Ryan Dunn died in car accident

[mrpain]

sh*t was watching E News today and the paparazzi were following Johnny Knoxville on that day.

 

Paparazzi: We would like to give condolences to your pal.

Johnny: Yeah well screw condolences man.

 

He sounded pissed! He said some stuff about that old film critic guy too.

[OverTheBelow]

sh*t was watching E News today and the paparazzi were following Johnny Knoxville on that day.

 

Paparazzi: We would like to give condolences to your pal.

Johnny: Yeah well screw condolences man.

 

He sounded pissed! He said some stuff about that old film critic guy too.

Pretty sure he actually said "Thanks for your condolences, man". o_O

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhgOcHw8OKY&feature=relmfu

0:40

[mrpain]

sh*t was watching E News today and the paparazzi were following Johnny Knoxville on that day.

 

Paparazzi: We would like to give condolences to your pal.

Johnny: Yeah well screw condolences man.

 

He sounded pissed! He said some stuff about that old film critic guy too.

Pretty sure he actually said "Thanks for your condolences, man". o_O

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhgOcHw8OKY&feature=relmfu

0:40

Dammit, hate it when I'm sound like an idiot.

 

Screw E News for giving me bad audio quality.

[Saggy]

In response to the above statements, driving at speed is not inherrently dangerous if done whilst fully functioning mentally, with full awareness of road conditions or whilst within ones known skill limits. For instance, there was a report released a couple of years ago that suggested that only around 4% of accidents were caused by speed alone in the UK. Far more, proportionally were caused by driver error made whilst under the influence of alcohol. In fact, IMO the most dangerous thing about driving at high speed is the stupidity of other road users.

 

I think it's fair to say that he is likely to have sped regardless of his level of intoxication. However, the slowing of reaction times, lack of road condition awareness, inability to respond to changing situations rapidly and logically and show of macho bravado that extended beyond his limits of luck and skill were all down to the intoxication, not the speed he was traveling.

130 mph is 58.11 meters per second. Average human reaction time is .15-.30 seconds

 

So that means if Dunn had "normal" reaction, he still would have traveled 8.7-17.4 meters from the time he noticed anything wrong, to the time he made any action. That's 2-4 times the length of the Porsche GT3. Even with good reactions at that speed you could be on one side of the highway to the other before you even began to react.

 

130 MPH is inherently dangerous, especially on roads that were in no way designed or maintained to be driven on with that kind of speed. The slightest alteration to road surface at that speed can be disastrous, and as I already pointed out, reaction time can mean little. On top of that, seeing as Dunn already had countless reckless driving and speeding infractions, I think his machismo and bravado extended well beyond the times he was drunk.

 

Understand that even professional racers who put weeks of safety preparation into races as well as tons of driving still bail out at these kinds of speeds because regaining control at that velocity is just so difficult. Places like dry lake beds or the autobahn are ideal for driving at speeds like this because it's not likely they will present a challenge to control, but even then the slightest changes in surface have caused very bad things to happen at dry-lake proving grounds because of sudden changes in texture and humidity of the ground. The autobahn on the other hand is a road specifically designed and maintained to give consistent traction and control at those speeds, with higher-than-average embankments and the like.

 

Frankly I doubt Dunn was even inebriated enough to have a sever effect on the faculties you speak of. None of the witnesses reported that he seemed that intoxicated, and realistically if he was even able to get to that point on the high way he was probably not that effected by his BAC. I think it's likely he had done this sort of thing before and that he did have markedly slower reaction time (up to 30% lower if I remember correctly?) and that may have been what caused him to make the mistake, but that is not my point. He could have not gotten a good day of sleep the night earlier and had the same marked different in reaction time to cause the same accident. You should not be traveling those kind of speeds, and those kind of roads at any time without accepting that you may make a mistake that kills. That is exactly what Ryan Dunn did, and from reports it seems he did it quite a bit as he had a record of reckless driving and speeding infractions, so it does not seem this is an isolated incident of him driving at speeds outside his "skill level". I mean, with speeds like that, you could hit a patch of gravel and your inertia would propel you off the side of the road and into trees before you even realized it happened and you could be dead before you even realized it happened, let alone react to it in any way.

 

It's frustrating to see people entertaining the idea that you can drive safely on roads like this at speeds at that level. There is no "safety" at those speeds, and there is only risk mitigation. Past that, in that realm of speed, the effects that level of alcohol probably had on Ryan Dunn are negligible compared to the situation on the whole. I don't know if we'll ever find out what exactly caused Ryan Dunn to lose control, but I'm confident that he would have taken the risk drunk or not, and that he would not be able to recover control drunk or not.

 

 

 

 

[Stig]

 

Long post, etc.

I agree with you Sag on all points except one,

 

 

Frankly I doubt Dunn was even inebriated enough to have a sever effect on the faculties you speak of.  None of the witnesses reported that he seemed that intoxicated, and realistically if he was even able to get to that point on the high way he was probably not that effected by his BAC.  I think it's likely he had done this sort of thing before and that he did have markedly slower reaction time (up to 30% lower if I remember correctly?)

 

His BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) was .196, he was indeed hammered. So there is no doubt on my mind that had an effect.

[Rhoda]

One of the things that keeps cropping up as I read about this is how sober he seemed to everyone, including bar-staff and other people enjoying a drink. It shouldn't be a factor, because some people handle their beer better than others and do a damn sight better job of looking less drunk than they are. Couple this with the fact he's probably been drinking rather heavily for over 15 years and you've got someone who's used to it and built up quite the tolerance. I just don't like how it's brought up as an "excuse".

[Gundog]

Ah sh*t! I'm a huge Jackass fan, and it's really sad seeing one of the core members go. He and Chris Pontius were my favourite jackasses.

 

f*cking sucks. I wonder how Bam and the others are taking it.

 

R.I.P. Man.

[_Rob_]

Ah sh*t! I'm a huge Jackass fan, and it's really sad seeing one of the core members go. He and Chris Pontius were my favourite jackasses.

 

f*cking sucks. I wonder how Bam and the others are taking it.

 

R.I.P. Man.

See for yourself man, you know it's bad when Bam won't appear on camera

 

 

[Brown Sugar]

I just saw the bam margera interview, he seemed really f*cked up about the whole thing, I was also sickened to hear that people were going to "protest" his funeral, what f*cking scum those people are.

[Stig]

I just saw the bam margera interview, he seemed really f*cked up about the whole thing, I was also sickened to hear that people were going to "protest" his funeral, what f*cking scum those people are.

If you think protesting his funeral is disgusting, you should have seen the scumbags climbing the embankment taking the parts of Dunn's car that were still there to "sell on ebay".

 

This world we live in is as ugly as it is cruel.

[_Rob_]

Yeah I saw that, not only is it immoral and disgusting it's also against the law.

[Saggy]

 

Long post, etc.

I agree with you Sag on all points except one,

 

 

Frankly I doubt Dunn was even inebriated enough to have a sever effect on the faculties you speak of.  None of the witnesses reported that he seemed that intoxicated, and realistically if he was even able to get to that point on the high way he was probably not that effected by his BAC.  I think it's likely he had done this sort of thing before and that he did have markedly slower reaction time (up to 30% lower if I remember correctly?)

 

His BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) was .196, he was indeed hammered. So there is no doubt on my mind that had an effect.

Well, the effects of a .196 BAC level are subjective to be honest, and there weren't really any classic indicators that he was "hammered", like the bar tender telling him to get a cab or something of that nature. Not that people don't slip through the cracks in that fashion all the time and drive home a little tipsier than they thought they were. I'm just saying overall that the guy had a heavy tolerance to alcohol and so I think the whole aspect of, "Oh, he was so irresponsible for driving that wasted," is a little dismissive of that fact--I think it was one of those "buzzed driving" cases where a person is more effected by it than anyone realizes. However on top of that I just think that if he were sober, he would be just as likely to have lost control and die doing what he did, from the looks of the scene. Remember, we're not talking about him careening into another car, he lost control and left the roadway and from the looks of it there wasn't any contact with any other vehicle. So maybe he swerved around one, or vise versa (or just skidded out of control, saw a deer, etc.), but bottom line is that even if he were sober and going at those kinds of speeds it doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would be avoidable at the moment of the accident. There's still the contention thereafter that he wouldn't have been driving that recklessly if not for the alcohol (and therefore it would have been avoidable), but I just think that really downplays the significance of the speeding.

 

Anyway, the more I talk about it the more I seem to care and the more I seem like I'm judging him, so I think I'll give it a rest 'cause I don't want to be "that guy". No better than Roger Ebert trying to make a point really, but I just think that if a point has to be made it shouldn't be the same old re-hashed drunk driving point, especially if the issue of reckless driving is seen as trivial-at-best because of the attention given to the drunk-driving.

 

Edit:

 

Oh yeah, saw the people picking up pieces of the debris today too. Pretty disgusting, I wonder if it started from some fans wanting to get a "keep-sake" or if it was just downright, "Hey, I could sell that on eBay!" from the start.

Edited June 24, 2011 by SagaciousKJB

[King Mystery]

R.I.P.

I hate idiots who think he's the guy from The Hangover and only worry that, because he's dead, they won't be able to make Hangover 3.

[sivispacem]

130 MPH is inherently dangerous, especially on roads that were in no way designed or maintained to be driven on with that kind of speed. The slightest alteration to road surface at that speed can be disastrous, and as I already pointed out, reaction time can mean little. On top of that, seeing as Dunn already had countless reckless driving and speeding infractions, I think his machismo and bravado extended well beyond the times he was drunk.

 

Understand that even professional racers who put weeks of safety preparation into races as well as tons of driving still bail out at these kinds of speeds because regaining control at that velocity is just so difficult. Places like dry lake beds or the autobahn are ideal for driving at speeds like this because it's not likely they will present a challenge to control, but even then the slightest changes in surface have caused very bad things to happen at dry-lake proving grounds because of sudden changes in texture and humidity of the ground. The autobahn on the other hand is a road specifically designed and maintained to give consistent traction and control at those speeds, with higher-than-average embankments and the like.

I've driven on the Autobahn a number of times and can categorically say that the road surface on it is no better than your average UK motorway. In fact, I'd go out on a limb and say that many sections of it are actually significantly worse in terms of fluctuations in road surface height. Yes, the tarmac itself is finer which reduces tyre roar and gives a more uniform contact patch, but the idea that it's somehow race-circuit-smooth is a bit of a myth. I also feel that you somewhat underestimate the ability of vehicle suspension to cope with being unsettled by undulations and even quite sudden drops in the level of a road surface, or even sharp changes in camber.

 

As for reaction times, yes, you are right regarding distances travelled. But many continental European nations have speed limits that are around 70% of the speed Dunn was travelling when the accident occurred. The difference in terms of thinking distance is not great enough to prevent a car from careering across two or three lanes of traffic in the time it takes someone to respond. And by no means what I implying that 130mph is, or ever has been, an acceptable speed to do on public roads. My point is that the speed itself is not what it inherently dangerous, but the environment in which one does the speed and/or the training of the driver involved. There are certain instances where factors are beyond the control of drivers- animals running into the road, the behaviour of other road users et cetera, and these cannot be mitigated by a driver. In an environment where these are physically mitigated- such as a track day, VMax style event or run-what-you-brung drag event, the only remaining factors that create hazard associated with speed are the vehicle and the driver. In the case in question, the vehicle is unlikely to be at fault as it has been specifically designed to be driven aggressively at speeds considerably in excess of that at which the accident occurred.

 

That leaves the driver. Was the driver at fault in this accident? All signs point to "yes". Was the speed that he was travelling a contributing factor? Yes. Did he have the accident because he was speeding, though? Well, it's unlikely that we shall ever know, but it's very difficult to unsettle a car, even a powerful car on an unforgiving surface, without the driver's input being the cause of the unsettling. Hit a crest or dip seen on, say, a British motorway at that kind of speed and unless the driver's input (such as steering angle, throttle or brake position et cetera) changes the vehicle won't suddenly spin off and crash. The primary cause of high-speed accidents, both on roads and in motor racing, is drivers overcompensating for shimmies or slight, controlled slides that, given neutral input, the vehicle itself produces enough physical traction or aerodynamic grip to recover from with minimal directional change. Thus, the accident is directly attributed to the actions of the driver and not the speed they are travelling.

 

I should reiterate, I am in no way saying that 130 miles per hour is a safe speed to drive on a public highway. Even doing it or exceeding it on an Autobahn is a calculated risk for the driver, as a blow-out or mechanical failure at that speed is quite likely to be fatal. But it is not the speed that is in itself dangerous, it's the driver, the environment, the vehicle and the behaviour of other road users.

[WHAT!?]

I just saw the bam margera interview, he seemed really f*cked up about the whole thing, I was also sickened to hear that people were going to "protest" his funeral, what f*cking scum those people are.

If you think protesting his funeral is disgusting, you should have seen the scumbags climbing the embankment taking the parts of Dunn's car that were still there to "sell on ebay".

 

This world we live in is as ugly as it is cruel.

Yeah. Westburo Baptist "Church" is at it again. Is there anyway we could all just get together and burn that place down with the congregation still inside it?

 

Ryan Dunn is in Hell

 

Lovely people.

[Useless Dave]

I just saw the bam margera interview, he seemed really f*cked up about the whole thing, I was also sickened to hear that people were going to "protest" his funeral, what f*cking scum those people are.

If you think protesting his funeral is disgusting, you should have seen the scumbags climbing the embankment taking the parts of Dunn's car that were still there to "sell on ebay".

 

This world we live in is as ugly as it is cruel.

Yeah. Westburo Baptist "Church" is at it again. Is there anyway we could all just get together and burn that place down with the congregation still inside it?

 

Ryan Dunn is in Hell

 

Lovely people.

What a bunch of jackasses.

[chennaz321]

R.I.P.

I hate idiots who think he's the guy from The Hangover and only worry that, because he's dead, they won't be able to make Hangover 3.

So, luckily for us, nobody.

[King Mystery]

R.I.P.

I hate idiots who think he's the guy from The Hangover and only worry that, because he's dead, they won't be able to make Hangover 3.

So, luckily for us, nobody.

I've seen a couple people on Facebook though.