Nikki Catsouras is a young lady who died at the age of 18 in a high-speed car crash after losing control of her father’s Porsche 911 Carrera and colliding with a toll booth in Lake Forest, California in 2006.
According to reports, The Porsche Nikki Catsouras was driving crossed the road’s broad median, which lacks a physical barrier on that segment and crashed into an unmanned concrete toll booth near the Alton Parkway interchange.
The autopsy report stated that Nikki Catsouras’ face was disfigured entirely, and her head was decapitated due to the impact of a car crash.
Who is Nikki Catsouras
Nicole “Nikki” Catsouras was born on March 4, 1988, and died on October 31, 2006, is a young lady from the United States of America who died at the age of 18 in a high-speed car crash after losing control of her father’s Porsche 911 Carrera and colliding with a toll booth in Lake Forest, California. Photographs of her badly disfigured body were published on the internet, leading her family to take legal action for the distress this caused.
Nikki Catsouras came into the limelight as a result of her fatal accident which claimed her life hence there is nothing known about her personal life aside from the circumstance that led to her untimely death at the age of 18.
What happened to Nikki Catsouras?
Nikki Catsouras died on October 31, 2006, as a result of high speed as the Porsche car she was driving crossed the road’s broad median, which lacks a physical barrier on that segment, and crashed into an unmanned concrete toll booth near the Alton Parkway interchange.
Nikki Catsouras was reportedly traveling on 241 Toll Road in Lake Forest at approximately 1:38 pm after having lunch with her family when she clipped a Honda Civic that she was attempting to pass on the right at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).
Her Porsche crossed the road’s broad median, which lacks a physical barrier on that segment and crashed into an unmanned concrete toll booth near the Alton Parkway interchange. Nikki Catsouras was killed on the spot and Toxicological tests revealed traces of cocaine in the body, but no alcohol.
Nikki Catsouras after eating lunch together with her family at the family home in Ladera Ranch, California, her father, Christos Catsouras, left for work while her mother Lesli remained at home. Around 10 minutes later, her mother saw her reversing out of the driveway in Christos’ Porsche 911 Carrera, which she was not permitted to drive.
According to reports, her mother Lesli called her husband who began driving around trying to find his daughter. While doing so, he called 9-1-1, apparently minutes before the accident, and was put on hold only to be hit with the sad news when he was taken off hold and the dispatcher informed him of the accident.
Nikki Catsouras Accident Photo Controversy
According to Newsweek, Nikki Catsouras’ “accident was so gruesome the coroner wouldn’t allow her parents to identify their daughter’s body”. Photographs of the scene were taken by California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers as part of standard fatal traffic collision procedures but eventually leaked to the public and that brought controversy.
Two CHP employees, Aaron Reich, and Thomas O’Donnell, admitted to releasing the photographs in violation of CHP policy. O’Donnell stated in interviews that he only sent the photos to his own e-mail account for viewing at a later time, while Reich stated that he had forwarded the pictures to four other people.
Nikki Catsouras’ parents discovered the photographs posted online. The pictures had gained much attention, including a fake MySpace tribute website that contained links to the photographs. People anonymously e-mailed copies of the photos to the Catsouras family with misleading subject headers, in one case captioning the photo sent to the father with the words “Woohoo Daddy! Hey Daddy, I’m still alive.”
This led the Catsouras family to withdraw from Internet use and, concerned that their youngest daughter might be taunted by the photographs, to begin homeschooling her. The online harassment aspects of the case were covered by Werner Herzog in his 2016 documentary Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World.
The Catsouras family reportedly sued the California Highway Patrol and the two dispatch supervisors responsible for leaking the photographs in the Superior Court of California for Orange County. Initially, a judge ruled that it would be appropriate to move forward with the family’s legal case against the CHP for leaking the photographs, however, an internal investigation led the CHP to issue a formal apology and take action to prevent similar occurrences in the future, after discovering that departmental policy had been violated by the two dispatch supervisors.
On January 30, 2012, the CHP reached a settlement with the Catsouras family, under which the family received around $2.37 million in damages. CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader commented: “No amount of money can compensate for the pain the Catsouras family has suffered. We have reached a resolution with the family to save substantial costs of continued litigation and a jury trial. It is our hope that with this legal issue resolved, the Catsouras family can receive some closure.”
The Fatal Car Accident of Nikki Catsouras
The fatal accident of Nikki Catsouras occurred when she was traveling on 241 Toll Road in Lake Forest at approximately 1:38 pm when she clipped a Honda Civic that she was attempting to pass on the right at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).
The Porsche she was driving crossed the road’s broad median, which lacks a physical barrier on that segment and crashed into an unmanned concrete toll booth near the Alton Parkway interchange. Nikki Catsouras was killed on impact and Toxicological tests revealed traces of cocaine in her body, but there was no sign of alcohol.
How far was Nikki Catsouras going when she died
Nikki Catsouras was traveling over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) on State Route 241 with a car that goes zero to 60 miles an hour in less than five seconds. She eventually lost control and that led to the fatal accident claiming her life on the spot and making it difficult for her parents to identify her body.
Source: www.Ghgossip.com
