You wanna go fast?
Try a classic Ford Galaxie with 427 power:
Posted on 01/16/2005 6:45:48 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
A QUEENSLAND woman caught drag racing along a busy suburban road at 144km/h in a 60 zone with three young children in the back seat says getting caught is her only regret.
Rachael Weymouth appeared in Redcliffe Magistrates Court this week after being clocked doing 84km/h over the speed limit with children aged one, five and seven in the hotted-up car.
Two of the children were hers, the other her sister's.
Weymouth, 27, from Margate in Redcliffe, was racing a friend, Michael Torrisi, 25, who had his fiance and 18-month-old child in his car, along Redcliffe's busy Anzac Ave when caught by police on a Sunday afternoon in December.
A child protection group says the incident amounts to child abuse and are calling for the children of the offending pair to be taken away from them until a proper investigation can be conducted.
But Weymouth, who was fined $850 and disqualified from driving for six months, said her only regret was getting caught.
"The only thing I'm sorry about is losing my licence," Weymouth told the Sunday Mail outside court.
"Now we'll have to walk everywhere, but I'm not sorry because those kids were never in any danger."
Abused Child Trust chairman David Wood said: "They put the children at high risk of injury or death, and that is very definitely a form of child abuse.
"I would suggest that the children be removed from their parents until a proper investigation can be conducted."
The State Government has warned it will launch a full-scale child abuse investigation into Weymouth and Torrisi if they repeat their actions.
Child Safety Minister Mike Reynolds said he was horrified by the "abusive and neglectful" actions of the parents, and his department would act immediately if they were caught again.
Both parents had acted in a completely reckless way with little thought about the dangers that were facing four very young children, said Mr Reynolds.
"I am horrified that parents would place children in a situation that could lead to death or extensive injuries," he said. "If they act further in an abusive or neglectful manner, the department will immediately act."
Police were also disgusted by the incident.
State traffic task force Senior-Sgt Kevin Phillips said the behaviour was dangerous and irresponsible.
"It's just crazy," he said. "They put themselves at risk, the children at risk and other road-users at risk and behaved in a way that was unbelievably careless."
Australian motor racing great Dick Johnson said the parents were lucky to be alive.
He said it was a miracle they managed to control their vehicles at high speed in a busy residential street.
"I wouldn't take kids that age on an empty racetrack," said Mr Johnson.
"It's just too dangerous, and I just can't think who would carry on like that with youngsters in the car because the drivers could have lost control at any time."
In court this week, police prosecutor Senior-Constable Don Baille said Weymouth was racing Torrisi on Anzac Ave when traffic police pulled them over at 4.25pm on December 19.
Sen-Constable Baille said Weymouth was driving a Holden Torana and racing Torrisi when they both recorded speeds of 144km/h.
He said Torrisi, who was behind the wheel of a Holden Commodore, had his fiance and toddler in the car when the race occurred.
"When Torrisi recorded a speed of 144km/h Weymouth was seen pulling away from that vehicle," Sen-Constable Baille said.
"(Weymouth) had a male passenger in the front and three children in the car in the back seat and Torrisi had a female passenger in the front and an 18-month-old child in the back."
The friends, who pleaded guilty to conducting a speed trial, said they'd just registered Torrisi's vehicle and were "going for a drive" when the incident took place.
"It was a one-off situation and we'd just spent $20,000 on those vehicles," Torrisi told the court.
"We did race, but the car's not a piece of junk."
Torrisi told the court the pair had been punished enough by having their cars confiscated for 48 hours under Queensland's "anti-hooning" laws.
"We lost the cars for 48 hours and later sold the vehicles for less than they were worth, so we've already lost out big-time," Torrisi said.
Magistrate Alec Chilcott disqualified Torrisi from driving for six months and fined him $1100.
Mr Chilcott said Torrisi had a lengthy traffic history and needed to "learn his lesson".
"You not only put your own lives at risk, but the lives of innocent children and other road-users, and you need to take a good, long look at yourselves," Mr Chilcott said.
Police then had to remove Weymouth's partner, who didn't want to be identified, from the court when he became abusive.
The man, who wore a Holden Racing Team shirt and cap, told the court the justice system was "f-ed".
Redcliffe traffic branch Senior-Sgt Garth Peake said the incident shocked local police.
"News of the number of kids in the car and the speeds they were doing spread very quickly and everyone was disgusted by the way these people behaved," he said.
"It's not something you come across every day, and it was truly atrocious behaviour."
This would be an embarrassing car to race!
http://www.myholden.com/images/toranas/lx/scott/pic1.jpg
In this article, I really love how mom's only regret was getting caught and how she insists that the kids were in no danger when driving 90 MPH in a 35 zone. She's a maniac.
Looks like a friggin '70's era Opel
American street cars were doing 90 mph in the 1950's, sounds like the Aussies are about 50 years behind the US.
I was just getting ready to shift into high at 90 on my old beemer motorcycle.
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