Posted on 02/16/2008 6:32:53 AM PST by RDTF
ACCOKEEK, Md. -- A car plowed into a crowd that apparently gathered to watch a drag race on a suburban road early Saturday, killing seven people and injuring at least four, police said.
The car went out of control on Route 210 around 3:40 a.m. and hit people standing on the roadside, Prince George's County Police Cpl. Clinton Copeland said. A tractor-trailer that came by shortly afterward may also have struck someone on the road as it tried to avoid the crash, he said.
-snip-
Route 210 has two lanes in each direction and traffic lights about every 150 to 200 yards in Accokeek, about 20 miles south of Washington.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
It's the Car Culture. Just as guys shooting on their bellies at Camp , laddies on the trap line, ISPC shooters and just folks walking the creek plinking are all part of the Gun Culture.
Some people misuse cars, some people misuse guns. Far, far more people are killed and maimed by car misuse.
Besides, I like the Dog Whisperer! Shows how stupid some people are, and how smart some dogs are, in their canine way. It also shows that you have things for what they are, and work with that, unlike the "midnight basketball" advocates who think that you can change the natural characteristics of people, any people. It shows that regardless of that, you can change behavior without changing the "inernals". Lots of lessons to be learned from the Dog Whisperer.
I’ve been to a few of these when I was younger, but I guess I was one of the smarter ones because I stayed behind the “starting line”. Many of these cars have enough power to break loose in 3rd or 4th gear if the driver is not careful shifting, and that would be a deadly situation for anyone near the road. Very tragic, but kids will never learn.
We used to do this (drag racing on the highway) all the time when I was a kid. We were lucky something like this didn’t happen to us. Prayers up for the kids and their families.
We need to establish some car-free zones wherever people meet.
Perry, Camp Perry.
“There were just bodies everywhere; it was horrible,” said Crystal Gaines, 27, whose father was among the dead.
Gaines said she grabbed her child but could not help her father, William Gaines Sr., 61.
***
What I want to know is, what were an adult mother, her child, and a senior citizen doing at a drag race at 3:00 in the morning?
Hmm, something smells fishy here. This sounds intentional.
Not an accident. The racers had already passed.
I hate to tell my age, but drag-racing on back roads was a favored pastime in the 50's. Doesn't seem as though the intellect of the average American has increased. ;( Sad for the families of the casualties.
“Young people think they are invincible.”
I’d put it down to the ignorance of young people, but among the dead spectors is a 61 year old (who was there with his daughter and small grandchild) and a 33 year old.
This was not some kids fooling around.
Southern Maryland has always been a favored place for drag racing! I recall the old Budd’s Creek ads on WPGC 1580 as a boy.
Was this an actual drag race, or was it a street race? The title of the article seems to be misleading.
An actual drag race would be held on a DRT(Drag Race Track). Is the author trying to give drag racing a bad name? Or is the author just confused and not knowing the difference between the two?
I agree with you. 7 people killed is no joke. We are a car culture and these people wanted to see some action. Bad judgement, but I have exercized worse judgement in my life and fortunately, not died for it.
It was a drag race on a public highway, I think.
yup, Thes people are the kind of people that do really stupid things that put themselves into harms way - like joining the army during war! What fools - lets thin out the gen pool. Lets put all the soldiers that died into the Darwin awards - hahahaha.
(sorry, but making fun of this stuff kind of burns me)
Damn media anyway... this was NOT a drag race crash or even a a drag racing crash, at any sanctioned event. This was a crash at an illegal street race... BIG Difference!
Later reports say the driver, who was just passing through, couldn’t see because of the smoke caused by the racers just in front of him, and drove off the road into the crowd. It’s likely he won’t be charged. This area is just south of Andrews Air Force Base and on the way to Pautuxant Naval Air Station. The road, Indian Head Highway, has been a regular place for racing for quite a while, but the cops don’t do anything about it.
These FOOLS were at an illegal street race at 4 AM.
We law abiding citizens definitely do not need sociopaths like this making the roads more dangerous for the rest of us. Oh, and on your other points ... I think you’re projecting.
BTW ... two high school kids in my town were killed this week, as well. You guessed it: Street racing. I’ve personally been punted into the trees off I-95 by getting my rear quarterpanel clipped by, you guessed it: a street racer. So yeah, I’m kind of tired of this crap.
"Police said the white Crown Victoria was not involved in the street race but accidentally drove into the crowd of about 50 people that had spilled into the northbound lanes of the divided highway to watch two racing cars speed off."
Not to excuse the idiot street racers, but standing in the road isn't the smartest thing to do either.
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