BREAKING: Toyota Chief Test Driver Killed Driving LF-A Nurburgring Edition

I just want remind everyone to be respectful. This thread is not the to place post anything other than condolences and pertinent commentary.

Thank you

dude, seriously why do you always get deboosted here? (newby here) I didn't realize you could be so dislike on a website..jeez. I feel sorry for you dude-

RIP for the driver and hope other drivers will fully recover and get back on the pedal soon:(

*disliked

SilentMajority- I tend to bring up subjects that some people would rather not hear. I guess that is the price you pay for being a non-conformist.

Though quite a bit of the feedback has made me change my stance over the years. It always helps to see all sides of the issues.

You ask for respectful, yet you're letting all these crappy posts come thru. Nicejob 009.

RIP );

I praised him so much, especially after reading his Lexus interview.

is this another Toyota with issues?

oh and RIP random dude that I don't know

all the agents are BMW biased, brainwashed, cheerleaders. thats why they get deboosted. oh, and oo1 gets deboosted even more because he attempted to fool every1 in thinkin he just bought a 335is

RIP to the driver.

It looks like the accident happened in the lane that the BMW was traveling in. It may be that the LFA driver was coming through the bend and came into the oncoming (BMW) lane to find the apex of the corner the way one does on a track. It looks like they hit nearly straight on and the impact which compacted the steal of the BMW then recoiled and left the BMW a bit sideways. If you have watched any real accidents happen, you know that there is always quite a bit of movement of the cars post initial impact while the remaining energy gets dissipated.

He was an employee of Toyota since 1967 and Toyoda's personal driver.... Sad day indeed. My prayers go out to his family..

RIP to the driver... And I suggest that we refrain ourselves from making fun of the gas pedal issue in this post. It’s no news that Toyota has been having issues with unintended acceleration. Someone has just lost his life & we should take it seriously.

Stuck gas pedal? Didn't realize they sourced the LF-A's system from the Camry.

Watch it! (as my finger hovers over the ban button)

Too soon?

Very classy. Grow up!

bye22ca
so you wishing bad carma on him comes back to him 10X and back to you 100?

Gas pedal? Oh wait to soon!

RIP

It's always a shame to see something like this happen.

Hope the BMW drivers come out of this oh-kay.

Did he tangle with a 3-Series?

Yup, it is a late model E90 3-Series...

RIP. At least he died doing what he enjoyed. I'm truly saddened by this. Death isn’t something to make jokes off of.

I think we can all agree on this one.

In the video the fireman roughly says:

"Here's an accident that occurred on the K94. Behind me to the left is the collision. The "Nissan-Lexus" driver was killed and the two people in the BMW were injured. They were rescued and transported by (PHK/BHK?) and are in the hospital being cared for. I can't comment/speculate on what happened, but police have secured the scene and the state prosecutors office has been notified. They've dispatched a (some kind of doctor--coroner?) from Koblenz and he's going to secure more details so the accident can be reconstructed."

At least he was driving the car he helped create, Hiromu Naruse! Master test driver for toyota/lexus. This guy brought exciting to Toyota. He helped fine tune the LFA, and had a part of this car ever since it's concenption. He also had a part in the Toyota Supra, MRS and AE86. Trully a master of sport cars. I believe something extraordinary happened to him to cause this accident. Hopefully we get more information soon. Condolences to Naruse's family, to all of Toyota family as well. I know he was very close to Akio Toyoda.

I would like to know more details about the crash. The 3-Series looks really banged up, but the LF-A is absolutely demolished. Is the LF-A not a safe car?

HSCenterconsole,

This wasn't a controlled test to see how both vehicles would fair in an accident of equal impact. They’re several other variables that could have caused the LF-A to take more of an impact than the BMW. Asking if the LF-A isn't a safe car, without knowing all the facts of that accident, borders on stupidity.

Why the Deboost ?

That was a very sensible question by HS.

Lexsucks: You do not need a blasted Controlled Test to wonder why 2 vehicles of not too dis-similar Size and Weight in a Head-On Collision would result in the death of the occupant of one vehicle but not the occupants of the other vehicle.

Also HS's observations regarding the structural remnants of both vehicles is quite important.

Is it possible that in chasing Lower Weight, the Structural Integrity of the LFA is compromised ?

Are you sure that it was a 100% head-on collision? You don't know. Speculating without any details, and question the LF-A? isn't really supported by any evidence yet. Too many arm-chair quarterbacks.

doesn't the e90 3 series weigh in at 3362lbs? Which is about what the LFA weighs?

This is like talking to a Retard.

LOOK AT THE BLOODY VIDEO.

Watch it carefully. Now unless you see other vehicles to indicate a 3 vehicle incident i guess we can all assume it was frontal collision to both vehicles.

What was the angle of impact in relation to both cars? Mr Smartie.
Or does that even really matter to you? Even in a head on collision, it is possible for one vehicle to be subjected to higher forces than the other. Or is that a foreign concept to you? Not all accidents are created equal, even of the head on variety. They are people who are paid to investigate these type of things. There's a reason for that. And judging from your reply I can see why.

it still makes you wonder about the safety/ that is all

Dumb question perhaps but was the LFA driver wearing seatbelts? Scarry indeed. My condolense to his family.

Seatbelts aren't going to stop a brain stem from snapping. I'm not saying that was the cause of death, but seat belts do not protect you from having your head snap forward violently. Which can sever the spine at the base of the neck. That’s how Dale Earnhart died. A Hans device can prevent that sort of trauma.

I guess all it takes its the "right" type of hit to make a minor crash deadly.

FIP, this is very sad indeed.

My first thought- which nobody has brought up- is why did he veer into oncoming traffic?????

Was he trying to overtake another vehicle and figured his LF-A had enough passing power to get around in time not to be smashed???

Very sad....

they need to see if it was driver or car or both that caused the accident. After talking with Obama we need to put a 6 month stop to all LF-A sales to check safety. Or maybe a stop to all car sales of non GM cars

There are 3 parts to accident reconstruction. 1 of which is crucial and no one probably knows yet.

1. Scene reconstruction, skid marks, debris patterns etc.
2. Vehicle Damage
3. Witnesses

Trying to look at the video, I could not notice any tire marks etc.

Vehicle damage, to me it seems the BMW was driving in it's lane on a sweeping right(BMW's perspective), Lexus was in the wrong lane for whatever reason, BMW made visual contact with the lexus and swerved left to avoid, made contact at it's driver side with the lexus which caused it to rotate.

None-the-less, condolences to the driver. RIP

badgewhore, you're determined to make this all about how terrible BMWs and their drivers are, huh?

Is that your theory? Asians, because of their diet, do not have heart-attacks?

Look at the curve on the road, who would be where and why? The BMW driver, amateur or not, is going to react by swerving, albeit to late, to avoid a hit. Who wouldn't? Since the damage is all that is pretty much discernible from the video, the Lexus was in the wrong. The fact that he couldn't avoid the lexus means that a) The Lexus went further left after reacting to the BMW's avoidance maneuver or b) The Lexus was going way to fast for the road and the BMW driver had little time to react.

Your theory of the BMW driver in the wrong lane(left) and then swerving to correct itself is proven wrong since the BMW would have pretty much done 360's since the rotational spin of the car turning clockwise in addition to an impact to it's right-most front would have caused a severe spin. You don't see that in the video(unless the cars were moved for other reasons, extraction, accident reconstruction etc.)

This is all speculation with only 20% of the information(if that). Hopefully if anyone gets the final results of the investigation after observing the roads and interviewing witnesses, please post it here.

This is a tragedy all around.

I feel much sorrow sorrow for the driver and those involved. One has to think would this have happened if Toyota was more honest with the pedal problems.

Karma?

stop with the KARMA

Agree very sad moment. Also sad because he will not see the final version of this potentially the fastest Toyota ever.

JUGNU

LFA is CF construction....thanks GOD for the BMW passengers this was a Toyota. An accicent like that against an MB SLR definitely could be with diferent outcome. I do remeber an SLR in Poland that wipeout 4 cars, the owner and his son were able to survive almost perfectly....LFA is a great sport car as most of BMWs but when you sacrifice structural integrity to reduce weight the security will be compromised....always. BMW now is changing that phylosophy so it is very likely that you will see heavier bimmers but also safer than before.

The carbon fiber shell likely had no bearing on this accident, as the frame is what would absorb the impact. If you look at the video, the LFA passenger compartment seems quite intact. Something else caused his death, not the car crumpling poorly. As has been said, it may have been his neck snapping, or any number of other factors. The car's safety hardly seems the likely culprit.

the bimmer involved in this accident weighs as much as the lfa...

It seems that the cars must have had about the same kinetic energy on collision, since there are no marks on the road, or trail of debris. (both cars stopped like they hit a brick wall)

Sorry to hear this these are the people that make all of our vehicles safer. Prayers to the family.

Very sad.
I hope his family will have the strength to bear the loss.
I hope the other drivers get to recover from this.
My thoughts are prayers are with the families involved.

RIP Godfather of Sports 800, 1600GT, 2000GT, 7, Celica, AE86, MR2, Supra, Altezza, MR-S, 2nd gen Prius, and finally, the LF-A....

My Condolences to Naruse's family.

Wow, this is both shocking and sad. I am very disappointed by some of the users on this website that are making stabs at Toyota when someone just died. How rude.

My condolences to the family of the driver, and may he RIP.

RIP to the Toyota family as a whole and thoughts to the
BMW drivers and families.Please,take a very close look at the position of the vehicles at rest, then look at the curve and direction of travel. Who drifted where and who had to respond, the theory of intersecting lines and avoidance of same is going to come into play. This is a great loss to the auto community.

Requiescat in Pace

-or- reqwescot in pachay (which is the way I say it)

This is very sad and my condolences
RIP Naruse-san

Rest in peace (driver). May God be with your family and friends during this time. The lost of a human life is the worst pain in the world to the ones close to him/her.

As for the accident, Im in shock as to how he lost his life when both cars look equally wrecked. This incident is both shocking and sad.

<Bimmer ended up still in his own lane. LF-A even went further left onto the shoulder to avoid bimmer, but bimmer still manage to hit him. If bimmer had swerve to the left as you'd said, he'd be free and clear and this wouldn't have happened. No one would have to die and be injured. If bimmer driver reacted late, he was probably slacking off and not paying attention or was the one doing the high speed driving and couldn't react fast enough due to poor driving skill piloting an inferior performing car.>

Reports stated that the the other driver was a BMW Test driver, not a driver test driving a BMW. He was obviously well trained, more than you or I... now was he at the level of the Toyota driver, I would assume no. But none-the-less, this was no ordinary joe driving a vehicle.


<Experts would disagree since there is obviously more to this than what one picture suggest. Just cause one is in the wrong lane doesn't mean one is automatically in the wrong. Something caused that person to be in the wrong lane. There could be a third vehicle involved. Maybe the bimmer was racing an AUDI? AUDI tries to overtake bimmer and crossed deep into LF-As lane, Lexus driver had nochoice but to head for bimmers shoulder, it's the last place the two softy stock cars would likely be in the middle of a curve. Unfortunately road wasn't wide enough.>

I didn't say there wasn't more to investigate or go on, I am saying that is all WE have to go on at this moment, a 2 minute video and a couple of static pictures at off angles.



<Makes no sense that a veteran master driver piloting a 2million dollar prototype would risk everything just for some thrill ride on public road when he can easily max the vehicles abilities at the ring anytime he wanted, dude created the vehicle and has the full backing of Toyotas might and knows public road is too limiting and not safe. It's like Bill Gate personally hacking your computer to use it cause he didn't have enough computers, what's the chance of that happening? I could be wrong, Mr. Naruse could be under a sith lord mind control.>

A lot of things don't make sense.


<If bimmer saw Lexus was in his lane, his first and natural reaction would be to manuever left to avoid lexus. Now shouldn't they've missed each other if bimmer had done that? But since they crashed and bimmer is clearly still in his lane, only conclusion left to your theory is bimmer was gunning for him, no sign of an attempt to avoid or stop as not to hit the Lexus. This explains why there's no skid mark. Lexus driver did what he could but ran out of room.>

......or the BMW reacted late, or could not react at all.

<Maybe this bimmer is heavily modified or stock BMWs are as good in handling as they say? So good that it could match the agility of a 400K prototype Lexus exotic? Cops should consider getting bimmers as
.....as chase vehicles in case bad guys in Lotus Exige decides to maneuver around patrol cars the way r