" Street-race crash kills 8 in crowd"

[TahitiNut]

ACCOKEEK, Maryland (AP) -- 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.

"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.

"He wasn't breathing, he wasn't moving," she said. "His body was in pieces."

Gaines said the car did not have its lights on, but police could not confirm that.

The white sedan hit people standing on the side of Route 210 around 3:40 a.m., Prince George's County Police Cpl. Clinton Copeland said.

<more>
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/16/drag.race.deaths.ap/

Cars don't kill people. People kill people.
Funny ... nobody wonders if the driver had a history of mental illness. :shrug:

[malaise]

1. Actually the guilty parties here are the morons who were racing

on a public road and those stupid enough to watch.

[TahitiNut]

4. Ban automatic transmissions.

:dunce: ... and assault cars.

[sendero]

46. LOL....

.... exactly.

[Lex Talionis]

55. LOL! Points to you.

[TankLV]

65. "and those stupid enough to watch" EXACTLY...

I will not waste an ounce of concern for these IDIOTS.

They should be this year's winner for the Darwin Awards...

[TomInTib]

2. What a way to screw up a perfectly fine weekend.

I mean, there you are, minding your own business and hanging out in the road, not even four in the morning and WHAM!!.

[DemBones DemBones]

3. It's odd how the media will say

"He had a history of mental illness" as an explanation of a tragedy or, with puzzlement in their voices, "He had no history of mental illness."

How do you get "a history of mental illness"? By seeking treatment for any problems you may be having!!!

So don't get treatment unless you want to have "a history of mental illness."

What a crazy world. . .

[TahitiNut]

5. Yep. It's the stigmatization that assures more untreated mental illness ...

... including post-partum depression (and psychosis). It's remarkable how different the perpetrators are regarded in the example cited, too.

[DemBones DemBones]

25. I think so, too, and would also include lots of

people with bipolar disorder who self-medicate with alcohol or illegal drugs instead of getting treatment. A lot of people are in denial about needing help and with the stigma attached, plus the fact that health care never covers mental health needs as well as physical health needs. . .

I think it scares the talking heads that a person "with no history of mental illness" can go into a murderous rage. It's a lot easier if the person has a "history" so they can dismiss him or her as certifiably crazy.

[aikoaiko]

50. There are some people whose mental illness is well known but they don't get treatment

just saying.

edited a bit

[ThomWV]

6. Street drag racing has been commonplace in the DC area for decades

In 1965 over 500 people were arrested on night in Montgomery County during a single street racing event that took place just about every summer evening. Sometimes there were over 1,000 spectators out there. Crashes were commonplace and you have to remember, this was during the muscle car era.

[Submariner]

8. Richies Drive-In hamburger joint

near the Route 2 rotary near Boston is where the 409 Chevy 4-door Biscayne's (sleepers) and 427 Cobra Mustangs and the like would meet to set up the drags each night. Then out to Route 2 next to Spot Pond to do it! No crashes. Those were fun times, especially watching the State Troopers trying to outsmart us setting up traps.

[Kingofalldems]

11. I knew some of those people

How did you know about this? Wow, many years ago on River Rd.

[ThomWV]

52. I ran earler that evening but had returned to Wheaton

[flvegan]

7. "Uninvolved Sedan Kills 8 Street Race Spectators"

Probably wouldn't get as many views with that headline. Good job, CNN writers.

[TahitiNut]

29. The headline evolves with every iteration. (Editors sometimes seem to learn slowly.)

The latest AP headline: "Car Hits Md. Street-Race Crowd; 8 Killed"
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jzkSdS7ErCo6k8JY8LopeH5FafXQD8UROJD80

[leftofthedial]

9. what a drag!

[Edweird]

10. "nobody wonders if the driver had a history of mental illness"

If the driver had mental problems, it'll come out. Till then, I'm going with "the driver was an asshole".
What I wonder is where are the calls for outright banning of cars?
Think of all the lives that would be saved.
Nobody NEEDS a car. Driving isn't even a right. It's a privilege granted by your state.

[LisaL]

13. Oh how ludicrous.

And how exactly did you come up with "driver was an asshole?"
The article says the driver likely did not see the crowd.
Sounds like an accident.
WTF does it have in common with someone shooting people on purpose?

[Edweird]

27. You're right. I'm wrong.

Too much caffeine and was typing faster than I was thinking.
All I can say is "DOH!"

I didn't pay enough attention to the fact that the driver of the car was on an open public road and happened to drive into a crowd standing in the road. I assumed (incorrectly) that they were at least not on a highway. When I was younger I raced, but we did it in industrial areas that were deserted after 5pm or closed roads, not open highways. I took it for granted these people had more sense tha that. My bad.

[LisaL]

12. WTF should anyone wonder if the driver had a history of

mental illness?
Did you read the article?
According to the article, the racing cars sped up, blowing smoke behind them.
It was dark.
The people then spilled on the road to watch the cars speeding off.
The driver of the sedan likely did not see the people because it was dark, and because of smoke from the racing cars.
WTF does mental illness has to do with any of it?

[TahitiNut]

14. Most cars have headlights nowadays, to be used at 4am when it's dark.

You really should keep up with the state-of-the-art in automotive technology. :rofl:

[LisaL]

16. The article said police could not confirm that the car had no

lights on. By the way I doubt anyone driving at 4 am in the morning would expect a bunch of people on the road.
And I really fail to see what is so funny.

[RamboLiberal]

17. Do you have a driver's license?

Seeing someone in the road with the addition of smoke when you're coming down a dark highway can be very last minute with headlights.

I've had several heart in the mouth moments coming up on a pedestrian in dark clothing crossing or walking a road at night. The morons in this case were the idiots watching an illegal race who stepped in to the middle of a dark highway at 3am!

Your post and your laughing icon are DUMB!

The cops so far have said no charges are pending against the driver.

[TahitiNut]

19. Yes. I have a driver's license. I don't regard it as a License to Kill. I guess you do, though.

How many people have YOU killed so far? Hmm? :eyes:

Your post and your idea of driving properly are DUMB. (To say the least.)

<snip>

Steve Swann, 36, of nearby Fort Washington, came by the crash site on Saturday afternoon with his cousin. Mr. Swann said he was at the race when the accident occurred and that the aftermath was horrifying.

He said the car came right up behind the two race cars without its lights on “smashing everybody up.”

<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/us/17crash.html

<snip>

About 50 people were watching the race, Gaines said, and she saw the Crown Victoria approach without its lights on. She grabbed her daughter, pulling the girl to safety. But her father, William Gaines Sr., 61, had a broken leg, and was not able to get away in time. Afterward, she found his body on the road.

"He wasn't breathing; he wasn't moving," Gaines said. "His body was in pieces."

Her brother, William Gaines Jr., was also there. The car came through so fast that "it just ripped people apart," he said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jzkSdS7ErCo6k8JY8LopeH5FafXQD8UROJD80

And, from a possibly better-reported version of the story ...

<snip>

Copeland said it was too early to determine if any criminal charges would be filed.

<snip>
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN16153164

[LisaL]

23. The article says police can not confirm the car had no

lights on.

[TahitiNut]

24. Even though at least two witnesses have said so, huh?

Faaabulous police work. Uh-huh. :eyes:

[RamboLiberal]

44. Yeah witnesses are so reliable - NOT

Ask any crash investigator. In fact I took a Citizen's State Police academy class last year and one of the lecturer's was a very well-trained crash investigator who pointed out they rely very little on crash witnesses and mostly on the physical evidence they gather from the scene - which is why they closed the highway for a very long time. They find because things happen so quickly that witnesses descriptions are very unreliable. They'll be able to tell from the lights themselves and the light switch in the car if the lights were on or off most likely.

Perhaps we have another moron who didn't have his lights on. I am amazed how many times I see cars driving at night w/o lights or with just their "parking" lights. Used to see it a lot a number of years ago in my area, not so much now. But still, don't know if it's because they don't have lights, their high, or some other thing.

[CRF450]

69. Sometimes when your in a city with lighted streets...

You cant really see your headlights very well, so in a way it would kinda escape your mind for a little bit. I'v done it myself where I caught myself driving without the headlights a few times.

[RamboLiberal]

71. Oh we've all had that happen

Which is why I love that my car turns on my lights automatically.

But I was speaking of idiots I see on semi-lighted/no light highways driving w/o lights.

My pet peeve are the idiots who don't turn their lights on at dusk or in rain/snow storms. Just cause he can see doesn't mean the rest of us can see him.

[CRF450]

78. But what puzzles me here about claims of the driver not having his headlights on...

Is, if it was really dark their, how could that driver be able to see the road? As far as I know about the Crown Vic's (my dad has a 97) headlight switch, is that they can be turned to the right for turning on the lights manually. And it can be turned to left for them to be turned on automatically, and when turning it to left, it has some adjustability to how much you turn that switch as to how dark it would have to be before the lights turn on.

[CRF450]

28. Even if the lights are on, its still hard to see people on the road till your just 30ft away

Not even headlights switched on highbeam can help you see through smoke or fog.

Crown Vic headlights are state of the art? NAAAWWW:eyes:

[TahitiNut]

30. A crowd of 50 people? Eight of whom are so directly in the path that they're killed?

We're not talking about a solo jaywalker wearing dark clothing, here. We're talking about "clouds of smoke" and a crowd of fifty people or so on and around the roadway.

Any driver that doesn't slow down and drive under control when such conditions exist doesn't deserve to drive in the first place.

This ain't rocket science. Two witnesses are reported to say the car's headlights weren't on. While the quality of media reporting is, as usual, somewhat sloppy, I'd find it almost inconceivable (unless the driver is awfully well-connected) that charges aren't to be forthcoming.

[CRF450]

34. Well if you think about it....

Maybe the Crown Vic driver saw the tail lights of the two racing cars, then saw the smoke and never though that spectators would be walking out in to the road, behind the smoke, to see who's winning. I'v seen street racing spectators do that, alot of times, they'll wait till the racing cars pass by and then go out into the road. It does not matter how many people are out in the road, it is just plain hard to see anybody, even if the headlights are on. Which I doubt they were turned off because that area had no street lights, so their would be no way for the driver to see, except to have his headlights on.

I do think they should investigate more in the claims of the headlights being turned off, but I'd still put most of the blame on the people standing out in the road.

[TahitiNut]

35. The rule is simple. When it's "hard to see" ... SLOW DOWN.

One look at the damage to the Crown Vic ... and the fact that one of the spectators wound up going through the windshield and was found DEAD in the front seat (to the point of first being mistakenly reported as a "passenger") ... doesn't require college semester of study and thinking.

Additionally, a perusal of the photographs of the site show that the roadway is LIT ... with streetlamps every 100-150 yards. Try looking again.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jzkSdS7ErCo6k8JY8LopeH5FafXQD8UROJD80

I'm very interested in WHO the driver is. Perhaps I'm just a jaded, old cynic, but I'd bet a testicle that if it were a black male in his early 20s, he'd be buried so deep in jail it'd take a battalion of lawyers just to locate him.

[tabasco]

38. Here's another rule for you, Einstein:

Don't be standing on a freeway, especially at 4 in the morning.

Another rule to live by:

Don't take the word of people who have good reasons to lie.

[TahitiNut]

40. So, you think eight people deserved to DIE for jaywalking?

I guess the WHOLE WORLD must look like Einstein to a moran like that. :rofl:
A "blame the victim" attitude like that would be right at home in the Bush/Cheney White House.

:patriot:

[RamboLiberal]

45. I have no sympathy for 8 morons standing in the middle of

a dark highway watching an illegal drag race. Also these damn illegal street races have killed other innocent pedestrians and drivers in the past whether staged or by some morans who decide at a stoplight let's see who's penis car is badder!

These people sound like Darwin candidates to me!

Glad you're such a perfect driver!

[BadgerLaw2010]

62. Generally, if you are in the middle of a highway on foot, you're gonna be the one at fault.

You are certainly being negligent. And your death from standing in the middle of a highway by no means requires that a driver would be negligent, particularly at night.

[TankLV]

66. Actually - they deserved to die for their STUPIDITY...

HELLO: Illegal car racing. Morons standing IN THE ROAD watching the ILLEGAL racing.

Good for them - maybe it'll teach some other potential IDIOTS to NOT SUPPORT SUCH ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES.

Next some idiots will be telling us it's a "cultural thing"...

[tabasco]

73. Nope.

I think they displayed incredibly bad judgment.

[CRF450]

41. That part of the street is lighted?

I stant corrected about their being street lamps, but I dont see any photo's at night of that part. The articles even said it was dark their. Its not like the driver of the Crown Vic did it on purpose. Usually when you see a little smoke over the roadway, its usually from someone burning a ditch, or maybe some trash. But who would expect it be tire smoke, and know that theirs people on the other side? How often have you ever suddenly showed up to a spot where theirs a crowd watching street racers?

[LisaL]

42. The photos of the crush scene are in the OP, and I don't see any

street lamps. Regardless, there is nothing to indicate this was done on purpose. If one drives at 4 am in the morning, one usually does not expect a bunch of people on the road.

[RamboLiberal]

72. Driver's 20 years old according to news reports I watched

Don't know if he was black. Some of those killed and some of the witnesses and people who live in the area are black.

I'm so glad you're such an expert and know the scene so well that you know he had time to slow down!

[BadgerLaw2010]

48. It's called outdriving your headlights. Go back to driver ed.

At highway speeds (60+), you cannot avoid anything that suddenly appears in your beams. This is why cars have tail lights and trucks have running lights and tail lights.

Read this if you should have failed driver ed:

http://www.racingschools.com/rs/Night-Driving-p-33.html

"Typical passenger car high beams can't illuminate effectively much farther than 200 feet away. Since your car travels 88 feet per second at 60 miles per hour, any speed in excess of 60 mph (or about 45 mph on low beams) puts your 2-second stopping area (see my article on accident avoidance) beyond your range of vision. At any speed in excess of 60 mph you are outdriving your headlights."

[TahitiNut]

58. (1) There's a question about whther the headlights were even on.

(2) The speed limit is 55 mph. Bodies were apparently hurled 50 feet. The carnage extended about 200 yards.
(3) It seems that a body crashing through the windshield and becoming a "passenger" might be a clue.

:shrug: The apologetics for a driver killing eight people seem to indicate a failure of special ed.

[BadgerLaw2010]

60. What does any of that have to do with "not able to see people at night at highway speeds?"

Learn to read. At 45+, you can't stop in time to not kill non-illuminated people with normal headlights, even if you react immediately. With the road having a speed limit of 55 MPH, it's safe to say that even high beams wouldn't help. And you aren't getting perfect reaction times out of anyone at 3:30 a.m., even if they are sober and/or not driving recklessly.

The driver probably was going faster than 55 MPH, but that doesn't make a difference. These people would still be dead meat. There's nothing "apologetic" about that - unprotected people on highways lose.

And what is with the "special ed" slur? Real progressive of you. Do you have big balls on the Internet or something?

[TahitiNut]

61. Project much?

:eyes:

[BadgerLaw2010]

63. Sorry you used an unnecessary slur that has nothing to do with this discussion.

[TahitiNut]

64. There seems to be something consistent about your failure to take responsibility for your own slurs

... and willingness to canonize a driver who committed vehicular manslaughter, possibly involuntary. I find it interesting that folks often seem to be unwilling to see wrongs on all sides of an issue, seemingly concluding that if there's a wrong (from their own perspective) on one side then another side must be right. That's ethical and logical nonsense.

The folks seemingly guilty of the misdemeanor of jaywalking somehow deserve death, but a driver who committed that vehicular manslaughter doesn't even deserve examination or suspicion? Wow.

The appalling absence of empathy in this thread is possibly indicative of an Axis-II disorder. That should be a matter for some concern. YMMV.

:shrug:

[LisaL]

67. I haven't a clue as to how you arrived to the conclusion the

driver is guilty of vehicular manslaughter. People aren't supposed to be on the road unless there is a cross walk, where there were not. Nobody deserves death for jaywalking, but if you jaywalk, you might just get hit by the car, and it's not gonna make a driver guilty of vehicular manslaughter, if you were where you weren't supposed to be.

[CRF450]

70. Very much agreed.

When I come up on people walking on the side of the road at night, and I'm going 60 mph, I can tell that by the time I even notice them, their is no way in hell any vehicle I drive will stop in time or even slow down enough to not kill the person. It takes around 120+ feet for a regular car to stop from 60-0.

[parkia00]

49. Oh yeah sure!

I'm sure the these two witnesses who attended the illegal race would argue saying it was the driver of the Crown Vic's fault. Not them. Not them attending the illegal race on a public road in the dead of night standing in a crowd in the road. no. Not that at all! Dunno what you find so funny about all this; using that little laughing icon with your post concerning this needless tragedy. Last Friday morning I had to attend the funeral of my uncle. He was run over by an illegal drag racer. The damn driver was a 16 year old kid without a license who decided to show how cool he was to other racers and to be in the "in" crowd. He lost control of his car and ran over my uncle who was jogging on the sidewalk at six in the evening. So if you would excuse me, I will not be laughing with you!

[RamboLiberal]

74. My sympathies on your uncle

It's time these idiots who think the streets are for racing are stopped whether staged or spur of the moment on the highway or at the light. I've read too many stories of innocent people like your uncle being killed.

And while I don't know if the driver in this case is totally innocent he is 20 years old and this will most likely screw up his life.

I'd be for strict penalties against both drivers and spectators of these illegal races. Take it to the track. IMHO I'd suspend anyone caught in illegal street races ought to have their license pulled for a year. And longer if caught multiple times.

[countryjake]

15. Confiscate ALL Crown Vics, now. This carnage has got to stop!

Only the cops should be allowed that kind of power!

[CRF450]

26. Please tell me thats sarcastic, is it?

[LiberalPosse]

59. Don't forget Caprice Classics /nt

[Skittles]

18. why would they mention mental illness?

they would IF THE DRIVER INTENDED TO KILL PEOPLE

[Pavulon]

20. 300 a day..

the average death by motor vehicle count in the US. Anyone here who has ever been in a serious accident knows there is no such thing as an "accident"

A person makes a choice that maims or kills others.

[AZBlue]

21. Why would you say that?

How insensitive. Eight people are dead and the driver, who lost a passenger among the dead, now has to live with this horrible accident for the rest of his life. As far as anyone can tell, he's completely innocent of any wrongdoing - he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. So now a ninth life has been ruined.

[RamboLiberal]

47. Passenger was misreporting.

All who died were spectators. One of them ended up in the Crown Vic which led to the first reports his passenger had died.

[rocktivity]

22. "The victims ranged in age from their 20s to 60s, police said...

...Crystal Gaines, 27...said she grabbed her child but could not help her father, William Gaines Sr., 61.

...The white sedan hit people standing on the side of Route 210 around 3:40 a.m..."

I didn't know watching illegal drag races at 3AM was such a family affair!

:eyes:
rocknation

[Yael]

31. What was this woman doing taking her child to an illegal drag race at 3:30 am?

[seabeyond]

37. i dont get it. i dont get why a 61 yr old man was out there. seems

like to me this is more a teenager event. i dont get why all these adults are out there at almost 4 standing in the middle of a damn street.

[slackmaster]

53. The explanation is too simple

She was a dumbass.

[benEzra]

32. Ban race cars to protect the public...

Ban Race Cars to Protect the Public... :sarcasm:

[bdamomma]

33. Omg that is terrible.

[Kingofalldems]

36. There is at least one drag racing track very near

that town.

[kwassa]

39. People standing in the middle of a major public highway at 3:40 am shouldn't be hit by cars

wow, that's logical.

I've driven Indian Head Highway many times. It is THE major highway through that entire area.

I live on the opposite side of DC. Up here, street racers wrap themselves around trees.

[RamboLiberal]

43. You make no sense

So far this doesn't look like a deliberate act by the driver. He drove on to the scene - he wasn't part of the crowd or the race. Tests will be performed for drugs and alcohol. His background will be looked in to. This is far different than a deliberate shooter! I stick by my statement you made a dumb post.

The driver of the Crown Victoria was described as an adult male. Police did not say whether he had been tested for alcohol use and they were investigating whether the car's headlights were on. Police said they think that debris and smoke from the spinning tires as well as the dark road - there are no streetlights - made it difficult for the driver to see.

"It looks like a situation where he just did not see the victims," said Prince George's County Police spokesman Cpl. Clinton Copeland, adding that it was the worst accident he had seen in 14 years with the department. "The situation here boils down to individuals making a decision, making a bad decision."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.crash17feb17,0,6128235.story

The Indian Head Highway racing strip is popular because it is flat and lacks traffic lights, said John Filer, emergency medical services chief in Charles County. The four-lane highway is divided by a grassy median and lined with trees and telephone poles.

"This is a frequent occurrence," Filer said. "It's known for being a drag-racing spot. It's so straight and high, and you can really get going for a while."

Frank Dunn, the owner of Country Carpet just off Indian Head Highway by the crash site, said that in the past week to 10 days, he has been hearing reports from customers that his store's parking lot was filling with cars in the middle of the night. One customer told him it was being used for cars to be unloaded from trailers in preparation for races.

A Prince George's law enforcement source, who asked not to be named because the investigation is ongoing, said police are aware of a circuit of street racing aficionados. But he said stopping the races is not simple because the races move around, and those involved keep the information within a tight circle.

"It's a continual cat-and-mouse game," the source said. "It takes a lot of additional resources to go after them."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/16/AR2008021602549.html?hpid=topnews

[slackmaster]

51. If those people in the crowd had all been in cars they might be alive

Give cars to everyone.

[proud2BlibKansan]

54. You are actually relating this tragedy to the mental illness crisis?

That is sick.

[jmg257]

56. 43,000 die every year. When will we get serious about banning these machines of death?

How many more people have to be slaughtered before we get serious about cars?

43,000 die annually from MV incidents; it is the number 1 cause of accidental death EVERY year - leading all other catagories like "poisioning" (23,000), "falling" (19,600), "drowning" (3580), and "firearms" (790), and yet nothing is ever done to limit access to these killing tools.

Registration doesn't help. Safety tests help but obviously don't go far enough.

We need bans. No one but the police need cars that go over 40 mph...or even better 35mph? ANY vehicle heavier, scarier looking, or otherwise arbitrarily declared more deadly then a VW Bug should be severly restricted. (We can let the government keep their Suburbans - we trust them completely.)

We need strict screening to make sure no one who is dangerous or irresponsible gets a hold of a vehicle.

We need to make sure NO ONE drinks and drives by holding the evil car makers like GM and corporations like Budweiser responsible.






***********************************


At Least Seven Dead in Tennessee Drag Racing Accident

There's six dead and 18 injured in Selmer, Tennessee after the Aussie drag racer Troy Warren went out of control while doing a burnout for the fans at a charity event at a closed street event without guard rails. Warren then careened out of control into the crowd where a Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman says the fatalities include two 15-year-old girls and a 17-year-old girl.

*****

Drag race crash kills 3 on city's west side
Woman is injured during collision triggered by street race of two Ford Mustangs near Greenfield and Eaton.
By Francis X. Donnelly / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Police are looking for two men who were involved in a drag race Sunday night that ended with the deaths of three people.

One of the racing cars struck a minivan on the city's west side, killing three van passengers and injuring one person, police said.

************************



Drag race kills one

Sandra Chapman/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis, May 29 - A drag race combined with alcohol proved a deadly mix miles outside the Castleton Square Mall Sunday night. Police said a 20-year-old driver lost control of his car, hit a utility pole and sent his passenger airborne.

[Subdivisions]

57. "...mental illness"? From what I'm hearing, those

people were standing in the middle of the road in the middle of the night on the opposite side of a cloud of burn-out smoke and the driver of the car that ran over those people was merely using the road as it was meant to be used and could not see that there was a crowd of people on the other side of that smoke.

Can you explain where mental illness enters this story?

[jmg257]

68. oops DP. deleted

[RamboLiberal]

75. Anyone remember this one last year in Tennessee?

Six people were killed when a drag car plowed into a crowd of spectators at a children's charity event in Tennessee.

Troy Warren Critchley, an Australian who is now based in Wylie, Texas, was driving the vehicle during the "exhibition burnout" event when he lost control and hit spectators.

-----

The video showed the modified race car spinning its wheels to generate clouds of smoke before tearing down a strip of road lined with hundreds of spectators.

The driver lost control and crashed into the crowd at a section where there was no safety barrier, said Mike Browning, spokesman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

http://news.ninemsn.com/article.aspx?id=273564

[flvegan]

76. Completely unrelated.

Nothing to do with each other.

[RamboLiberal]

77. Other than standing watching drag racing on the street

is not a safe place to be. You don't have safety barriers nor safe crowd areas. Should be at the track and even that can be dangerous though with a better safety record.

[RamboLiberal]

79. Interesting story on ABC

-----

But illegal street drag racing isn't limited to the cover of darkness. It also is popular during daylight hours, where cars speed through traffic in what is called rush-hour racing.

"I would consider it as close to an epidemic as possible," said former street car racer Bryan Harrison. "It is expanding and becoming more dangerous."

No national numbers or statistics exist on the occurrence of street drag racing, but nearly 100 people die annually in California alone, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. During the past decade more than 50,000 drivers in the state have pleaded guilty to participating in illegal speed contests.

Yet, this hasn't stopped a bevy of young people from being attracted to illegal racing.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=4303081&page=1

[U4ikLefty]

80. I drive my car every day,...I haven't shot my gun in over 2 years.

Nice try.

...wait, on second thought, weak-assed try!!!