Click Image to Watch Jeff Gordon’s Pepsi Max Test Drive
The hits just keep on coming…
When it comes to Fast & Furious star Paul Walker post death crash remembrances, the sky’s the limit. One week later and everybody still wants in.
“Gone Too Fast,” reads the headline in Entertainment Weekly. “Paul Walker was more than Hollywood’s wingman. he was one of the good guys.”
The $64 million question:
Why have virtually 100 percent of the media breathlessly covering Walker’s dangerous and deadly ride shied away from criticizing him?
“You’re right, I haven’t heard anybody take that angle,” says Roger Peugeot aka Roger the Plumber, who drives of a red Nissan Z sports car “Although some of the people I’ve had conversations with about it have said that sometimes people think they’re invincible because they’ve got so much money and they’re never going to get hurt.
“But if you do something and you don’t know better, that’s pretty ignorant. But if you do something and you know better, that’s just stupid. And Walker could have really hurt somebody. I can see where the news people don’t want to say anything bad about somebody who just died, but…”
And before the comments crowd chimes errupts with the scoop that Walker wasn’t driving, catch Peugeot’s take on that excuse.
“I just can’t believe it was all just an impulse kind of thing, that they just left without knowing exactly what they were going to do,” Peugeot says. “And not only that, if you got in a car and somebody started driving like that – even if he was an experienced race car driver – you’d be going, ‘Hold it! Hold it!’ I would have been screaming my head off. I probably would have reached over and turned off the key.”
The naive theory that experienced sports car buff and racer Walker being just an innocent passenger on the wild ride reminds Peugeot of a TV ad earlier this year.
“Remember that Pepsi commercial with Jeff Gordon?” Peugeot asks. “It’s called the Pepsi Max car prank or something. I don’t think it was on TV, it was just an Internet thing. And they show how Gordon tricked this car salesman into going on a test drive in a souped up Camaro.
“And when the test drive begins Gordon just screams out of the lot, does some donuts and hauls ass down the road while the car sales guy is yelling, ‘Slow down!’ and he’s crapping in his pants telling Gordon to stop and if he wrecks it, he’s going to be responsible for it.”
Yeah, Walker was undoubtedly shocked and horrified by his race car driver pal’s actions.
Hearne, you need to find a better class of people to get comments from for your continuous beating down of people stories. Who is Roger to criticize anyone when his trucks run all over town everyday cutting people off. And yes the Pepsi ad was all over TV not just the internet so another point against him for making comments about things he had no clue about. And many cars today and has been the way for many years, you reach over and turn the key off and you will lock down the steering wheel, yes that’s a real smart thing to do as your buddy then slams into tree.
Was Hearne even serious with that? I thought it was a spoof? I mean why would you interview Bob the Builder for something like this?
Whoops, Roger the plumber, not Bob the builder LOL
Same reason I let anonymous pot shooters like BS add their two cents to the various equations.
Open discourse with people of note weighing in may be maddening to some – Glazer on sports? – especially for those who disagree with their opinions. But Roger is a high profile, local businessman who volunteered his opinion, made some interesting points and wasn’t afraid to use his real name.
Works for me
Funny you should mention that, SD…
I was thinking that very thing the other day. What would happen if you turned the key off while driving. In year’s past the steering wheel would lock and who knows what would happen.
However, I’m not so sure with the advances in safety that that’s the case now. I’ll look into it.
If Craig turned off your ignition while driving you could save your fiat by taking the ignition, which is now in “lock” and turning it one final click towards you. This unlocks the steering wheel and turns on the electric without starting the engine, allowing you to coast to a stop while you muscled the fiat wheel (no power steering when car off) to the side of the road.
Why not just turn key forwards to on position and let engine refire maybe before slamming into a tree?
Does turning off the ignition also put it in neutral? Because I’m pretty sure engine braking would stop you.
That’s what used to happen, balbonis but….
It’s been so long since I’ve flirted with something that insane, I was hoping the safety folks had ruled that out.
You certain?
i’d like to hear Bob Hamilton’s take before I make a final judgment.
Give him a call
When you do remember the 913
I want leftetz’s comments on this one before I pass judgment.
Why don’t you just try and answer Jess’s question, Dude
Only when I see Hamilton’s and leftezezes’s takes.
One of the basic tenets of human behavior is if you do something risky and get away with it, it emboldens you to do it again. Each time you do and have no accident it emboldens you even more.
Yeah, that Pepsi commercial is a real example of someone riding shotgun reacting to the situation. According to the script that is. Yeah, that’s a reference to use.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC-R3YUy9Wg
I’m sure all the “news reporters” are anxious to put ink to paper which would cut off their access to the “beautiful people” from the stage, screen and recording studio. Burning bridges is how you have a long career isn’t it?
Maybe Paul Walker might have reflected on this and the history which goes with it. He might be here today if’n he had.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU5N2SrEaZI
Is there a kcc xmas party this year? Paul does wicked long kegstands, thats how he landed his hottie wife….true story.
Yep, the KCC holiday wild is….shhhhhhhhh….December 23rd at the Uptown
Hearne you love to stir the pot, let Paul rest in peace, nice guy, tragic ending…good actor, he had it all..sad. Let it go.
In this particular case, if you’re going to blame the PASSENGER for what happened because of his fixation with speed and his willingness to ride in the car, why stop there and perhaps you should also point a finger at the manufacturer who knowingly build these cars for basically this one purpose.
“And Walker could have really hurt somebody.” – Roger The Plumber
And how exactly, if a body part flew off and struck a passerby?
You’re over simplifying it PB and I suspect you know it.
He wasn’t just a passenger anymore than if he’d climbed into a Pontiac Trans Am for one of those goofy Smokey and the Bandit style cross country races.
They got in that car together so his driver pal could show him what it could do.
And show him, he did.
Roger the Plumber? Seriously? Where was Bob Zuroweste when you needed him?
Where is Schneider when you need some comments?
He’s living in South Leawood, why?
We are talking about the character from One day at a time, yes?
When oh when will we hear from the Watson’s girl on this story?!?
When pool season hits.
She’s out of the biz, I think, but thanks for thinking of her
Walker was a car guy and like any car guy you take some liberty to push the limits of the machine. Safe no, smart no, risky yep… Video shows that this car was on an isolated street with a credible driver at the wheel. Speculation can happen all day as to a failure of driver or car. I’m sure this author has never pulled out in front of someone, broken the speed limit, over drove the weather conditions. But like most of KCC authors in opinion pieces hypocrisy is the most common denominator. Walker wasn’t driving but even if he was he’d known the risks, he’d know it wasn’t smart, he wouldn’t be looking for an excuse and was fully prepared to accept the responsibilities. They aren’t remembering his action they are remembering his contributions in a medium that is both short on character and quick to judgement.
You’re right, Davy…
I think it’s safe to say we’ve all done some dumb things in our lives. But if you research this a little further, I think you’ll find that Walker actually subscribed to the illegal (and highly dangerous) street racing celebrated in the Fast & Furious movies.
Most media don’t have the balls to call someone out on something like this.
Live by the sword, die by the sword. Celebrate away.
Dig a little deeper? The cops dismissed a 2nd car was involved. Himself and Linda Hogan were about to join the cause to bring awareness to street racing. His movies may have glorified (exaggerated is more accurate) but no more than any other film glorifies sex and violence. Now I can assure you in my day I headed out for the street race and knew the risks as well as the fact that the more of an audience the bigger the problem. Few observers garnered just as much street cred and bragging rights. Secondly we can cry foul on the street race scene but nobody comes to the fight of local tracks such as KCIR that provided an outlet for such activity. Proclaim stupidity but California just like KC does very very little to promote safe alternatives or stand behind the institutions that bring safety to such an activity. It’s safer at a street race than any given highway in the metro at rush hour.