# Tracy Morgan crashed his $2 million Bugatti in New York  **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2019, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067 "2019-06-05T12:06:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/81 "2019-06-05T18:25:13Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > The driver was from New Jersey, which only requires $5,000 in property damage coverage. There’s not a lot of great info out there about Bugatti insurance costs but I found this post about a Russian repair bill for a seemingly similar amount of damage. [Bugatti Veyron Repair Bill - Page 1 - Supercar General - PistonHeads UK](https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=63&t=1184986) > > It all looks pretty minor. That was roughly $120,000 USD in damage as of 2012. > > Plus, as I noted above, perhaps $200,000 in diminished value because the people who are collecting Bugattis don’t want one that’s been crashed and repaired. So, her insurance may cover as little as $5,000 and she may be liable for the remaining ~$320,000. I’m guessing that’s the kind of money that could drive a woman who worries about her insurance rate going up into bankruptcy. I’d guess it’s even likely. That was considerably more damage than what happened to Tracy’s car. In addition to several body panels, spoilers and a wheel well, the bill also included a new tire and rim. > [@TriPolar](#): > > If it’s a reasonable cost to replace it, which might even be more than $10,000 but not something like $100,000 then it shouldn’t bankrupt someone with required insurance. But if he tries to pile on claims, saying he was injured, not mitigating the property damages, then it could easily cost her twice as much with legal fees. If he settles this reasonably then no one can accuse him being an asshole about it. It’s up to him. But the injuries are totally different. The injuries (in theory, anyways) would be the same if she hit Tracy in a million dollar car or Joe Blow in a $20,000 car. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/82 "2019-06-05T18:44:27Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > He lives in New York. Where else is he supposed to drive his car? The reason rush hour exists is because that’s when everyone needs to drive. Why is it stupid for someone to drive the car he just purchased? I really just don’t understand your reasoning. What’s the point of having an expensive car and _not_ driving it? You would have it shipped to your house? What about when you have to go to work in the morning?? Would you have your car shipped to work while you take a cab? > That’s how you sound. Do you think someone should just ship their expensive car everywhere they need to go, while they follow behind in an Uber? That way, nothing bad could ever happen to it. I bet it makes total sense to you; maybe even about as smart as you can get. Or, should someone only drive their nice car at 0100 Monday morning, to ensure the absolute least number of other cars on the road? > Some people buy a nice car because they know they know they’ll be stuck in traffic and they don’t want to suffer in some piece of shit. They want luxury, and they can afford it. That’s not stupid. Unless something has changed that I haven’t heard he lives in Alpine New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/83 "2019-06-05T18:47:07Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > But the injuries are totally different. The injuries (in theory, anyways) would be the same if she hit Tracy in a million dollar car or Joe Blow in a $20,000 car. Or they may be non-existent but still cost her a lot in legal fees. If he was actually injured then he wouldn’t be a jerk for seeking reasonable compensation. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/84 "2019-06-05T18:55:21Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That was considerably more damage than what happened to Tracy’s car. In addition to several body panels, spoilers and a wheel well, the bill also included a new tire and rim. I was in a very similar accident roughly 12 years ago. I was in the left lane going straight when the car to my right turned left across my lane as we both pulled away from a stop light. My (much shittier) car needed a new wheel, wheel cover, tire, fender, bumper cover, attached spoiler, control arm, reflector, and headlight, among other miscellaneous and sundry parts. It was, if I recall correctly, around $2500 total. Bugatti parts and labor are going to be astronomically more expensive. The annual service for a Bugatti is over $21,000, or about 70 times the annual service on my last car. I don’t think the $120,000 estimate is all that unrealistic. > [@Omar\_Little](#): > > This was a fender bender, not a crash. In no way was his Bugatti totaled. I certainly didn’t suggest it was totaled. Even used, those Bugattis go for over $1 million. It would take at least $750,000 in damage to total it. The damage is perhaps a third of that. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/85 "2019-06-05T18:56:51Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > He lives in New York. Where else is he supposed to drive his car? The reason rush hour exists is because that’s when everyone needs to drive. Why is it stupid for someone to drive the car he just purchased? I really just don’t understand your reasoning. What’s the point of having an expensive car and _not_ driving it? You would have it shipped to your house? What about when you have to go to work in the morning?? Would you have your car shipped to work while you take a cab? > That’s how you sound. Do you think someone should just ship their expensive car everywhere they need to go, while they follow behind in an Uber? That way, nothing bad could ever happen to it. I bet it makes total sense to you; maybe even about as smart as you can get. Or, should someone only drive their nice car at 0100 Monday morning, to ensure the absolute least number of other cars on the road? > Some people buy a nice car because they know they know they’ll be stuck in traffic and they don’t want to suffer in some piece of shit. They want luxury, and they can afford it. That’s not stupid. This kind of luxury is not so much comfort luxury as performance luxury. It is pretty foolish to use this kind of car for commuting through heavy traffic in the city. It’s not easy to drive at low speeds, it’s not maneuverable, the clutch and engine can overheat much more easily than a normal car, the spoiler has minimal clearance and is easily damaged on potholed roads. It’s just not designed for constant stop-start at low speeds, so it’s certainly not a luxury experience to drive one in heavy traffic, it’s quite stressful. So yes, the usual thing would be to commute in something more suitable, and keep it at your country mansion for fun driving on emptier roads at the weekend. And when you’re paying this much for a car, they will obviously deliver it in a trailer anywhere you want. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/86 "2019-06-05T19:08:27Z")
\*When I say “the usual thing”, I mean the usual thing if you buy the car because you want to experience driving it, rather than being looked at. So, perhaps not the usual thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/87 "2019-06-05T19:25:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Unless something has changed that I haven’t heard he lives in Alpine New Jersey. And even if he doesn’t intend to drive it in NYC, he’s got to get it home from the dealership. The place where the accident occurred was in the neighborhood where most of the Manhattan car dealers are located, and given the location of the accident, it’s conceivable that he was heading straight home from there. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/88 "2019-06-05T19:27:56Z")
I swear to Og, I thought they stopped making Bugattis around WWII. [This](http://www.thesupercars.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/1932-Bugatti-Type-41-Royale-at-home.jpg) was the picture the thread title put in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/89 "2019-06-05T19:44:17Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > This kind of luxury is not so much comfort luxury as performance luxury. It is pretty foolish to use this kind of car for commuting through heavy traffic in the city. It’s not easy to drive at low speeds, it’s not maneuverable, the clutch and engine can overheat much more easily than a normal car, the spoiler has minimal clearance and is easily damaged on potholed roads. It’s just not designed for constant stop-start at low speeds, so it’s certainly not a luxury experience to drive one in heavy traffic, it’s quite stressful. > > So yes, the usual thing would be to commute in something more suitable, and keep it at your country mansion for fun driving on emptier roads at the weekend. And when you’re paying this much for a car, they will obviously deliver it in a trailer anywhere you want. Where do you get these ideas? The Veyron is a luxury car with an automatic transmission, power steering, air conditioning, and all the normal luxury appointments. It has two computer controlled clutches but they are designed to withstand the application of over 1000 horsepower for as long as the fuel lasts. The Volkswagen executive responsible for the Veyron, Ferdinand Piech, is famous for demanding that a lesser Volkswagen be capable of driving for an entire day at 186 mph, in 120 degree weather, with the air conditioning set at 72 degrees, all without overheating. The Veyron has something like 10 radiators designed to cool all its fluids when travelling over 250 mph. I’ve never heard of one overheating in any conditions. Maneuverability wasn’t the problem here; the problem was the driver of a Honda CR-V who doesn’t know how to drive. Based on her statements, she didn’t learn anything from this accident either. She thinks Tracy Morgan did something wrong. Police who witnessed the accident were quick to note that he was not cited. She could have killed a biker, like **robardin**. Perhaps an accident that costs her a couple hundred thousand dollars will be an object lesson for terrible drivers everywhere. The Bugattis measurable performance is irrelevant here. The principal performance attribute of a Bugatti Veyron is demonstrating that the owner is rich and brash enough to drive a Bugatti. That is a job best accomplished in the city where people can see it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/90 "2019-06-05T19:45:35Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Yes, by far. According to the second link in the OP, he allegedly won $90 million. So, a slightly used Bugatti is just pocket change to him. Ah, then order is returned to the universe. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/91 "2019-06-05T19:49:16Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > …So yes, the usual thing would be to commute in something more suitable, and keep it at your country mansion for fun driving on emptier roads at the weekend. And when you’re paying this much for a car, they will obviously deliver it in a trailer anywhere you want. Aw man. Pony up $2 mill for a Bugatti, and need to shell out for a SECOND car?! 🆒 Maybe he’ll buy a beater, and slap on a bumper sticker saying, “My other car is a Bugatti!” 😉 Yeah, he can choose to drive whatever wherever he wants, but if it were me, I’d have had the dealer trailer the Bugatti to my home. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/92 "2019-06-05T20:52:16Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > A stranger on the internet expressing an opinion that strangers on the internet shouldn’t express their opinions? How meta:) > . When you’re walking down the street and you see a fender bender, does it ever occur to you to think “boy, I hope the guy who got hit isn’t an asshole to the other driver”? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/93 "2019-06-05T21:25:41Z")
[quote=“Riemann, post:29, topic:835067”] Well, acey is not completely off the mark. Cars like that have very little clearance. I’d never drive one in Manhattan because the roads are in such poor shape - you’d smash up your front spoiler on the bumps in no time. Lamborghini has a front suspension lift system to try to make them a bit more practical: [/QUOTE] Wasn’t there a _Top Gear_ episode where the guys were driving low-slung supercars from Paris to London? One of them, Hammond, I think, spent thirty minutes trying to get his …Ferrari, if memory serves… out of the parking garage without trashing the front end where the ramp from the garage met the street. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Without any evidence I still expect that idiot Morgan caused the crash. He probably zoomed out of that dealership like he was in a Formula 1 race. > > And I can’t help mentioning that I hate him because the cutest girl in the 6th grade was named Tracy Morgan and as soon as I saw him on SNL that memory was ruined for me forever. Huh, that’s weird. Very same thing happened to me in high school. I used to sit across from her, just so I could bask in the beauty of Bill Hader. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/94 "2019-06-05T21:49:41Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Car crash is the most common term in my dialect. “Hey did you see that crash on the news?” > > There’s no blame being assigned. Nobody’s disputing the use of “car crash”. It’s how the rest of the words interact with that phrase. You said “Tracy Morgan crashed his car” right there in the subject. That’s active voice, saying Tracy Morgan did this (crashed his car). A few other posters have listed the other ways you assigned blame in your posts. If you didn’t want to assign blame, you’d have said “Tracy Morgan was in a car crash”. Do you see the difference between the two sentences? One is active - Tracy Morgan did something; one is passive - something happened to Tracy Morgan. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/95 "2019-06-05T21:56:32Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Wasn’t there a _Top Gear_ episode where the guys were driving low-slung supercars from Paris to London? One of them, Hammond, I think, spent thirty minutes trying to get his …Ferrari, if memory serves… out of the parking garage without trashing the front end where the ramp from the garage met the street. I remember that. Urban parking garages, particularly older ones in older cities, really aren’t designed for low-riding supercars. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/96 "2019-06-05T23:28:35Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > Where do you get these ideas? From Lamborghini and Ferrari. Obviously I’ve never driven a Bugatti, ignorance fought if they are a lot more user-friendly. I guess that’s what the incremental $1.7 million buys you. In any event, I was speaking only to where I’d choose to drive a car like that, I didn’t intend to imply that this made Morgan at fault for the collision. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/97 "2019-06-05T23:41:31Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > I don’t know what “needlessly hugging the white line” even means. Non-famous driver says in her interview that both drivers were turning right. From the pictures, it looks like they were heading west on W. 42nd Street and turning right on 10th Ave. Mr. Morgan was in the right lane, which is where someone turning right belongs. Non-famous driver was turning right from the second lane from the left, which is an improper turn. She also tried to change lanes in the intersection, which most states outlaw (I don’t know about New York specifically). She also failed to yield to traffic (i.e., Mr. Morgan) already in that lane. In my view based on what I can see, she is entirely at fault here. > > She’s worried about her insurance going up. She should worry that her insurance is entirely inadequate. New Jersey only requires a minimum of $5,000 in property liability coverage. If she’s carrying the minimum, she could be out of pocket by tens of thousands of dollars. > [@Folly](#): > > I think it likely was still mostly her fault for not being aware of where other cars are, but looking at street view I think she was in the right lane. The problem is that there is also a shoulder area that is not marked as either a parking lane or a turn lane. > > I suspect that she kept going in the right lane and attempted to turn from there. He meanwhile has passed some parked cars and moved right into the ‘lane’ after the parked cars have ended in order to turn right. They then both proceed to try to turn into the same lane of the one-way st. > > I guess it might make a difference whether she had her turn signal on or not. The only scenario where this is Tracy’s fault is if he was trying to do some third-lane passing or if he was pulling out from a curbside parking spot/loading zone/hydrant. I would bet the SUV driver couldn’t see the super-low Bugatti out her side views. Without knowing the intersection it’s tough to know if it’'s completely unreasonable to be turning right from that lane. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/98 "2019-06-05T23:49:51Z")
> [@tavalla](#): > > Nobody’s disputing the use of “car crash”. It’s how the rest of the words interact with that phrase. You said “Tracy Morgan crashed his car” right there in the subject. That’s active voice, saying Tracy Morgan did this (crashed his car). A few other posters have listed the other ways you assigned blame in your posts. > > If you didn’t want to assign blame, you’d have said “Tracy Morgan was in a car crash”. > > Do you see the difference between the two sentences? One is active - Tracy Morgan did something; one is passive - something happened to Tracy Morgan. FWIW, the CNN headline right now says, “Tracy Morgan gets in a crash right after buying a $2million Bugatti.” ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/99 "2019-06-06T00:01:18Z")
This is why we need a 70% tax rate on the wealthy. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067/100 "2019-06-06T00:03:54Z")
Meh, if Forza 4 is to be believed, the Veyron handles like crap anyway, the Veyron is a one trick pony hypercar, it’s party piece is going as fast as conceivably possible in a straight line… handling is an afterthought. Give me a Ferrari F-40 any day, _THAT’S_ a real supercar, completely driver-focused, if it doesn’t make the car handle better or accelerate faster, it has no place on the car, the F-40 was basically a street-legal Formula One [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-crashed-his-2-million-bugatti-in-new-york/835067.md?page=6)