14 DAY TRIAL // Today, the final police report on the November Paul Walker fatal crash was released and it didn't bring any surprise conclusions. In a press conference held on Tuesday, March 26, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Commander Mike Parker has revealed that speed was the only cause of accident and not mechanical failure as it was speculated on many occasions.
Investigators determined the cause of the fatal solo-vehicle collision was unsafe speed for the roadway conditions, "Parker said during the conference. He recollected the circumstances under which the 2005 Porsche Career GT that was driven driven by Walker's friend Roger Rodas spun out of control on a public road and crashed into a lamp post at high speeds.”
Police have estimated that the car was traveling “between 80 and 93 mph [128 and 149 km/h]” according to a quote from Time. The recommended speed on the particular road in Santa Clarita, California they were traveling on at the time was 45 mph (72 km/h).
According to autopsy reports, neither of the men had drugs or alcohol in their system at the time of the accident and both were wearing their seat belts. The police pointed out that the airbags deployed properly upon impact with the lamp post and then with a tree.
The car was pretty much stock, apart from a modified exhaust system which allowed it to achieve ever greater speeds. Investigators established that the electrical systems, brakes, throttle, fuel system and steering systems were in perfect order right up to the crash.
The only mechanical feature that posed serious questions were the tires on the car that were used in the showroom and that were more than 9 years old and thus could have contributed to the crash.
The coroner confirmed that the men were found strapped into their respective seats, in a “pugilistic” stance, meaning that they were bracing for impact. Walker suffered fractures to his left jawbone, collarbone, pelvis, ribs, spine, right wrist and left arm while Rodas “rapidly died of several blunt head, neck and chest trauma.”
Scant traces of soot in Walker's trachea indicate that the actor died shortly before the entire car was engulfed in flames and smoke.
As for the theory that Rodas was racing another car when he crashed, the police have been unable to discern from the evidence if there was really a second vehicle involved “No eyewitness contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to say there was a second vehicle and there is no evidence to indicate there was a second car involved in the collision.”