May 22, 2008 11:06 pm US/Eastern
Video Shows Car Flying Off Ramp In Deadly Crash
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
The posted speed limit on the ramp from Route 93 north on the Zakim Bridge to Route One north is 25 miles an hour.
But Turnpike video cameras tell a very different story of what happened that Sunday morning 14 months ago.
Video obtained by WBZ from the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office shows exactly what happened March 18, 2007.
The video shows the Toyota Camry going almost three times the speed limit as it races into the curve, slams into a concrete barrier, knocks out a light, before crashing to the ground.
A second camera from a distance captures the car actually flying off the ramp and smashing to the hard ground.
A third camera mounted on a lower ramp captures the image of the car dropping past the ramp.
The Toyota landed 80 feet below on property owned by Boston Sand and Gravel.
A passenger, 20-year-old John Andersen of Manchester, New Hampshire died.
The driver, 20-year-old Albert Aurpey of Manchester, New Hampshire survived. He is now in prison after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide last month.
Investigators determined both men were drunk.
In the days that followed the crash, there were questions about the safety of the elevated ramps. At the time, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority agreed to examine safety issues but ultimately decided there was nothing wrong with them.
In a new statement this week, the Turnpike says "the crash was the result of excessive speed and drinking...." A "review of the infrastructure... found nothing that contributed to the crash."
Yet, two weeks after the Camry crashed, a truck heading south in Charlestown flipped off a ramp after its load shifted, critically injuring the driver.
Today there is new fencing on the elevated ramps and there are more signs stressing slower speeds.
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