2006 Bugatti Veyron crashes on video, posted to Facebook

Facebook video of a 2006 Bugatti Veyron crash shows the car making a wall of water as it hits a Texas lagoon. No one was injured in the crash.

The Bugatti Veyron at the center of an Internet storm crashes spectacularly into a Texas lagoon in a new video. (Top right)

Facebook video screengrab

November 13, 2009

It's one of the rarest cars on the road, and Galveston, Tex. medical school student Joe Garza saw it crash on his way to get groceries.

He and a friend were driving off of Galveston Island when they pulled up alongside the $2 million French supercar, believed to be one of just 15 in the US. When they pulled up to the sporty two-seater, Garza whipped out his camera and started shooting. That's when the unthinkable happened.

"We saw the car and were just like 'wow,' so I started recording it and sure enough, after that, he just veered off," Garza told the Monitor in a phone interview Friday.

The car, which Garza said was going the speed limit, created a wall of water as it went from the frontage road to the saltwater lagoon, ending up submerged in three feet of water.

"My friend had to slow down in order to stick with him on the frontage, so he was probably going about 40 miles an hour," Garza said.

Garza's friend called 911, and the boys tried to turn around, but the highway's exits are spaced so far apart that by the time they got back to where the crash happened, police and ambulances were on the scene.

The ultra-rare 2006 Bugatti Veyron EB had been sold to Andy Lee House just last month by a Jonesboro, Ark., dealer, and had just 500 miles on the odometer from the previous owner, according to the Houston Chronicle.

House reportedly told La Marque, Texas, police that he lost control of his car when he dropped his cellphone and, upon sitting back up, was distracted by a low-flying pelican, which caused him to jerk the wheel to avoid it. Video of the car being towed from a saltwater lagoon caused an Internet sensation.

New video

On Thursday night, unaware that he'd captured footage that would gain international attention, Garza posted a 24-second video (since made private) of the Bugatti crashing spectacularly into the water.

The video (warning: contains harsh language) shows Garza and his friend driving alongside the Bugatti, and wondering aloud what kind of car it is.

The La Marque police department has not responded to requests for comment.

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See also:

Video: Bugatti Veyron for sale, slightly damp

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