Porsche Test Driver Dies Testing Pre-Production 911 in 2008, a Porsche test driver died on the A5 Autobahn in Germany following an accident that happened while testing a Porsche 911 cabrio prototype. The reasons of the crash were not known at that moment but investigators have recently shown that the accident happened due to driver error, worldcarfans.com reported.

On February 13, the test driver was riding the car on the A5 Autobahn between Frankfurt and Heidelbarg when he lost control and crashed into a guard rail. Although the 51-year-old test driver was driving at a rate of 110 to 120 km/h, Darmstaadt's investigation concluded that neither excessive speed nor technical defects played a role in the crash. In addition, Porsche said in a statement that the vehicle was not involved in a high speed test. However, on-lookers claim that he was driving the car at a rate of speed which was inappropriate for the weather conditions. Still, the driver didn't break any speeding rule as that part of the highway does not have a speed limit.

The most ironic part is that a spokesman for the German car maker said the man "was one of the most experienced test drivers." The test driver had been working for the German luxury car maker for 25 years. Needless to say, following the crash, the Porsche 911 prototype was severely damaged, with costs rising to "tens of thousands of Euro." The whole situation makes us wonder: if one of the most experienced Porsche test drivers couldn't handle the pre-production Porsche 911 cabrio, how will an ordinary motorist be able to master such a "killing beast"? Something doesn't simply make sense in the whole story. If he wasn't driving at a high rate of speed and he was so experienced, how come he made a driving error?

BY MADALINA IANCU
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/porsche-test-driver-s-crash-caused-by-driving-error-5164.html