Don't you just hate when this happens?

[seamusTX]

A man was driving a Bugatti Veyron on northbound I-45 north of Galveston Island when he became distracted and drove into Omega Bay.

The French sports car, capable of 250 MPH in street-legal form, costs around $2 million [sic].

The driver escaped without physical injury.

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... b485e70b57" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In that area, a driver can make a hard right turn and end up in the water. Most of the road has no guard rails.

In unrelated news, a dead elk turned up on the I-45 frontage road near Holland Road in northern Galveston County.

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... 10ee6ea0da" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The animal is not native to Texas. No known elk in private hands were reported missing.

It could only have been UFOs.

- Jim

[ELB]

Is there a full moon right now? It's been overcast lately and I haven't noticed, but as a volunteer firefigher/emt I've been to two rollover accidents (dodging deer instead of seagulls) and two assaults in the last few days. We are a pretty rural area and don't usually get that many so close together.

Oh, and the article about the car had this line in it:

Police and firefighters blocked the frontage road until MCH Towing employee Gilbert Harrison carefully wenched the car away from riprap and onto the soft, muddy bank.

Funny, in the accompanying photo I only saw one pudgy male tow truck driver....

[seamusTX]

Is there a full moon right now?

No. We're about four days or nights away from the new moon.

- Jim

[joe817]

The Bugatti Veyron was just in the news up here on our CBS affiliate. They reported he was talking on a cel phone.

[seamusTX]

The driver of the vehicle that struck the elk (or maybe the elk struck the vehicle?) has been identified. Still no information on where the elk came from.

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... 740175e108" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are no thick woods in that area. I can't imagine a herd of elk living their unnoticed.

- Jim

[Keith B]

The driver of the vehicle that struck the elk (or maybe the elk struck the vehicle?) has been identified. Still no information on where the elk came from.

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... 740175e108" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are no thick woods in that area. I can't imagine a herd of elk living their unnoticed.

- Jim

Maybe he just came from a meeting?? http://www.elks.org/lodges/ContactUs.cf ... umber=0126" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[longtooth]

Well, that guy does not live next door to me.
Not too good a picture & I dont recognize hem from here. I really dont know on a visitation basis anyone that can afford that vehicle. Dont really blame him for not giving his name.

[Abraham]

Perhaps a 'cell phone traffic lane' could be added - leading directly into the bay (once on -no stops allowed) / made mandatory for those who think cell phone blathering an automatic must when driving...

[seamusTX]

Have you ever been to Galveston Island? All the southbound streets end at the Gulf of Mexico, and in most cases there is no obstacle to driving off the Seawall or into the ocean. People do it all the time (usually drunk).

This incident didn't happen on the island, but it's easy to drive into the water where it happened.

- Jim

[pdubyoo]

If you're a gear-head like me, you have to appreciate what the Bugatti Veyron is actually capable of doing...speedwise. If you're interested, here's a video of it clocking in at a mere 253mph (407kmh). Awesome, considering the average 9mm round travels between 650~750mph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO0PgyPWE3o

[chabouk]

I love that Top Gear episode, where the "flat" stretch at Wolfsburg shows the curvature of the earth.

I've done lots of thinking and theorizing about ballistics, and there's some strange science involved, including the fact that a "straight line" on the earth's surface and per the earth's gravity, is a curve. Bullet flight is always in 3 axes. If you shoot any direction other than due east or due west, you're shooting on the curve. Not relative to the bullet itself, but relative to the earth's surface, because the earth rotates beneath the bullet while it's in flight.

Field artillery and naval gunnery charts actually take this into account, which is why "direction" is a key part of the firing solution.

It looks like the "low flying pelican" was nowhere in evidence. A facebook friend sent me the link to this video, where someone was actually filming the Veyron while it went swimming.

WARNING: video contains verbal exclamations you might not want your family or co-workers to hear, so I'm not using the "youtube button". You'll have to go directly to the site if you want to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32yyvmlGOdo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[seamusTX]

Pelicans do play chicken with vehicles in that area (and lose sometimes).

Today's Daily News contains some more details: http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... 18e47df13e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Apparently the driver of the Bugatti owns a dealership for exotic cars.

- Jim

[akhooters7]

score one for the birds.....

[mctowalot]

1,001 horse power. This one goes to 11!

[seamusTX]

Bugatti driver was sued for insurance fraud: http://galvestondailynews.com/story/276126" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Allegations are not facts until proven in court.

- Jim