Tragedy on 210

[Rodney Bullock]

I know by now everyone has heard about the people killed on 210 while street racing. There has been a long tradition of racing in southern Maryland. The location of the accident is in front of an old Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge dealership( my grand father bought his first new car from there) During the early 70's this is where the young folks got those cuda's and Roadrunners, Superbee's frrom, I remember it well. It's less than 3 miles from our farm. My heart goes out to those families that lost relatives that night. I have tried to get some info on what happened however I was not there and can not comment on blame. What I can comment on is the fact that folks build these cars, companies sell these parts and they don't have a place to drive and enjoy them. If I spend thousands of dollars on something I need to have a place to test it. We use to have places to do this however they are drying up so they can build all this housing. The area around here is becoming a parking lot. Those young people need someplace to enjoy themselves, They are not criminals or doper's. I think after this someone is going to step up with some land and do the right thing for these young people. sorry just thiught I had to say something:D

[PatS....]

I know by now everyone has heard about the people killed on 210 while street racing. There has been a long tradition of racing in southern Maryland. The location of the accident is in front of an old Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge dealership( my grand father bought his first new car from there) During the early 70's this is where the young folks got those cuda's and Roadrunners, Superbee's from, I remember it well. It's less than 3 miles from our farm. My heart goes out to those families that lost relatives that night. I have tried to get some info on what happened however I was not there and can not comment on blame. What I can comment on is the fact that folks build these cars, companies sell these parts and they don't have a place to drive and enjoy them. If I spend thousands of dollars on something I need to have a place to test it. We use to have places to do this however they are drying up so they can build all this housing. The area around here is becoming a parking lot. Those young people need someplace to enjoy themselves, They are not criminals or doper's. I think after this someone is going to step up with some land and do the right thing for these young people. sorry just thought I had to say something:D

I agree, it was a terrible tragedy. It shouldn't have happened. My thoughts are with the families right now.

From what I understand the spectators were standing in the middle of an operating highway at 3am amid the smoke from a burnout and the driver didn't see them, and a semi was right behind and didn't see them either.

"If I spend thousands of dollars on something I need to have a place to test it."

Rodney, I'm not sure I agree with that because of the fact that there was no place for the people to test out the race car BEFORE they spent the money on it. It also seems that many of the street racers don't support the legitimate facilities, at least here in this neck of the woods.

In this particular case, why did they have to be standing in the middle of the road?

I really feel for those left behind to figure it all out.

[James_Douglas]

As a drag racer in my youth, we had a few simple rules.

1. Always get well out of town and away from traffic. We had a spot that was subtly painted for exactly a 1/4 mile. This was a two lane rural road.

2. Two cars dropped flares and blocked the road 1/2 mile from the starting line to stop oncoming traffic. A faked mishap between the two cars in case sheriff came by. It also provided a 1/4 mile of shutdown distance.

3. Everyone watches from BEHIND the starting line. The line of cars stopped behind blocked all traffic from the rear. It just looked like a traffic jam from that direction.

4. Everyone had CB radios.

5. The starter started the cars from their rear view mirror's so as to avoid a mess if a car fishtailed on the start.

This went on several times a month. From the time everyone headed out to the "track" to the time it was over was less than 20 minutes.

If we had the brains to figure out such things 30 years ago, what is the excuse for these kids ?

James

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[PatS....]

Too many kids died then from street racing THEN and way too many die NOW. Not to mention the ones maimed and crippled for life.

I'm no saint, I've done it and I hate rules and gov. interference, but it seems to be getting worse...or are we just hearing about more with the 24 hour news?

[Rodney Bullock]

I hear you guy's, When I lived in DC and I raced every week end at a place called Vst. At bladensburg and V st NE washington dc Do you know that even young police use to race. When the older police came in to stop the racing they would turn on the fire hydrants. This was our sign to stop and go home, years later after I started building cars I heard the crowds got larger and they would bring childen to the strip. You guessed it some one got hit holding a child. No more racing:mad: When we did it the older guy's kept order and we listened.

Your right why were they in the road, You have to mindful of what's going on. At 3:00 in the morning you think no one is on the road, you just don't think. You are caught up. There was a place here in Maryland called aqasco, I may be spelling it wrong however it was for street racing, my father raced there as a youth, so did up and coming racers I don't know if you can look this up on the internet. You will see that it's a long tradition here. I just wish that we could take this off the street and back to a strip like old times. One place I think would be great is an old airport we have them around here sitting doing nothing (thanks to 911) I think we will contact them, we will do something after this, it's a must.

[Normspeed]

Rodney I read an article recently about a group in PA that's organizing what they call flashlight drags, using small airfields. Not a lot of rules, no bracket racing, no trailered cars, they start the race with a flashlight, no christmas tree, and the only timing setup is a win/lose timer at the end of the 1/4 mile. It's pretty popular up there and maybe an idea whose time has come.

http://www.alteredgas.com/flashlight_drags.html

[PatS....]

One place I think would be great is an old airport we have them around here sitting doing nothing (thanks to 911) I think we will contact them, we will do something after this, it's a must.

The first thing you will hear is the tired old, what about liability and insurance?

That kills these kind of solutions all the time, sadly.

Government is quick to come up with millions to buy art and sculpture and money for opera and other arts and sports causes and there's nothing wrong with that but at the same time the LACK of those things won't kill people. The lack of motorsports facilities does.

How about a little help from government and it doesn't have to be money, just some rule relaxations and zoning breaks and maybe some legislation limiting liability for the operators of these places.

[Ed Griffin]

There is an area near the river where the Corps of Engineers and TVA are located that has a long road where they used to race like mentioned. Same time frame, same nuts in the street, same problems. So far I know of two deaths there on different occasions. Working the graveyard shift you had to watch coming through on weekends because of the crowds in the street or cars.

A buddy who worked at the Memphis motorsports park finally got them to start having test and tune races twice a week. Entry fee was somethig like 25 bucks. Anyone could race as long as they had proper saftey equipment, helment, safety belt etc.. . It hasnt stopped the street racers but it has helped take some off the streets and put them on a track. It was a good idea and still is as for those seeking a place to race locally.

[Don Coatney]

I have not watched the news for a few days so I do not know the details of this event. My dad always said nothing good happens at 3:00 AM. In my youth I did a lot of street racing and strip racing. I was invincable in those days. I recall one such street event where a guy had his wife in the Corvette and the baby asleep on the floor. Problem was the baby was not asleep but had too much carbon dioxide. Fortunately the baby survived. Another time on the strip a clutch exploded and sent shrapnel into the croud drawing blood. And another clutch explosion wiped out the stearing box on my buddies new 67 furd and sent him into the only phone pole on the strip with a light on it ending the races for the night. I would like to say all of my street racing was done smartly but looking back we were all fools and took chances that we should not have. Dont know what the answer is but an organized event with safety rules makes sence.

[James_Douglas]

When we raced other than the racers, the guys blocking the street, and maybe 20 spectators, there was no one else around for miles...

That said, there were four legal drag strips within 45 minutes each open on opposite days of the week. Most of my racing happened there.

Today, there is only one race track, it is expensive, busy, and not open for drags racing that much.

So I can see where the kids today feel the need to do their acting out on populated and busy city streets.

I agree with the comments if we don't accommodate that need then it will just go underground in busy environments.

James

[Rodney Bullock]

James has a good point , when we raced it was only for the people with cars at first so there was no spectaters lurking, Don I see it more and more guy's bringing there wives and small children out at night, I guess this is the only way a wife is going to believe you, "Oh honey I was out racing with the guy's at 3:00 yeah I agree nothing good happens at 3 :00 in the morning. There will be a meeting of the local car club heads next month, we have this so everybody knows when an event is held and no one clashes with another clubs show, this way we can give full attention to each clubs events. I will bring this up there, we have some high ranking folks and they can get some red tape cut. These folk need action, I don't want to see anymore deaths like this in my neck of the woods.

[FMSPEED49]

I agree , it is sad, yet the reason we all street raced was the pure entertainment of it. We knew the risk, so did they (the ones there racing or watching)

Rarley does entertainment and safe go together unless you count video games or tv, but that safety in my opinion is ruining the next generations.

The sad part is the driver that hit them was unknowlegble of the events taking place, but then I have to ask, would you drive into a cloud of smoke?

[PatS....]

More questions than answers on this one, I think. Taking kids to a 3am illegal street race is one of them.

[Phill Powell]

We have a serious street racing problem locally & nationwide here, so far I have had no simpathy for the clowns that choose to wrap themselves & there friends round trees or the !!!!!!!ers that do burnouts at the memorial services for them. There is a large group (not all) that you could bend over backwards for & they would still kill themselves. It's $20 per car at the drag strip up north for the day with a skid pad & all the safety equipment & still they moan about nowhere to go & the cost, yet they can spend $3000 on tyres, $2000 on stereos, $10k on paint & so on. One idiot here hit a tree so hard & fast (110mph) not only did he kill himself but also the birds sitting in the tree as well because they didn't have time to fly off !!! I also no sympathy for the parents who finance & insure their loved ones into these cars knowing full well they are up to no good. Like a lot of you I can look back & say it was dumb what we got up to, but at least we cared enough to try not to hurt anyone else & thats the difference, they have a reckless disregard. Sorry to rant but this subject makes my blood boil having had to sit in hospital next to inocent people recovering from this problem.