Holy crap! What a crash...

[TMC]

The Commodore was a V6, not a V8, so it was your regular family car and not some hotted up 6.3L. The guys were 19 and 20, so to be honest it's inexperience most likely with normal young bloke stupidity. On the news the police were saying it was the worst crash they'd ever seen.

I actually work with palm trees, and that palm is a Canary Island Date Palm and they weigh around a ton for every metre of trunk. That palm would have weighed maybe 10 tonnes above ground and who knows how much strength it had anchored into the ground like it was. To bend the trunk would have required incredible forces. The palm itself may die and normally you don't see that sort of trunk bending without 280kph winds from a cyclone for example.

Also where are the marks over the kerb and into the garden bed for example. If you jump a kerb there will be damage to the ground immediately at the point of impact. When you look at the pictures the ground is basically undisturbed. I would bet that this car was airborne when it hit the base of the palm.

I feel really sorry for the families and emergency workers.