Ghost Racer

This is the only extant public footage we have of the late Anthony Ray Riso driving his reproduction 1965 Shelby Cobra 427r. Two Saturdays ago, he lost control of this vehicle while driving southbound on Highway 101 at Highway 46 West. His high performance built-for-speed racing car left the road at high speed and tore out part of the guard rail for the 101 Freeway overpass of Highway 46. It then rolled several times and struck a tree, bursting into flames and killing the 32 year-old driver. Passersby vainly attempted to free him from his four-point harness. Riso was married and a father of two children. Below is footage of him in the car as viewed from a residence in Paso Robles, CA, where he lived. I am always haunted by such things since I lost my own father in a tragic workplace accident when I was 15 years old. Such stories remind me of the fragility and ephemeral nature of life.

A Most Gruesome Bus Crash Scene

This past Sunday night a horrific bus crash occurred on Highway 38 between Forest Falls and Yucaipa in San Bernardino County, CA. It involved a tour bus losing its brakes coming down the mountain road and  striking other vehicles and then flipping over at least once and then coming to rest on its wheels. This was not before dumping some of its passengers out onto the roadbed and rolling over them and dragging them along the roadbed creating a gory smear of red asphalt. Below are some rather tame images compared to what survivors and first responders witnessed before most of the bodies were removed. The cause of the crash is under investigation by state and federal authorities. These images come courtesy of Press-Interprise.

Note the crushed pickup whose driver died in the hospital this morning bringing the death toll to eight.

Although the bodies have been removed it is obvious where at least three and possibly a fourth came to a rest.

From this view it is clear another body came to a rest to the left of the bus in this image.

Note the pickup that the bus hit and then rolled over crushing it and ultimately killing its lone driver.

Note the blood smears on the side of the bus and the lone arm dangling from the near-front window.

Note the rather gruesome blood streaks and smears on the side of the bus.

All images courtesy of the Press-Interprise (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Oak Street Accident

This morning while working on my car parked in my carport I heard a series of terrible collisions somewhere in the neighborhood nearby. I quickly walked down my alley to 15th Street and then followed where I saw neighbors coming out of their homes and looking concernedly towards. I found an old man, shaken and stirred, but whom was otherwise physically fine, looking in shock and horror at all the parked cars he hit on both sides of Oak Street between 15th Street and 14th Street. He apparently had experienced some sort of episode of grand mal senior moment. Driving the red pickup seen above he struck a total of two parked vehicles (one on each side of Oak Street) and one of them he slammed into the car parked in front of it (for a grand total of three parked vehicular victims). Note: yes, that is four police vehicles you see in the photo (one for each damaged vehicle). Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Things That Caught My Eye Last Thursday

Last Thursday evening after finishing working on the booth at the Summer Santa Barbara Gem Faire at the Earl Warren Showgrounds my friend Dave and I headed for Ventura where we stayed the night and the following scenes caught my eye and I am sharing them here with you.

Riding south on Highway 101 in the Summerland area I passed this tree in filled with roosting cormorants.

We were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on southbound Highway 101 for over and hour, traffic caused by this wrecked RV trailer near the Padaro Lane overpass.

Sunset over Mission San Buenaventura in Ventura, CA.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).