Jerry Seinfeld Cheats Death As Brakes Fail, Car Flips

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. — Jerry Seinfeld was in a harrowing rollover wreck but was unhurt after the brakes on one of his vintage cars failed.

Seinfeld was driving alone when the brakes on his 1967 Fiat BTM stopped working Saturday evening, East Hampton Town Police Chief Todd Sarris told the New York Post. Seinfeld tried the emergency brake, to no avail, and then swerved to keep the car from careening into an intersection, Sarris said.

The two-door sedan flipped over and came to a stop just yards from the highway, Sarris said, adding that the comic's maneuver "probably avoided a very serious accident."

The wreck was attributed to mechanical failure, and no summonses were issued, Sarris said. Seinfeld, 53, did not require medical attention and returned to his East Hampton home.

"He was a little shocked when he walked in and it started to dawn on him what happened," said his wife, Jessica.

The comedian took the crash in stride.

"Because I know there are kids out there, I want to make sure they all know that driving without braking is not something I recommend, unless you have professional clown training or a comedy background, as I do," Seinfeld said. "It is not something I plan to make a habit of."

The sitcom star, who co-wrote, co-produced and starred in last year's animated "Bee Movie," is an auto aficionado. He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in November that his favorite car in his collection is a 1955 Porsche Spyder.

(This version CORRECTS careering to careening)

Comments

[sa]

look, the guy cheated death -
but now we have to get the
seinfeld movie: "i cheated death",
then the dvd. then the live hbo special and comedy album:
"this is the last time i'll cheat death".
then the lawsuit where he tries to sue death for 500 billion.
then the concert tour - "daredevil".

then the making of the movie "i cheated death".
then the filming of the concert tour: "daredevil - live!"

then the animated movie: "c (see) movie".

all i'm saying is - seinfeld knows his way around a dollar.

[greysilk]

what's a g-d?

[MajorKong]

Some Orthodox Jews believe that it is wrong to speak or write the name of God, so they will often write "G_d". Rather than say the word "God" they will say "Hashem" which means "The Name".

[gun]

Could somebody ring up Mona Lisa Vito and ask her about this car?

-- we need an expert witness, Paging Ms. Tomei...

Put your clothes on honey...its Judge Muldoon.

and btw, the reason the story is important, for the know nothings in the crowd, is that Jerry and Larry created the finest tv sitcom of all time, and if Jerry killed himself being stupid, it would be as bad as what happened to Hendrix or Joplin or Morrison.

Anyone who doesn't know how good that show is might go read a script and you can find them with Google. Oh, yeah, google is a search engine.

I can't believe how dumb some of Reagan's spawn are. And imagining the horror of Bush's totally brainless babies converging with global collapse is enough to make you believe in DEVILUTION.

[melakfilms]

Hehehehe, that is some incredible news! Seinfeld wrecks ONE of his vintage cars when the rest of America can't afford gasoline! Hahaha, so funny!

[the964kid]

Seinfeld is an avid car collector and he's famous for his porsche collection. He should have stuck with one of the porsches -! Thats what you get driving a 67 fiat!! Glad he wasn't hurt...

[NicoleAnonymous]

I know people shouldn't judge a man by the car he drives but do you remember those Miatas or I think that was what they were called. When I saw a man driving those I thought...that is just really wrong...

[Zentomato]

I used to be an auto-body mechanic and the very worst car I ever worked on was a Fiat. A bucket of rust waiting to happen! Fiat even used clear plastic phillips head screw to afix the tailight lenses which upon trying to remove broke immediately on the first turn of the screwdriver. Worst car that I ever worked on. They rolled off the showroom floor as brand new shiny junk.

[BigBagel]

F.I.A.T. Fix it Again Tony.

[gd7277467]

JERRY WHO ?

And we should care about this, Why ?

[Durango]

1967 Fiat. Combining lousy engineering with bad workmanship.

But they look cool!

[ochsag]

What's a fiat BMT??? I don't think the car even exists...

[1audiofile]

The thing to remember here is that both the normal hydralic braking system failed and also mechanical emergency brake as well. I suspect there was a single failiure in the system. The owner went out driving in a car that already had one problem and a second one happened during the drive. The emergency brakes are all mechanical and connect to both the rear brakes. Usually this is not functioning and the owner does not think it is that important and lets it go. Then probably the master cylinder failed or the system lost brake fluid. This was before they seperated the master cylinder into two seperate systems so there would be some redundancy.

He was lucky.

[Ray46]

It was in 1967 that the dual master cylinder was first required in a all cars by the US government. This meant that both the front and rear brakes are on separate brake circuits and both of these circuits in addition to the emergency brake would need to fail to loose all braking control.

As he has a large classic car collection which I expect would be expertly maintained, to have three separate redundant controls fail at the same time seems extremely unlikely and is being used as an excuse for driver error.

[NicoleAnonymous]

I hate to say it but I'm curious if the police gave him a sobriety test or asked him if he was drinking. They should have asked him where he was coming from abd if it was a place where he might have been drinking. I

'm also curious how this accident that involved a very famous celebrity is only being reported now, almost a week after the accident. Of course a wealthy celebrity in the Hamptons might be able to influence how the police report the story. But maybe I'm just questioning it because I can't stand him or his wife but something really doesn't seem right about it.

[cynubie]

That 1967 Fiat was available for sale in November of 1966--and thus is not applicable to the '67 law.

[YellowPanties]

"Careering" is acceptable speech, there was no need to "correct" it.

Ca•reer•ing
verb [ intrans. ]
move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way in a specified direction : the car careered across the road and went through a hedge.

I'm glad Seinfeld's excellent comedic skills saved him. What is the deal with rollovers, anyway?

[ColoradoDan]

I read the longer interview where Jerry said, after the crash, he heard a heavenly voice utter:

"Jerry ... that was just a warning. You'd better now think twice about making that "Bee: The Sequel

flick ... or of ripping off any more cook books. And ya got more damned money than Go ... er ... Me, so

whaddya doing driving ANY Fiat anyways?"

[whoissilvia]

“One of the fun facts of celebrity life is that wackos will wait in the woodwork to pop out at certain moments to inject a little adrenaline. So this woman says ‘I sense this could be wacko moment,’ so she comes out and sabotages my brakes."

Case dismissed.

[TRYKER]

Yeah, where was that cook book lady when I needed her? Ahh, brakes failed, that'll work.
"This is your first notice..." echoes in the night.

[ochsag]

What the hell is a fiat BTM anyway? I can't figure it out...I don't think it exists.

[ColoradoDan]

Its the classic Fiat that comes with bacon, tomato and mayonaise.

[PoliticalPolyanna]

Ba-Dum-Bum­-Chiiiiii!­!

Thank you! Colorado Dan will be here all week. Remember to tip your bartenders and waitresses!

lol

[indypete]

Not bacon, surely... that's not kosher!