Posted on 02/16/2008 8:15:53 PM PST by jdm
I may be overly sensitive on this subject but my first reaction is that these victims of a Maryland street-racing incident were unlucky, undeserving and incredibly foolish:
“A car plowed into a crowd that had gathered to watch a drag race on a suburban road early Saturday, killing eight people and injuring at least five, police said.
Police said the white sedan was not involved in the street race but accidentally drove into the crowd of about 50 people that had spilled onto the highway to watch two racing cars speed off.
***
According to police, two cars had lined up for a race on the smooth and relatively flat and straight stretch of highway. They spun their wheels, kicking up smoke, then sped off, Copeland said.
The crowd then moved into the road to watch the cars drive away. The combination of the smoke and the dark morning likely meant the driver of the approaching white sedan could not see the crowd. No charges were pending.”
Based on the preliminary report, I feel more sympathy for the driver of the sedan and his deceased passenger than I do for the pedestrian victims.
Street-racing has become an epidemic in large and small communities and has resulted in many deaths. Post-2001 statistics are hard to find because few agencies record street-racing accidents, but there are anecdotal estimates that at least 50 people a year are killed and many more injured as a result of street-racing. This 2004 DOJ publication almost foreshadows what happened in Maryland (pp. 17-18):
Street races typically involve racers and spectators meeting at a popular gathering place, often on a relatively remote street in an industrial area. Here they decide where to race; they then convoy to the site, where a one-eighth or one-quarter mile track is marked off. Cars line up at the starting line, where a starter stands between them and drops his or her hands to begin the race. Several hundred spectators may be watching. Unlike racetracks that allow spectators to observe races in a safe, closed environment, these illegal street races encourage spectators to stand near possibly inexperienced drivers and poorly maintained vehicles–a combination that can be deadly for onlookers standing a few feet away from vehicles racing at highway speed.”
Unfortunately, many people and even some in law enforcement think of street-racing with the nostalgia that reminds us of James Dean and Happy Days. Those days are long gone.
ping.
Ricers and gangs ruined the scene utterly.
No common sense anymore.
I saw this on the news this deserves a darwin award.
Street Racing is stupid. And I have little sympathy for the spectators. They know that they are participating in a highly illegal ‘sport’.
That said, it is getting fairly hard to find a decent drag strip without driving almost 100 miles from where I live.
I still haven’t had the chance to take my Saleen Supercharged Mustang GT out to the strip and see what she will run. I keep meaning to, but the long haul and the amount of work I have has kept me away.
Hopefully within the next year I’ll get to go.
Ricers?
??
Asian dragster=racer
You know, it’s much less expensive to just get your penis enhanced.
one more time
Asian dragster=ricer
if it is worth doing...it is worth doing twice
Street slang for imports modified for racing. Typically Honda's with huge spoilers on the back and the muffler replaced by noisy performance mufflers (fart cans is the slang). Gangs, car theft, parts theft. Complete idiots behind teh wheel. Bad scene now. American Grafitti cruising with occasional red light race is over. Maybe I am slamming the import scene, I know domestics race and crash too, but when I started seeing ricers on the scene and the accidents increasing, it was time to knock it off.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
A real quick '94 daily driver Mustang
8/25/2007 6:35:31 PM .557/sec 1.584/sec 7.374/sec 94.14
It didn’t help matters any when “The Fast & the Furious” was released in theatres. They should have known that this movie was going to encourage illegal street racing.
In the 50s I street raced every night of the week.
Sunday was for drag racing at the strip or running at the SCTA meet at El Mirage.
Playing in the street is never a good idea.
Drag racing is for those who cannot drive...
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