# Crash in Niagara Falls (Wed November 22, 2023) \[Rainbow Bridge car explosion\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [November 22, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546 "2023-11-22T19:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/61 "2023-11-23T04:54:49Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > And here’s a view of the car incoming and launching off a divider. It’s probably not going 100 mph, but it does appear to fly at least 100 feet before hitting the checkpoint. Dang. Going full tilt boogie straight down, can’t possibly make the slight S-turn into the short ramp to get in front of the booths (the approach is laid out so you can’t come into the booths in a straight line from Main or Niagara Ave., to make traffic slow down approaching) but catches the divider just right and launches… From this angle it would seem like it would have traveled all the way past the end of the arc of outgoing booths and that’s how come they said it hit a structure in the secondary check area – which is in between the outgoing and incoming lanes. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/62 "2023-11-23T05:39:00Z")
Watching the car launch in the video, I could believe it was going 100 mph. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/63 "2023-11-23T05:47:56Z")
Man, I know they had no chance of making that curve, but it doesn’t look like they even tried to. It looks like they plowed in without even touching the brakes. I’m suspecting either a crazy mechanical failure or a medical emergency. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/64 "2023-11-23T06:01:05Z")
Or a couple of drugged out idiots thinking the Bentley they stole was big and powerful enough to allow them to launch themselves over customs and make their getaway in the greatest stunt ever. They’d be legends. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/65 "2023-11-23T06:13:19Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > can’t possibly make the slight S-turn into the short ramp to get in front of the booths That’s how it’s done in Niagara Falls. NIAGARA FALLS! Slowly I turned… ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/66 "2023-11-23T07:29:01Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > NIAGARA FALLS! > > Slowly I turned… What does this mean? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/67 "2023-11-23T07:41:06Z")
Old vaudeville routine. > **[Slowly I Turned](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slowly_I_Turned)** > > "Slowly I Turned" is a popular vaudeville sketch wherein a character is relating a story and is triggered into violent outbursts when the listener inadvertently utters a triggering word or phrase. Versions have also been performed in movies and on television. Comedians Harry Steppe, Joey Faye, and Samuel Goldman each laid claim to this routine, also referred to as "The Stranger with a Kind Face" by clowns, "Niagara Falls" by fans of The Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello, "Martha" b The rout... Relevant as a reference here due to the setting. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/68 "2023-11-23T13:03:01Z")
New details. > **[Rainbow Bridge explosion: New details about couple killed in fiery crash](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/rainbow-bridge-car-explosion-niagara-falls-canada-latest-b2452222.html)** > > Local New York man and his wife, who have not been identified, planned to attend a KISS concert in Canada but the gig was cancelled, police sources said Probably not terrorists, but definitely military. (This is a “KISS Army” reference.) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/69 "2023-11-23T15:14:42Z")
Headed for a KISS gig? I can’t help thinking about the eerie similarity to _Detroit Rock City_. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/70 "2023-11-23T15:31:33Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > That was not an explosion. It was gas igniting when the car broke apart from the impact. The small building next to it still has the windows intact. No over pressure from an explosion. > > An American academic agrees with you: > > > [@](#): > > > > One terrorism expert, a Canadian living in the U.S., told CBC News that, given events in the Middle East, she’s been worrying a lot about domestic incidents, and originally thought this might be one. > > > > But there was something in the images spreading online, said Mia Bloom, a professor at Georgia State University, that would have been unusual for a terrorist attack: the absence of a blast crater. > > > > “The hole is too small,” said Bloom in an interview Wednesday afternoon. > > > > Indeed, the vehicle was incinerated so violently that its pieces of debris had spread across 13 or 14 customs booths, said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. > > > > “There is nothing left,” Hochul said. I’m happy an academic agrees with an old 12B combat engineer. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/71 "2023-11-23T15:55:58Z")
We’ll probably never know given how thoroughly the car and its occupants were destroyed, but assuming the husband was driving, drunk, drugged, or just enraged into hitting 100 mph, I feel sorry for the wife. Can’t imagine what terror she must have felt as they accelerated to their doom. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/72 "2023-11-23T15:58:28Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Above all, once it was firmly established that the car and people did not come from Canada, the right-wingers were twisting their minds into knots trying to find some way to connect the event to Biden. It was rather amusing. They’ll just pop the whole episode into the memory hole. The only thing remaining will be a meme about a $200,000 car. That’s what cars cost these days. Thanks Biden! ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/73 "2023-11-23T16:05:58Z")
I don’t know anything about Bentleys, but what is the deal with the huge exhaust plume behind the car as it accelerates toward the barrier. It looks like a rocket during launch. Do Bentleys normally put out a lot of exhaust? Was this a stuck throttle, equipment failure or someone flooring the gas pedal? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/74 "2023-11-23T16:27:57Z")
I’m sure they’re feverishly trying to construct a “Joe’s fault” narrative. Can’t they estimate the car’s speed by using the camera footage? Frames per second and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/75 "2023-11-23T19:00:05Z")
When I first saw the video, i was thinking it was at full throttle. Sometimes a panicked driver will think they’re flooring the brake pedal and accelerate until the car hits something. I wonder if this driver, who was seen before the accident having to swerve to avoid another car, lost their footing in the swerve, and then inadvertently floored the wrong pedal. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/76 "2023-11-23T22:57:35Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > I don’t know anything about Bentleys, but what is the deal with the huge exhaust plume behind the car as it accelerates toward the barrier. It looks like a rocket during launch. Do Bentleys normally put out a lot of exhaust? Was this a stuck throttle, equipment failure or someone flooring the gas pedal? I’m pretty sure that the “plume” you’re seeing there is just spray off the tires on the wet street. There’s no more reason for a V-12 to produce a big exhaust plume under full throttle than any other cylinder configuration, and they don’t. As for what really happened here, it may be hard to piece it together based on the level of destruction, but it does seem like a terrible accident rather than a deliberate act. More likely a medical emergency, I’d say, because it really doesn’t seem like a likely consequence of a mechanical failure. The driver’s medical history may have some clues. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/77 "2023-11-23T23:52:41Z")
I didn’t notice a plume before the launch. Since the car shot up into the air, I assume it ran into something sloped, and was driving in a place it wasn’t supposed to be. There may have been dirt, or gravel, or just extra water on the ground there that got kicked into the air by the car’s tires. > [@wolfpup](#): > > …a medical emergency… If it wasn’t at the beginning, it certainly was by the end. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/78 "2023-11-24T01:26:05Z")
And it’s back open > **[Rainbow Bridge crossing reopens 1 day after deadly car explosion | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/rainbow-bridge-reopens-1.7038442)** > > Canadian and U.S. border authorities say the Rainbow Bridge is back open as of Thursday evening, one day after a deadly car crash and explosion occurred on the American side of the border crossing. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/79 "2023-11-24T01:55:16Z")
Opening it just a day after a major terrorist attack! There’s a conspiracy afoot! /s ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546/80 "2023-11-24T02:07:07Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Opening it just a day after a major terrorist attack! There’s a conspiracy afoot! Shh…don’t give Pierre Poiliverre any more ammunition! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546.md?page=5)