Big Sur: Two killed when rental Camaro drives off cliff(Highway 1, dangerous, I drove it)

The Mercury News ^ | 2/19/2020 | Bay City News (The Mercury News)

[vespa300]

Two people were killed when a car went off Highway 1 and over a cliff in Big Sur on Tuesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

[CatoRenasci]

I’ve probably driven the stretch of Highway 1 between Monterey and San Luis Obispo 2-300 times. The scariest time was driving a motor home that a couple was delivering - they wanted to go up the coast and I was not about to let them drive it! I once did it in a Jaguar XK150 without ever dropping under 35 mph even on the tightest curves, but that takes a little luck (not stuck behind slow pokes), good tires, and knowing the road. I’ve always enjoyed that drive!

[mumblypeg]

The Continental Divide road is pretty scary too.
My brakes went out while going up toward the peak, & the truck started rolling backward. To avoid going over the cliff, I cut the wheel sharp & aimed for the abutment that jutted upward on the other side of the road.
Banged up the truck, but it stopped! All survived.

[vespa300]

>>>Last time I did it was in a rental minivan and the kids were happy or sleeping but I was white knuckling it like crazy.<<<

LOL, that’s funny.

Reading some of the responses, one would think I titled the thread......”Highway 1 Big Sur coast is the most dangerous highway in the world bar none.” All I said was it’s dangerous. And it is dangerous, especially going south. Any road with that many curves, that many cliffs, and that many corners with no barriers........yeah, that’s called dangerous.

[CatoRenasci]

I took a TR6 up the Pikes Peak road back in the mid-70s, that was exhilerating!

[vespa300]

<<>> If I ever decide to hitchhike on that highway....do me a favor. Don't pick me up ok? I'll probably be the guy with dark hair and a broken down Yamaha MT 07. Thanks! :)

[Ann Archy]

OMG...drivin to Stinson Beach is UNBELIEVABLE!!!

[JimSp]

Down through Noel?

[CatoRenasci]

LOL! I did a lot of things in the ‘60s I wouldn’t do today, and my run down Highway 1 in the Jag (with the car’s owner, who was egging me on....) is one of them. Glad I did it, it was a hell of a lot of fun, but I’ve been there and done that now....

[Scrambler Bob]

So who got out to take the picture?

[DoughtyOne]

Yes

Love that overhang...

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Nothing beat the GRAVITY CARS down Mt. Tam on the Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway.

[DoughtyOne]

The good ole days...

[mumblypeg]

Most terrifying road I’ve ever driven (about 30 yrs ago) is right below the Mexican border in Baja CA. IIRC it’s Highway 2, runs east-west.
It’s barely 2 full lanes wide with not an inch to spare. Slow, bumper to bumper traffic, unbelievably twisty with a huge dropoff on one side.
The turnouts are blocked by cars with boiling radiators, and there are little shrines to the dead, with crosses & plastic flowers, every mile or so.
When you come around the curves, you can see across the valley— with rusty, crashed cars at the bottoms of the cliffs. Vultures circling overhead, licking their chops.

[ßuddaßudd]

climate change strikes again ..

[TalBlack]

think the answer lies in “rental” and “Camaro.”

Yep! Even the V6 Camargo has enough power to weight ratio to get an uncautious drivER into trouble on that road.

[glorgau]

Large penalty for failure on that road. Drove it from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz on New Years Day one year.

[exnavy]

A 400.

[VTenigma]

Seriously? You people scare easily.

[KC Burke]

I did it once when it was snow packed. Then a snow squall snuck in about an hour into it. I had just done Wolf Creek pass in the same conditions. This was in the 70s before they improved Wolf Creek.

[Robe]

My wife and I Drove it many times in the’70sin my 1960 Austin Healy 3000 MkII... loved it