The recent fatal car accident involving actor Paul Walker sparked a lot of questions in people’s minds. Some were quick to judge that the “The Fast and the Furious” actor must have been driving recklessly. Others even speculated the accident was faked as a publicity stunt for the latest installment of the movie franchise.
More importantly, family members and law enforcement needed answers. One piece of the puzzle was filled in by Vitek Industrial Video Products Inc., Valencia, Calif. The company’s headquarters is located just 500 feet away from the site of the car crash, and employees soon found that cameras placed to monitor the building could provide some answers regarding the accident.
Greg Bier, director and chief executive officer of VITEK, shared with SDM that the company’s ENVI IP camera captured the street in which the crash occurred as well as the point of contact and devastating fire.
“These images aided police in their investigation in several ways,” Bier explained. “The fact that there was not another car immediately seen at the time of impact tells that they were not racing. We were also able to determine the direction in which they were traveling as we have the entire curve captured from both directions. We were also able to see how quickly the fire department arrived on the seen – within a couple of minutes.”
Bier added that the camera footage also provided information on cars gathering around the accident area that could lead to eye witnesses.
