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Toyota’s chief test driver, Hiromu Naruse, was killed today when the Lexus LFA “Nürburgring Edition” he was driving was hit head-on by a BMW on a rural road in the vicinity of the Nordschleife. And though this is hardly the time for levity (and so help me, I will ban the first person to crack an unintended acceleration joke), it must be noted that the ill-fated, $375k Toyota flagship supercar is referred to in this video as a “Nissan Lexus.” Sure, the Germans (local Wehrleiters in particular) have a natural contempt for non-European luxury brands, but that’s just embarrassing. Especially considering that this was not the kind of crazy legend-building crash that might have lent the LFA some man-eater mystique. What a tragedy.
43 Comments on “Toyota Chief Test Driver Dies In LFA Crash...”
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From my bad German ability to translate – it seemed the Lexus went across the line of the road and hit the BMW head on. I wasn’t able to understand if it seemed he was out of control but since most OEMs video all their testing sessions we may have some in the future to find out what happened. Both BMW drivers are alive but one is allegedly in serious condition.
There is no mention (in the video) of any events leading up to the collision. In fact, the guy points out that the police and other agencies will send out representatives to secure the site and investigate what happened.
Rest in peace, good man.
Very sad. That’s the dark side of the truth about cars. With all the benefits they bring, cars are killers.
“Cars” do not kill. I do not think this is a very good way of speaking or thinking. I take it that the LFA is pre-production? But even with air bags, etc, a head on at high speeds is never very favorable. Also, this was the open road and not a closed course? My first impression would be that at least one of the drivers was not paying very close attention to what he should have been up to. Very strange with professionals, you’d think.
Almost 34,000 people died on America’s roads last year. That’s what I meant. Cars are safer than they used to be. Deaths have decreased. Yet every day tragedy still strikes.
Ten times as many people die in auto accidents in the US every year as were killed in the infamous 9/11 terrorist attacks. Our country has been turned upside down and inside out in response to those attacks, yet automotive fatalities have just become part of **** happens …..
@John,
So too has the car industry been turned upside by its fatalities, perhaps more so than 9-11. Airbags greatly outnumber border guards by my count. We just don’t notice them as much.
Very sad, indeed. But do you really expect emergency staff to know the details of Far East prototypes? Nothing to do with “natural contempt”.
‘Tis a shame he died, but if, in fact, he did crossover the center line and hit the BMW, it was his fault.
Let’s see what the investigation yields.
I wasn’t able to understand if it seemed he was out of control but since most OEMs video all their testing sessions we may have some in the future to find out what happened.
If there is video and/or telemetry, and it implicates the factory driver, anybody wanna take bets that it was somehow “destroyed in the crash”? There’s not a company on this planet that would release that vid if it self-indicted. Straight down the memory hole it goes.
(Though, in this the one in a trillion scenario, as it is Toyota, releasing self-indicting video could be spun into good PR.)
Regardless, a tragic circumstance.
Horrible news, my thoughts are with their families.
Condolences to Mr. Namura’s family & colleagues.
Namura LFA nterview at Lexus Magazine
How absolutely horrible. Just an eye opener, and further proof that sometimes even the most skilled driver can make a mistake. Unfortunately this one cost at least one life.
This is the lesson I took from the crash. Some people talk as if their driving skills will keep something like this from happening to them, so the safety features on cars are not necessary. But clearly even the most skilled drivers can become involved in fatal crashes.
I bet there are 1000 ambulance-chasing American lawyers lined up outside German consulates, clamoring for a visa right now….
The average German is simply couldn’t care less about Lexus…so much so that he thinks that “Lexus” is a car model from Nissan…
It seems like he must have had a heart attack or stroke while driving. I can’t think of another reason why he would suddenly veer into oncoming traffic, especially in a car he was very familiar driving.
Rest in peace, Hiromu Naruse, and comfort to his family in their grief.
To be Toyota’s top test driver you’d be in your 50’s, right?
Perhapse he suffred a heart attack or stroke and that is at the route cause of the crash?
Mr. Naruse joined Toyota in 1963 in the Vehicle Evaluation and Engineering Division, he was involved with Toyota Motorsports since 1970 and was an important figure in the development of Toyota sports cars, from the 2000GT to the Lexus LFA, he was 67 years old.
Rhein-Wied News reports that the BMW involved in the crash was also driven by a test driver, although it was a production vehicle. There was also a passenger. Both were seriously injured.
Anyone find it odd that the passenger cell on the LFA is completely intact, yet the driver was killed?
In my experience and with modern vehicles, that typically means the deceased person was not wearing their seatbelt.
Other possibility is that his (non-helmetted) head may have struck the roll cage every Nurburgring test car has installed.
The news reports (German) that I’ve read seem to indicate that all parties concerned were wearing helmets. As far as using a seatbelt, until proven otherwise I’d tend to give someone with Naruse’s experience the benefit of the doubt.
I thought this was an accident on a public road? Why would anyone be wearing a helmet?
Besides, how could you have a head-on collision on the Nurburgring?
I’ve seen many a mangled car and the fact of the matter is, you can’t tell by speculating on the internets.
Toyota has a shop near the ‘ring, where they prepare prototypes and install telemetry, manufacturers often go to the Nuremburgring there to test their cars.
Very Sad indeed. The only things I can take from this is at least he died doing something he loved and anyone no matter how talented we think we are or actually are we are human and should be considerate of that and the fact that so are the other drivers who are on the same roads we are driving.
Sad reminder that most accidents on the Autobahn are grim affairs
This appears to be an ordinary two-lane road, NOT an autobahn. If that is the case, it would have a 100 km/h speed limit. All autobahns have physical separation between the travel directions, which almost excludes head-on collisions like this one.
Rest in peace.
The video above reminds me of an accident in which my son, a surviving passenger, lost his bet friend in college. A convertible Mustang hydroplaned into the path of an oncoming Ford F-250. When I saw the wrecked Mustang and the seat where his friend died, I dropped to my knees and wept.
It is a sad thing to see happen, and it happens all too often.
I am thinking that both drivers were probably going to fast, but I see one thing that is pretty shocking to me. The LFA had 1 air bag deployed, the steering wheel airbag (at least that is all I can see). The BMW is full of airbags. Am I missing something here? Do prototypes not usually have a passenger air bag? Do super cars not survive crashes at all?
Toyota vehicles have an advanced airbag system. There are sensors in the passenger seat so if there is no one sitting in the seat at the time of impact, the passenger airbag will not deploy. Makes sense- airbags are expensive to replace and there’s no need for one to deploy if it’s not helping anyone.
This is a very sad loss for Toyota, Lexus, and the entire automotive community.
AB has a nice post on him here: http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/23/seat-time-with-hiromu-naruse/
I honestly didn’t know a thing about him. Apparently he was the coolest guy ever to work for Toyota.
To me it looks like the Lexus has cut the corner.
The Lexus brand is very rare in Germany.
It´s about as rare as Ferraris, so it´s no surprise that mr. Scmhitt doesn´t know what it is.
Anyone find it odd that the passenger cell on the LFA is completely intact, yet the driver was killed?
That and the fact that he was 67 makes it even more likely there was some medical reason behind the crash.
We don’t know for a fact that the crash killed him. He could have had a heart attack or stroke and that made him lose control of the car, resulting in the crash. So, while he was in an accident, the accident was a result, not the cause, of his death.
According to the spokesman from the fire department, nobody (including the Police) has any idea how it exactly happened. The District Attorney had dispatched an expert to collect further evidence, the expert had not arrived at the time of the video.
Although sad for the family, it is hardly a “tragedy” when a prominent 67-year-old vehicle tester dies in an exotic car. Mr. Naruse flirted with danger all his professional life, and died doing what he loved. I hope to be so fortunate when my time comes.
Tragedy is an 18-year-old dying in a Honda CRX during a moment of youthful misjudgment, just days before his high school graduation. It just happened in my city, so you will excuse me for saving my condolences for that family.
This blog post from Firegeezer/Fossilmedic says all the people involved in the accident were wearing helmets, and the people in the BMW were badly injured as well: http://firegeezer.com/2010/06/24/lexus-chief-test-driver-dies-in-supercar-collision/
Dale Earnhart was wearing a helmet and 6-point harness when he was killed hitting a wall head-on. If both of these drivers were being a bit, um, spirited in their driving this could have been a 120 – 150 mph collision.
As for the cause, who knows, but they have deer in Germany, too.
Sad day.
Dale Earnhardt ran his belts loose.
While I do understand the ‘cowboy’ mentality, the fact remains that his safety gear (belt) was not properly rigged, by his own choosing.
The only thing sad about Earnhardt’s death was that it besmirched the good name of Ron Simpson’s safety gear.
Feel free to look up the investigation into Earnhardt’s death.
Had he been running his be harness correctly, he might have lived.
All the lines on the road were the same color. If his car was right hand drive, perhaps he was driving on the wrong side of the road.
When visiting New Zealand, if there were no other cars around I’d find myself pulling onto the wrong side of the road.
On the bright side, he lived a relatively long and undoubtedly interesting life, and died a (likely) quick death, doing what he loved. Not a bad way to go.
Also on the bright side, that 3-series is a tough son of a bitch! It makes me glad to drive one.
My wife’s boss just lost her 17 year old daughter who was driving on a country (gravel) road, on the way to band practice for graduating 18 year olds.
Others on the road said she was not going too fast for conditions.
EMS people, who took 3 hours to extracate her body, thought perhaps she had been distracted and hit the tree at speed due to texting or being on the cell phone. Her cell phone was found to be locked in the glove box of the car.
The only thing we could think of was that perhaps “bambi” came out of a copse of woods to her left, and she instinctively swerved right to avoid the deer.
Teach your daughters (and sons) that they must NOT serve to avoid bambi or other animals. You might save their life.
Condolensces to the families in Germany and Japan. (The injured’s families are also in mourning and shock, you know).
I happen to agree with many people. The man lived a good life and died doing what he loved (presumably) at a ripe age of 67. Still sad, but not a terrible tragedy. There is a lot more situations on the road that are a lot more tragic.
http://www.worldcarfans.com/1100 … led-during-gallardo
Another Bull car ate his Driver & passenger.
Kind of sad.