Used Car Salesman Killed During Corvette Test Drive
A tragic argument in favor of letting customers take solo test drives.
Considering the number of people who sweet-talk their way past skeptical salesmen and into fast cars they’re unprepared to handle, it’s surprising that we don’t hear more stories like this one: A 28-year-old man wrecked a used Chevy Corvette during a test drive on February 23 in Ontario, California. Even worse, he wasn’t driving alone. The 43-year-old salesman accompanying him in the passenger’s seat was killed in the crash.
According to witnesses, Alex Demetro lost control of the red Corvette at around 12:45pm, a couple of blocks from the CarMax where the ‘Vette was put up for sale. The Corvette was reportedly seen racing down the street at an estimated 70 miles an hour before slamming into a tree. CarMax salesman and passenger Warren Smale was found in critical condition; he died later at an area hospital. Authorities did not say whether the driver was injured, but one witness claimed to have seen him clutching his shoulder at the scene.
Demetro was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence of drugs. Then again, an inexperienced driver doesn’t need to be drunk, high, or under the influence of anything other than poor judgement to quickly wind up over his head behind the wheel of a 400 horsepower sports car.
On a creepy note: In light of this tragedy, the choice of hero car in CarMax’s recent ad seems a little...disturbing.