GUILTY MD - Eight dead, 8 injured as car plows into street racing crowd, 16 Feb 2008

Believe it or not, there were grownups, including a 61 y/o man and his grown daughter. Fortunately, the grandson was not hit, but granddad was.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/16/drag.race.deaths.ap/index.html

What the heck were they thinking?

I think showing the body bags in this case is a good thing. Maybe some other racers and spectators will realize that it could have been them.
 
Believe it or not, there were grownups, including a 61 y/o man and his grown daughter. Fortunately, the grandson was not hit, but granddad was.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/16/drag.race.deaths.ap/index.html

What the heck were they thinking?

I wonder if there was a bar or something nearby? It just seems stange that there were 50 people watching! And from the sounds of it, most of these people were old enough to know better! I'm sure drinking had to be involved, they either left a bar or a party for this drag race.
 
CNN has a bit more information. Who the hell has a child out at 3:40 am to watch a drag race???

And the Crown Vic that hit the bystanders wasn't in the drag race right?
 
I just got the details on and this... did I read correctly that a mother had her child out there at 3 in the morning watching an illegal drag race ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
 
CNN has a bit more information. Who the hell has a child out at 3:40 am to watch a drag race???

And the Crown Vic that hit the bystanders wasn't in the drag race right?


From the sound of things, the car that plowed into them came up behind the race and didn't have lights on. Jeez... and my god, why would a mother be out there with a child?

ETA: why in the heck be out there AT ALL... all of them... it makes no sense.
 
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330892,00.html

A car plowed into a crowd that had gathered to watch a drag race on a suburban road early Saturday, killing seven people and injuring at least four, police said.
Witnesses said they had just watched two cars in the illegal street race speed past when a car without any lights on came up behind them and veered into a crowd of about 50. (more at link)
 
From the sound of things, the car that plowed into them came up behind the race and didn't have lights on. Jeez... and my god, why would a mother be out there with a child?

ETA: why in the heck be out there AT ALL... all of them... it makes no sense.
I assume they all must have gone to watch the race. That is what is even sadder about the whole thing. They were there voluntarily to presumably support something that shouldn't have been happening in the first place.
This is a very sad story indeedy.
 
I just got the details on and this... did I read correctly that a mother had her child out there at 3 in the morning watching an illegal drag race ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Yeah, I just read that in an article at the Drudge Report. Unreal. :furious:
 
Reading the article on CNN and I am thinking that alcohol had to be involved. Fifty people standing on a highway to watch a drag race in the middle of the night? WTH were they thinking? Especially bringing a child onto the highway :furious: ?

From article CNN http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/16/drag.race.deaths.ap/index.html

"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."

The article also states that the body in the sedan was a spectator that ended up in the car and not a passenger like previously reported.
 
Reading the article on CNN and I am thinking that alcohol had to be involved. Fifty people standing on a highway to watch a drag race in the middle of the night? WTH were they thinking? Especially bringing a child onto the highway :furious: ?

From article CNN http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/16/drag.race.deaths.ap/index.html

"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."

The article also states that the body in the sedan was a spectator that ended up in the car and not a passenger like previously reported.


Good Gravy! The poor bloke driving the car must be crapping himself!!
Just driving along and BANG there are 50 people in the road. What a mess!!
 
This story is so sad....but at the same time makes me so angry. What is wrong with people???? This was a highway and they think nothing of gathering onto it to watch an illegal race? And as far as them saying the driver didn't have headlights on...how would they know? I'm sure their back was to the upcoming car and with all of the blinding smoke, I doubt they even knew that. And now this driver has to live with hitting and killing 8 people. This whole thing was downright stupid! And not only that ~ it wasn't a bunch of teens.....it was older people! The neighbors had even called the police and were ignored. Grrr....this whole story is infuriating! If it truly happened the way portrayed, these spectators better not try to put the blame on the poor driver. Can you imagine the horror he has suffered! And now the spineless dragsters are hiding out? Do they honestly think no one will be identifying them?

Police said they are still searching for the two drivers involved in the street race.
 
Wow - reading the article is one thing, but seeing the white sheets covering the bodies is a totally different story.

Confession - We USED to do this in our "younger years" (before our two youngest came along) BUT we NEVER had kids out there and NEITHER did anyone else. And it was NOT on a freeway. Was a road that ran along city airport and yes it did occur after 2 am and they (the races) stopped when it began to get daylight. However, observers were not "on the road" where the cars were racing, they were "cancelled" if the road conditions were not perfect and it was people that knew their car as well as their driving abilities. (IE you were known to the group, and not just some random stranger that showed up, cars were checked over prior to even getting a race partner, etc)

Could an accident have happened? sure thing. No doubt about it, we were fortunate never to be placed into a situation like those mentioned in the article. However, from the sounds of it, it was an informal thing of putting your car out there and seeing what it could do versus any resemblance of a "controlled" environment. My point is - not everyone who races is irresponsible, teens, foolish etc. Their is a responsible way to enjoy racing!

I bet that driver is probably wishing he did lose his life in the accident. The hell he's going to face due to this is going to be unbelievable. JMO
 
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.
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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.
Authorities were looking for the drivers of the two cars involved in the race.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/16/drag.race.deaths.ap/index.html
 
This is nuts, 50 people out there that late at night to watch a street race?? A mother with a child, her father (who was killed) what is wrong with people?? For all those people to be out there, you'd have to think they'd know who the race drivers were if it got enough word of mouth for 50 people to be out there to begin with.
They race around here also, yet there is never spectators as they race on the NYS thruway or Palisades. From what i've heard there are usually cars that follow behind the racers to back up any traffic that may come up behind them.
Has there been a lot of fog conditions around there at the time? I know last year there was some bad fog from MD to upper NY. ..just trying to figure out how far the smoke was visible from by an uncoming car. What a mess, you'd think people would know better..
 
This story is so sad....but at the same time makes me so angry. What is wrong with people???? This was a highway and they think nothing of gathering onto it to watch an illegal race? And as far as them saying the driver didn't have headlights on...how would they know? I'm sure their back was to the upcoming car and with all of the blinding smoke, I doubt they even knew that. And now this driver has to live with hitting and killing 8 people. This whole thing was downright stupid! And not only that ~ it wasn't a bunch of teens.....it was older people! The neighbors had even called the police and were ignored. Grrr....this whole story is infuriating! If it truly happened the way portrayed, these spectators better not try to put the blame on the poor driver. Can you imagine the horror he has suffered! And now the spineless dragsters are hiding out? Do they honestly think no one will be identifying them?

Welcome to the life of living in Prince Georges County. A county full of crime and an underfunded LE... not to mention the schools. But that is a whole other issue. Of my 7 years living in the DC area, it didn't take long to realize that PG County is one very scary place. Thank goodness we live in a different county.
 

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