[Yossarian]

This didn't happen at 45 MPH.

This site has some interesting crash pictures at this speed (or thereabouts) for accident reconstruction analysis. The crashes are created on purpose with remote guided cars with full instrumentation.

Here is a picture of a 45-MPH crash directly into the narrow end of a highway divider:

Based on this, if you add a car fire, perhaps 45 MPH was all that was needed for the Walker crash to do the damage seen.

45 to 0 MPH in a tenth or twentieth of a second is still a hell of a lot of kinetic energy….

[Tired of Taxes]

Plus, the driver was driving 45 mph while navigating a 15 mph turn (assuming the reports are true). It sounds like a freak accident.

It makes one stop and think about how we drive, even at lower speeds. Because you just never know what will happen.