On Saturday, November 30, 2013, Paul Walker, along with his friend Roger Rodas were tragically killed in a car crash in which they riding in a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT. This is very eerily similar to the 2005 car accident in which Corey Rudl, an internet marketing pioneer, was tragically killed. In both accidents, they were driving a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT., similar to the model shown below:
In the 2005 accident, Mr. Rudl’s family ended up settling a lawsuit with Porsche and the racetrack owners where the accident occurred. In the lawsuit, Corey Rudl’s family claimed:
the sports car was not equipped with Electronic Stability Control, a feature that would have prevented Mr. Rudl’s death. This is according to Craig McClellan, who represented the Rudl family in the lawsuit. The lawyer and the family says that the “track was dangerously designed with the concrete barrier that the Porsche hit being placed in the “run off” area where the vehicle is supposed to be given room to slow down.”
Regarding the 2005 Corey Rudl accident and lawsuit, Auto Blog wrote an article updating the situation with the lawsuit:
Tracy Rudl, the wife of passenger Corey Rudl, filed a lawsuit claiming gross negligence by many parties associated with the track event. She recently received a settlement of approximately $4.5 million. The contributing parties to the settlement fund were 2% from the merging Ferrari driver, 8% from Porsche, 41% from California Speedway and Ferrari Owner’s Club and finally 49% from the Carrera GT driver’s estate.
This really begs the question: if the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT was equipped with Electronic Stability Control, could Paul Walker’s tragic death have been avoided? I realize that speed were most likely factors in both crashes. But I find it kind of a weird coincidence that both of these crashes involved a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT.