Austrian Far-Right Leader Killed in Accident

[moebius]

Two weeks after one of the most stunning electoral victories in modern European politics and 22 years after becoming the leader of the Austrian Radical Right, politician Joerg Haider has been killed in a major single-person auto accident near his home in the state he governs, Carinthia.

BBC link. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7664846.stm)

For our American forum members, this would be the equivalent of a party headed by and completely dependent on Ralph Nader or Ross Perot or George Wallace winning 25% of the seats in Congress, then Perot or Nader dying two weeks later on an icy road.

Haider's party, and Austrian politics more generally, has been thrown into disarray after a difficult election. As someone who has interviewed most of the principles in Haider's party and among his competitors, I have a lot of e-mails to write today.

For our German readers, a more detailed story (http://www.kurier.at/nachrichten/216528.php).

[mgs]

yeah, I still don't care.

sry. ;P

[The Batman]

So, are we suspecting that he may have been helped along his way towards this "accident"?

[moebius]

So, are we suspecting that he may have been helped along his way towards this "accident"?

I've already heard some conspiracy theories, but from the Austrian news reports the story is pretty straightforward:

-Haider was probably speeding in a 70 Km zone;
-He passed a car on the right, rather than waiting for that car to move into the right lane;
-In passing the car, one or both of his right-side tires came off the road and lost traction;
-He spun out through a couple of street signs, before hitting a very low garden wall and a fire hydrant;
-That impact sent his car end over end; it ended up 35 m (115 ft.) from the last point of impact. Haider was unlucky enough that at least one roll concentrated the impact on the front of the driver's side. A picture of the car is here (http://www.kurier.at/multimedia/bilder/217307.php).
-From the description of the injuries, death was quick or instantaneous.

Basically, Haider was in death as he was in life...fast, but too willing to bend rules and ultimately reckless.

Really I'm only bringing this up at all because 1) Haider's party is part of my dissertation and 2) in the late 1990s/turn of the Century), Haider was one of the 10 most prominent politicians in Europe; his party's success in 1999 led to an alliance of every other EU country trying to forestall what they saw as the "reemergence of fascism." 14 EU nations actually imposed sanctions against another EU member over Haider.

He's also the inspiration for the villain in the movie-version of "The Sum of All Fears."

[Sir Tim Drake]

We are richer for having lost him.

[DonC]

yeah, I still don't care.

sry. ;P



Yes, that just what people thought in 1914. Look how that turned out.

[Paul McEnery]

Yes, that just what people thought in 1914. Look how that turned out.

Oh if only Franz Ferdinand had died while speeding.

[Michael P]

Oh if only Franz Ferdinand had died while speeding.

Serves him right for doing 30 in a 15.

[DonC]

Oh if only Franz Ferdinand had died while speeding.


Hey, "Take Me Out" was kind of catchy.

[mailedbypostman1]

Hey, "Take Me Out" was kind of catchy.

Maybe it was too catchy and someone misunderstood the lyrics.

[StoneGold]

It's a Yom Kippur miracle!

[Sean Walsh]

Oh if only Franz Ferdinand had died while speeding.

If only he had died while speeding, but somehow survived like 5 or 6 botched incidents along the way to his death...