Identified! CA - Police searching for car seen in video driving off CA hwy cliff, 30 Dec 2019-ID Tracey Sinclair

California Highway Patrol still saying they believe the video is real, but this is the first MSM article I’ve seen where the veracity of the video is debated.

San Mateo County cliff crash video mystery: Real or deepfake?




MOO.
From your link:
A few days later, a couple that was driving in the white vehicle ahead of the man contacted CHP to confirm that they, too, had seen the car careen into the water below, Diaz said.
There’s a more traditional visual effect known as rotoscoping that also could have been used to fake such a video. It would have required someone superimposing a second clip of the dark green Lexus SUV launching out of the frame into the video CHP received from the witness. But because video metadata includes timestamps, experts say that’s also unlikely because such painstaking frame-by-frame editing takes hours and could not have been completed between 10:38 a.m. and 11 a.m.
 
Is that a popular spot for suicides?
JMO
I have no clue about suicides, but the Pacific Coast Highway does have alot of deadly accidents. It's a beautiful drive but it feels like you are driving on a winding cliff. I was driving with a friend out there years ago and minutes behind us a celebrity plastic surgeon plowed off the side and was killed. It was believed texting/ tweeting was involved.
Here's info about the dangers:
Pacific Coast Highway Captures Attention for its Scenery and its Crashes ‹ Pepperdine Graphic
 
From your link:
A few days later, a couple that was driving in the white vehicle ahead of the man contacted CHP to confirm that they, too, had seen the car careen into the water below, Diaz said.
There’s a more traditional visual effect known as rotoscoping that also could have been used to fake such a video. It would have required someone superimposing a second clip of the dark green Lexus SUV launching out of the frame into the video CHP received from the witness. But because video metadata includes timestamps, experts say that’s also unlikely because such painstaking frame-by-frame editing takes hours and could not have been completed between 10:38 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Yes, it seems virtually impossible that it was anything other than authentic. I just thought it was interesting there is a MSM article that actually addresses the real/fake question. The conclusion CHP comes to is that it is real.



MOO.
 
JMO
I have no clue about suicides, but the Pacific Coast Highway does have alot of deadly accidents. It's a beautiful drive but it feels like you are driving on a winding cliff. I was driving with a friend out there years ago and minutes behind us a celebrity plastic surgeon plowed off the side and was killed. It was believed texting/ tweeting was involved.
Here's info about the dangers:

Pacific Coast Highway Captures Attention for its Scenery and its Crashes ‹ Pepperdine Graphic

(Snipped from above link)
“Hahn said driving on PCH was safer during her student years, and that current efforts to make PCH safer do not focus as much on prevention.”

“We didn’t have the cameras at the intersections, and now the only way they can use those is after the fact, after there’s been a smash up and a death,” Hahn said. “Then, they go back to the cameras and they look for the cars that were involved.”

Was the Green Lexus seen in the cameras at the intersections?
 
From your link:
A few days later, a couple that was driving in the white vehicle ahead of the man contacted CHP to confirm that they, too, had seen the car careen into the water below, Diaz said.
There’s a more traditional visual effect known as rotoscoping that also could have been used to fake such a video. It would have required someone superimposing a second clip of the dark green Lexus SUV launching out of the frame into the video CHP received from the witness. But because video metadata includes timestamps, experts say that’s also unlikely because such painstaking frame-by-frame editing takes hours and could not have been completed between 10:38 a.m. and 11 a.m.

[rbm]

wait they saw a car go off a cliff and just kept driving???
 
(Snipped from above link)
“Hahn said driving on PCH was safer during her student years, and that current efforts to make PCH safer do not focus as much on prevention.”

“We didn’t have the cameras at the intersections, and now the only way they can use those is after the fact, after there’s been a smash up and a death,” Hahn said. “Then, they go back to the cameras and they look for the cars that were involved.”

Was the Green Lexus seen in the cameras at the intersections?

Very good question
 
[rbm]

wait they saw a car go off a cliff and just kept driving???

Even the person that turned in the video seemed to keep driving without even slowing down much which is what struck me the most about the video driver. I suppose it took the driver a minute or two to digest what just happened but I would have thought he would have at least hit his own brakes the moment he saw the car crossing in front of his vehicle.

Its like he didnt even react to the car going off the cliff.

Having a 2nd witness pretty much confirms it was a real video I suppose. Unless the 2nd witness was the Video Driver's friend and was trying to cover for him as the heat began to turn up?

I guess the fact the 2nd witness didnt even stop or come forward till days later and the fact the original driver with video didnt even react much or slow down after he first saw the car cross his path just shows another example where the general public doesnt always immediately react to things.

The driver that took the video didnt look like he was going all that fast and there looked to be plenty of time and room to immediately pull over to the right in that same large parking area that the other car plunged off of.

That driver kept on going and didnt even hit his own brakes from what I saw and heard IMO. I think I read where he eventually stopped. So it may have taken that driver a minute or so to react properly.

The case is so strange and I agree with one of the articles that said it appeared the Vehicle sped up before going off the cliff. If you notice that car hit like a small dirt ramp before going off the cliff. I have to wonder if that driver knew that little ramp was there and if so, then it appears a purposeful suicide. Especially if he sped up before going off cliff.

I hope LE can at least find the vehicle to identify the driver and any occupants. From what little clarity there is, I do think there was a passenger. So maybe murder/suicide?
 
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Yes, it seems virtually impossible that it was anything other than authentic. I just thought it was interesting there is a MSM article that actually addresses the real/fake question. The conclusion CHP comes to is that it is real.

MOO.

It is interesting and thanks for sharing that article.

I agree with the article that it would be difficult to do a good fake so its likely a real video but I do disagree about one part in the article.

Article says that it would have been hard for the person to fake date/time stamps on each frame of the video and do that in the short time it took from time of event to calling LE when they showed up. But that doesnt take into account what if the person took days and days to make the fake video and edited the date/time stamps to be future date/times to match the day he was going to unleash this video to the world and drive by that spot. It could have all been done ahead of time.

I do agree it is painstaking and would be very time consuming to do it. But isnt that what hackers and people that make fake videos do? They invest a large amount of time and effort into making things seem real. So I think it could have been possible to do in advance.

I am also not sure LE has even checked that metadata information on each frame. I had not seen LE confirm that they even looked at that. The article tells us how to check it but I had not seen where LE said they did check it.

The lack of seeing dust behind the wheels as car drove into that sandy parking area and off the cliff is bothersome as well as the lack of the driver even reacting to the car crossing in front of them. So a few things still bother me about the video but I have to go with LE determination that its real because surely by now they have really checked things out about both witnesses. I hope they did anyway. :)

We really need to identify who and how many people went off that cliff. Someone is surely worried about them by now I would think.

San Mateo County cliff crash video mystery: Real or deepfake?
 
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There is a -bleep- (a muted) sound in the video.A quite bleep. You don’t hear the witness’ car moving.
I took that to be the witness driver saying the f or s word.Something they obviously can’t play on the news.
As far as pulling over, PCH does not have a ton of safe pullout areas.

JMO
 
Drivers on Highway 1 are often scared. Really scared. As in, afraid to pull off at all, for fear they too will lose control and go plunging. Leads to many interesting situations (and very few U-turns). That particular parking lot was large, but in the moment, I definitely see how people might have missed hitting brakes and pulling off at an unplanned place (many people won't pull off at all, once they see what it's like).

Locals would definitely have tried to pull over, I'd think (unless under time pressure? I would hope I'd stop no matter what). As seen in the video, it is not always safe for a distracted or harried driver to pull out. SUV's don't have to worry as much about the difference in height between pavement and dirt lot, but everyone else does. There's often no cell service, to make it even worse.
 
Drivers on Highway 1 are often scared. Really scared. As in, afraid to pull off at all, for fear they too will lose control and go plunging. Leads to many interesting situations (and very few U-turns). That particular parking lot was large, but in the moment, I definitely see how people might have missed hitting brakes and pulling off at an unplanned place (many people won't pull off at all, once they see what it's like).

Locals would definitely have tried to pull over, I'd think (unless under time pressure? I would hope I'd stop no matter what). As seen in the video, it is not always safe for a distracted or harried driver to pull out. SUV's don't have to worry as much about the difference in height between pavement and dirt lot, but everyone else does. There's often no cell service, to make it even worse.

[bbm]

I don't understand the bolded part?
 
I drove part of the PCH a few years back. My heart was in my throat the entire time. I would have been afraid to hit my brakes for fear of skidding, or being rear-ended, and even after I slowed down I don't recall very many pullouts or anything like that. Plus there's the initial shock of "Did I just see what I saw?" that might have carried him past the pullout before he thought to react. So I don't see anything in his behavior to raise red flags for me.
 
Even the person that turned in the video seemed to keep driving without even slowing down much which is what struck me the most about the video driver. I suppose it took the driver a minute or two to digest what just happened but I would have thought he would have at least hit his own brakes the moment he saw the car crossing in front of his vehicle.

Its like he didnt even react to the car going off the cliff.

Having a 2nd witness pretty much confirms it was a real video I suppose. Unless the 2nd witness was the Video Driver's friend and was trying to cover for him as the heat began to turn up?

I guess the fact the 2nd witness didnt even stop or come forward till days later and the fact the original driver with video didnt even react much or slow down after he first saw the car cross his path just shows another example where the general public doesnt always immediately react to things.

The driver that took the video didnt look like he was going all that fast and there looked to be plenty of time and room to immediately pull over to the right in that same large parking area that the other car plunged off of.

That driver kept on going and didnt even hit his own brakes from what I saw and heard IMO. I think I read where he eventually stopped. So it may have taken that driver a minute or so to react properly.

The case is so strange and I agree with one of the articles that said it appeared the Vehicle sped up before going off the cliff. If you notice that car hit like a small dirt ramp before going off the cliff. I have to wonder if that driver knew that little ramp was there and if so, then it appears a purposeful suicide. Especially if he sped up before going off cliff.

I hope LE can at least find the vehicle to identify the driver and any occupants. From what little clarity there is, I do think there was a passenger. So maybe murder/suicide?
I have driven that exact road many times. Believe me, the very last thing you'd do is put on your brakes. :eek:

Doing anything like that can make you lose control. That cliff is just inches away from the side of the road in many areas. You have to stay totally focused at every moment and cannot make any fast moves or decisions. It is truly scary driving that highway.
 
Drivers on Highway 1 are often scared. Really scared. As in, afraid to pull off at all, for fear they too will lose control and go plunging. Leads to many interesting situations (and very few U-turns). That particular parking lot was large, but in the moment, I definitely see how people might have missed hitting brakes and pulling off at an unplanned place (many people won't pull off at all, once they see what it's like).

Locals would definitely have tried to pull over, I'd think (unless under time pressure? I would hope I'd stop no matter what). As seen in the video, it is not always safe for a distracted or harried driver to pull out. SUV's don't have to worry as much about the difference in height between pavement and dirt lot, but everyone else does. There's often no cell service, to make it even worse.

So true about being afraid to pull off the road. When my husband and I were 1st dating, I took him on a road trip on PCH. He kept wanting to pull over and look at the ocean. But when I was driving I didn't want to pull into most of the pullouts. Many are dangerous because you have very short space until you are at the cliff. So it is not good to pull in at high speed.

And some are hard to get out of because the road has so many curves. You can't always see when the next cars are coming. So pulling off is nerve wracking. Anyway, we had our first fight during our road trip because that highway is so frightening.
 

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