The Tesla wreck on the salt this weekend

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I expect most of us have seen the news of the Tesla that crashed head-on into the dike/berm this weekend.  I'm not sure why, but I feel the need to defend the driver and the others in the car.  They had no reason not to do it.  Well, no reason other than common sense - who the hell is so ignorant that he'll drive that fast on an unknown "road"?  Well - - -

We all know that the vast majority of people know one thing about Bonneville:  That's where they go really, really fast.  That's all.  They don't know Save the Salt, they don't know it's a lake bed that floods yearly (and more), they don't know about fragile salt and weather stations and campfire messes, they don't know about the Salduro dike and they never heard the Boyd Coddington saga.  All they know is that it must be a good place for them to go fast.

With all of that said it'd be easy to consider them stupid (as in "You can't fix stupid"), but realistically and without being pejorative, their sin was being ignorant.  They simply didn't know enough. 

I hope they recover well, and hey - maybe some day they'll show up for one of our events and learn about going fast - safely.

[37 ROADSTER]

I thought the access road was closed

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I don't think there is any way to close the road.  During events, yes, but not otherwise.

[gowing]

for some reason...
the phrases "Ignorance is no excuse" and "Look before you leap" keep coming back to me.

It sounds like they are going to be OK, which is good.

[manta22]

"... who the hell is so ignorant that he'll drive that fast on an unknown "road"?  Well - - -..." And in the dark!

Looking at the photos, it looks like they started sinking into the mud some distance before they hit the dike. This must have slowed the car considerably before it hit. I think their lives were saved by the mud!

[37 ROADSTER]

 The BLM put up blocks and signs, saying the salt was closed.

[Speed Limit 1000]

i was out at the end of the road last Tuesday. The BLM put large concrete blocks at the end of the road and a sign that said please stay off the wet salt. A large class C motor home was camping across the access on the salt side. The crash looks like the car came from the west bound rest area.                                     

[floydjer]

First line of the article...."A family of five from Utah".....🤔

[WOODY@DDLLC]

Did they leave a carbon footprint? 

[bob]

thats todays populace , its Disney world out there

[Milwaukee Midget]

My thoughts and prayers to the family.

But I AM compelled to ask this -

Would a non-fatal crash at Bonneville have made the local news broadcast had they been driving a Camry?

[floydjer]

Did they leave a carbon footprint? 

Yo Woody....Probably a factory flaw...It was in autonomous mode and they forgot to install a driver.

[floydjer]

My thoughts and prayers to the family.

But I AM compelled to ask this -

Would a non-fatal crash at Bonneville have made the local news broadcast had they been driving a Camry?

May 27 2020....That made A/P headlines.

[USFRAMONTE]

Without any more information, I would guess it happened inside the Salduro loop. The public can access that area from the rest stop. A person can be deceived by the actual distance vs guesstimated distance.
There is still too much water at the end of the access road to allow someone to be going over 100 mph and collide with the dike. Inside the loop (dike if you prefer). It is dry enough to drive a vehicle on the surface.

[aircap]

No, I hadn't heard about this story. These idiots are lucky they aren't dead.