Bets on whether Joerg Haider's death was accidental?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

A few weeks ago, the Austrian ultra-right made its best showing ever in the national elections.

The Austrian far right was split between the Alliance for the Future of Austria, lead by Joerg Haider, and the Freedom Party, lead by Heinz-Christian Strache.

Mr Haider and Mr Strache hated one another.

Mr Haider has just been killed in a car accident.

I know of no evidence that his death we not accidental, but it strikes me as one hell of a coincidence.

[liberalmuse]

1. It sounds suspicious.

My first thought was he was eliminated. It was very convenient timing. Too convenient.

[MorningGlow]

2. Car accidents

The 21st century version of a crazed lone gunman.

[JDPriestly]

3. An Austrian newspaper reported he had just attended an event.

Thus far the police think he was speeding. He was on a two-lane highway and had passed another car some time before he swerved off the road. The driver of the other car reported the accident, so that is how it became public knowledge.

I don't have the time to translate all of this word for word. The police think it was excessive speed. He basically hit everything in the path of his car including a cement fencepost, a hydrant and a hedge before turning and coming to a stop. His skid marks were about 150 meters from the spot where he stopped. The police think he might have been driving about 70 kilometers per hour. (That is not extremely fast for a flat stretch, but it may have been a curvy road. The article does not say.)

Haider had a bad accident 15 years ago in which his car also swerved off the street.

Klagenfurts Polizeidirektor Ernst Friessnegger erläuterte den Unfallhergang: Der Landeshauptmann hatte auf der Loiblpass-Bundesstraße einen Pkw überholt und sich danach auf der stadtauswärts zweispurigen Straße wieder am rechten Fahrstreifen eingeordnet. Wenig später geriet er aus unbekannter Ursache ins Schleudern.

Polizei nimmt überhöhte Geschwindigkeit an

Das Auto, ein VW Phaeton, rammte ein Verkehrszeichen und einen Vorwegweiser, danach geriet es mit dem linken Vorderrad auf eine Böschung. Das Fahrzeug mähte eine Thujenhecke nieder, krachte danach gegen den Betonpfeiler eines Gartenzaunes und prallte gegen einen Hydranten. Danach überschlug sich das Auto mehrmals und kam im rechten Winkel zur Fahrtrichtung auf den Rädern zum Stillstand.

Die Unfallspur zieht sich über rund 150 Meter bis zum Stillstandsort des Wracks.Wie schnell Haider zum Unfallzeitpunkt gefahren ist, war vorerst noch unklar. Das Auto wurde, so Friessnegger, von der Staatsanwaltschaft beschlagnahmt, die technische Untersuchung sollte bis zum Nachmittag abgeschlossen werden. Ersten Einschätzungen von Polizeibeamten zufolge dürfte Haider aber deutlich schneller als die an der Unfallstelle erlaubten 70 km/h gefahren sein. Das Auto wurde von der Staatsanwaltschaft beschlagnahmt, die Ergebnisse der technischen Untersuchung werden im Lauf des frühen Abends erwartet.

http://derstandard.at/

[reorg]

5. the police think he may have been overspeeding, not just 70 km/h

"Ersten Einschätzungen von Polizeibeamten zufolge dürfte Haider aber deutlich schneller als die an der Unfallstelle erlaubten 70 km/h gefahren sein."

That means 70 km/h was the speed limit, not that the police think Haider was heeding it. Rather:

"According to first assessments of police officers it is likely that Haider drove much faster than the 70 km/h permitted at the location of the accident."

That would be very much in character, too -- for a guy like Haider, and with a car like that ... outside of a town, even on a curvy road, it is not unusual to go 120 - 150 km per hour and not even notice that you are speeding. Coming from the funeral of his mother, he might have had a few drinks and could have been absent-minded. Accidents like that are quite common, I think.

[JDPriestly]

10. Sorry. Your translation is correct.

I agree that speeding would be quite in character for a guy like Haider. And having a few drinks is the Austrian thing to do, so I think it was an accident. That's my best guess.

[Gator_Matt]

4. I'd wait for the evidence before jumping to conclusions

This will certainly get more scrutiny given who the victim was, but until there is evidence to the contrary, I don't see how you can say he was knocked off.

[babydollhead]

9. dead is dead.

"Just because you're not a conspiracy theorist, doesn't mean there aren't malevolent deeds being done"

[reorg]

6. Why?

I don't know much about the current situation in Austria, maybe his recent success in the elections made him a disruptive factor in some way, or for some people, but it doesn't seem obvious, except if there is something that is not widely known.

There is an interesting parallel to another politician's demise, Jürgen Möllemann in Germany. Like Haider he had been a young up-and-comer in the eighties, in a very similar party, and for a while he was vize chancellor under Kohl. But then he failed to become the undisputed leader he had set out to be and was more or less kicked out of all positions of influence. He started a comeback by pandering mostly to the populist, right wing vote, and with that he gained notoriety again, was successful in the federal elections in 2002 and it was obvious that he would be a major nuisance for his party rivals ... to make a long story short, he died in a skydiving accident, and many suspected foul play, including myself, I might add. OTOH, it could very well have been suicide. Back at the top again, in front of TV cameras, the center of attention ... why not drop out with a bang before it's all over again ...

[dchill]

7. Kismet.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[awoke_in_2003]

11. did you forget the sarcasm tag

or are you just that stupid?