Altogether 14 cars, among them eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and two Mercedes Benz, have collided in Japan’s most expensive car crash ever.
Sports Nippon newspaper estimates the value of the vehicles to be about $4 million. Unfortunately some of the owners will have to part with their prized possessions, as the vehicles have been damaged beyond repair. Video of the crash aired by a major Japanese TV network, showed shocking footage of severely smashed cars cluttering the freeway and debris scattered all over the crash site."I've never seen such a thing," highway patrol Lieutenant Eiichiro Kamitani told AFP by telephone. "Ferraris rarely travel in such large numbers."The incident occurred around 10am local time, on a Chugoku Expressway when a group of automobile enthusiasts failed to avoid a crash as the lead Ferrari had spun-out on the wet road. The supercar hit the central barrier, starting a chain-reaction crash as those who followed him had no time to brake. The group is said to have been heading to Hiroshima.An eyewitness, a 36-year-old self-employed man from Kanzaki who was driving in the opposite lane at the time of the accident, told Daily Yomiuri Online that "cars were making a tremendous noise."Police say speeding is a possible cause of the accident, but an investigation has yet to determine that. However, an unidentified eyewitness told TBC network that "a group of cars was doing 140-160 kilometers per hour. One of them spun and they all ended up in this great mess." The speed limit in this part of the highway is 80 kilometers per hour.According to police, another factor that made the collision inevitable is that at the time the group was rounding a bend on the two-lane highway.No one has been charged over the accident, however the 60-year-old driver of the lead Ferrari, who is suspected of causing the accident may face up to three months in jail or a fine of $1,280, reports Bloomberg, citing Mitsuyoshi Isejima, executive officer for Yamaguchi Prefecture’s Expressway Traffic Police unit.Miraculously no one was seriously injured in the crash, but police in Yamaguchi prefecture said 10 people were treated for bruises and cuts.