zero sympathy for the driver.  He F’ed up and killed someone that he was responsible for. 

  • Anonymous

    like all rear engined cars they over steer and you can get crosswise just as quickly.

    As the update, with BBC Top Gear video, makes clear. When I was covering NY-23 in fall 2009, making high-speed runs on State Route 3, I frequently took curves marked 40 mph at 80-85 mph, but that was in a front-engine, front-wheel drive car.

    I’ve looked at a map of the intersection where Dunn wrecked, and there is one sharp cloverleaf ramp that might be the site. If so, how many times had he driven that ramp and pushed it close to the skid point without losing control? I don’t know. But doing it at 2:30 a.m., after you’ve been drinking — and maybe trying to impress a passenger — could lead to a fatal miscalculation.

  • Anamika

    When it comes to car crashes you can be extremely unlucky, or extremely lucky, apart from the routine ones.

    This is a fictional car crash; a joke collected from the internets:

    A woman and a man get into a car accident, and it’s a bad one. Both cars are totally demolished, but amazingly neither of them is hurt. After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says, “So you’re a man, that’s interesting. I’m a woman… Wow! Just look at our cars. There’s nothing left, but fortunately we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we

    should meet and be friends and live together in peace the rest of our days.”

    The man replied,” I agree with you completely; this must be a sign from God!

    The woman continued, “And look at this – here’s another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of Mogen David wine didn’t break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune.” Then she hands the bottle to the man. The man shakes his head in agreement, opens it and takes a few big swigs from the bottle, then handing it back to the woman. The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cap back on, and hands it back to the man.

    The man asks, “Aren’t you having any?”

    The woman replies, “No. I think I will just wait for the police…”

    ***

    This is an example reality: In May 1980 Ringo Starr (Beatle) and her girlfriend Barbara Bach (Bond Girl) were in a catastrophic car crash which they survived with surprisingly few injuries. Three weeks later they were engaged. Ringo gave Barbara a ring in which he had had set a piece of their wrecked car’s windshield. A year later they wed. They are still happily married today.

  • Anonymous

    Does gigi require a word count output from you?
    And for the record…… Dingbat.

  • timburns116

    jerk

  • Anonymous

    No evidence of a deer being involved?   Those critters love to take out vehicles–or so I have been told.

    Heh. Some commenters on other sites have mentioned the possibility of a deer, but nothing certain. Also, a local resident, commenting at another side, said that the speed limit on that road is no more than 45 mph and Dunn was reportedly doing 110 mph.

    Driving that fast, you’ve got to be paying close attention to the road, both hands on the wheel, etc. You can’t drive 110 mph casually is what I’m saying.

    At 2:30 a.m. after he’d been drinking? I’m guessing Dunn wasn’t 100% focused.

  • Anonymous

    Get your own blog.

  • http://twitter.com/dustbury Charles G Hill

    Actually, most recent 911s have had the tail-happiness largely baked out of them, though it’s possible to switch off the electronic servants that keep you from getting too close to the wall in the first place.   (This goes double for the GT3, which is generally sold as a track toy.)

    It’s an unfortunate fact of life that approximately 85 percent of drivers believe themselves to be more competent than average.

  • http://pointofagun.blogspot.com/ Dave C

    I always drive properly. A bit fast, perhaps, but always with consummate skill and a natural feel for the road that even cops recognize. No cop was ever born who isn’t a sucker for a finely-executed hi-speed Controlled Drift all the way around one of those cloverleaf freeway interchanges.

     
    H. S. Thompson. 

  • Anonymous

    How kind of you to notice.

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    You mean his personality?

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    Ya beat me – touche!

  • http://pointofagun.blogspot.com/ Dave C

    I was re-reading the book again and just read that part..  Why it was so fresh in the mind.  

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    Ahhh…one must from time to time re-read the tablets of wisdom if one is to
    grow like the lotus flower, Grasshopper.

Performance Optimization WordPress Plugins by W3 EDGE