latest i heard was that paul walker was the passenger, not the driver. he was on a racing team, and the racing team captain was driving when the accident happened. it was right up the street from that guy's performance shop.
so really, it doesnt matter if you are a professional driver. track trained. whatever. there are many many variables on the street which makes them more dangerous than tracks.
also, that particular car has over 600HP with a V10 engine, but is notorious as being hard to handle.