Paul Walker Fans Create Memorial
As Los Angeles car accident lawyers, the Ellis Law Firm helps families suffering the consequences of serious and fatal motor vehicle collisions. Though our team is accustomed to dealing with these scenarios on a regular basis, it always seem a great shock when a famous person whom everybody feels like they know is the victim of such a tragedy. Fans are still reeling from the recent death of actor Paul Walker.
Thousands of people are paying their respects to Walker, the actor in the Fast and Furious movie series, at a makeshift memorial in Valencia, California where he died in a car accident. Walker was killed in a car driven by his friend Roger Rodas on November 30, near a sharp corner on Hercules Street. The car crashed into a pole and several trees before bursting into flames. The two had left a nearby fundraising event just before the accident.
Autopsies stated that Rodas died of multiple traumatic injuries and Walker of traumatic and thermal injuries. The accident is under investigation, but it’s believed speeding played a role.
Makeshift memorial created by fans
People from all over the world are showing up, according to an article in the New York Times. Promoted on a Facebook page, the tribute drew more than 8,000 people who had indicated on the Paul Walker/Roger Rodas Memorial Meet page that they would attend.
One Inland Empire group had posted its plan to leave San Bernardino at 9 a.m. sharp and cover the 90-mile journey well before 11:00 a.m. An Audi club from San Diego dispatched a convoy of 25 cars.About 100 Harley-Davidsons from the Vietnam Vets/Legacy Vets motorcycle club Chapter L met a short distance away, in Sylmar, after traveling independently from all directions to honor of their fellow member Paul Walker Sr., the star’s father, the club’s past president Manuel Escobedo told The Times.
A 15-car procession traveled the 425 miles from Gilbert, Ariz., while other cars’ license plates were from as far away as Oregon, Utah and New Mexico. Several groups came from Las Vegas, and a Mercedes-Benz had carried its occupants on a two-day, 1,700-mile trip from Minot, N.D.
Over the memorial a sheriff’s helicopter flew overhead and twin banner-towing airplanes circled in formation.The stream of cars proceeding up Kelly Johnson Parkway and onto Hercules Street ranged from bland to flamboyant: right-hand-drive cars from Japan, ground-scraping Hondas and Nissans and dozens of sport bikes rolled by, riders often revving their engines in a deafening salute.
Many left bouquets and candles on the curb, although some left car parts and bottles of beer.
Walker predicted smiling if he was killed due to high speed
Walker is credited with saying, “If one day the speed kills me, do not cry, because I was smiling.” This was plastered everywhere, on hoodies and in die-cut vinyl lettering applied to car bodies. After Sunday the Rye Canyon Business Park is likely to join the spot, on what is now California Route 46, where James Dean crashed his Porsche in 1955, as a hallowed location.
Speak with a Los Angeles car accident lawyer
Those of us at the Ellis Law Firm offer our deepest sympathies to the Walker and Rodas families. As experienced personal injury attorneys, we are all too familiar with the tragic ramifications of auto accidents in LA. The premature death of these young men is a reminder of the dangers on California’s roadways, and how quickly things can change in the event of a collision – regardless if speed or negligent driving was the cause. If you or someone you love was injured in a motor vehicle crash, call 310-641-3335 to schedule your complimentary consultation with a Los Angeles car accident lawyer today.