The spectacular crash in Beijing, China, involved a green Lamborghini and a red Ferrari, as well as two other luxury sports cars. The Lamborghini was totaled while the other three cars were badly damaged in the crash, which happened in a tunnel near the Olympic Bird’s Nest stadium, writes Julie Makinen for the Los Angeles Times.
“Furious 7” released on same night as crash
According to the Beijing News, the driver of the Lamborghini was attempting to overtake the Ferrari when he lost control of his vehicle, hitting the guardrail before cannoning into the tunnel wall. The race may have been inspired by the imminent release of “Furious 7,” which opened in China just two hours after the crash occurred.
Although pictures showed that the Lamborghini was badly damaged, there were no fatalities in the crash. One person was injured. Sources claimed that the drivers were college students, while police said that the cars were traveling at over 100 mph, and both drivers were taken to the police station on suspicion of reckless driving.
“Furious 7” and “Need for Speed” perform strongly in China
Crashes involving expensive sports cars have made the news various times in the past few years in China. One famous crash involved the son of a high-ranking Communist party official, who died in an incident which also led to the death of one of his two female passengers. All three were reported to have been naked or partially naked at the time of the crash.
Car chase movies like “Furious 7” and “Need for Speed” have proved immensely popular in China, and the links to high-speed crashes were not lost on one reader of China’s Global Times tabloid, who commented that the two men involved in this latest crash must have “been watching too many Western car chase movies.”
“Need for Speed” took over $65 million on the Chinese mainland, more than DreamWorks earned from the film in North America, and a consortium of companies are set to film a sequel in China. Let’s hope that car racing fans are not inspired to take the sport from the big screen to the streets.
