I'm on the left.
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.
I seem to remember several young men getting killed dragging on the Parkway when I was a kid. It was stupid then, and is stupid now.
Nice car.
Drag racing is for those who cannot drive worth a damn. Try a road course like Laguna Seca and not one of those idiot ovals. DRIVE THE DAMN CAR!
Now, that is racing...
What amazed me was that they could get 50 people to watch a race at 3:40 am.
They quoted a witness who was a woman 27 years old. She got her FOUR year old son out of the way of the errant car, but her father next to her was killed.
What mother brings her 4 year old out at 3:40 am in February to watch a road race?
I didn’t think I could witness more massive stupidity. We can hold the Annual Darwin Awards right now.
Now, that is racing...
Too bad the streets 99% drive on everyday are more like drag racing then Laguna Seca.
I'd rather drive my car and have fun everyday then wait once every two years and go drive someplace like Laguna Seca.
Talk about 3 sheets to the wind!
Thanks for the ping
Really makes you stop and say ‘what were they thinking?”
Nice Cobra!
Nice Cobra!
The mother with her child at the race at 3-4am was the jaw slacker for me, too.
I'm sure that movie "Speed Racer" that is coming out soon will really help street racers says NO. (/sarc off)
“the unfortunate meeting with idiot racers wrecked his life.”
No, drinking and driving did.
“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.”
Nice car. Too bad you’re on the Left Coast, I luv to run a Saleen Mustang.
Chip/pullied SVT Cobra. 117 mph/12.57 in the 1/4. (I know. Should be in the 11s. I will w/more practice._
I'm on the left.
Believe there’s a drag strip in the area these people were racing.
Remember investigating an insurance claim many years ago in that area where cars were drag racing on highway at night. One fella decided to stand on center line at finish.
He was hit at 120mph and shoes were left upright where he was standing.
When I first heard this story, it was presented in such a way that it sounded as if two cars were drag racing on a road somewhere in the wee hours of the morning -- and one or both of them lost control and stuck a crowd of spectators.
However, it looks like neither of the drag-racing cars was involved in this incident. The two cars took off from the starting line, a bunch of spectators ran out into the road to watch them, and then another car -- completely unrelated to the race -- came up and plowed into them (apparently the driver couldn't see them because of the smoke lingering in the air). This seems more like a case of abject stupidity on the part of a large number of pedestrians than anything else.
Japanese Motorcycle Repair Kit
I’d love to actually! I almost got a chance to go with the local SRT folks — but then work ramped up.
I’d also like to do some work on my brakes and suspension before I do it and save up for tires!
But since the article was about drag racing in the streets, I mentioned the strip.
I wish I lived near VIR!
Awesome car! Was that on drag radials or street tires? What sort of power are you putting to the ground?
I have the stock Saleen SC on mine (6psi). I dyno about 403 rear wheel hp (475hp at the crank).
Once the warranty runs out in a couple of years I’ll definitely be retuning it and putting a smaller pulley on it.
Unfortunately I don’t have the same bulletproof internals that you do! So unless I go forged internals I’ll be capped around 450rwhp (530hp crank).
Nice car! What have you done to her? I had a ‘95. Did some suspension work on it mostly.
Sadly, she was T-Boned through an intersection. Then, I moved to GM for a while. Had an LT1 TransAm, and an LS1 Corvette.
When we had our son, I had to get rid of the Vette (two seater doesn’t work so well). Came back to the Mustang due to the two seats in the back! Bought her just last summer.
Feels good to be back.
At least this post got it right-—It is STREET racing—NOT DRAG racing. Yes, to those who don’t quite know better, some think it is the same. It is not. It is illegal racing on the street that created this mess. Movies like the Fast and the Furious and Drifting don’t help at all.
I was sorely disappointed in ABC this morning. The constantly referred to the incident as drag racing, and all the graphics and titles said drag racing.
Since ABC Wide World of Sports was the first network to even televise DRAG racing, I felt they were very disrespectful. Long before we had 783 channels to fill up every day, ABC and Keith Jackson were showing the real—PROFESSION— entertainment that drag racing involves.
Thousands of people have their jobs- directly and indirectly owned to drag racing and racing in general. Better and better products including safety items are a direct result of this sport.
OTOH, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that ABC would be so dismissive of a sport with high economic impact. They constantly refer to President G W Bush on all their “news” shows as MR BUSH. That, also, is completely disrespectful.
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