Speed Kills....almost....
the two men in this car
gave death a good try but just didn't quite make it and
were taken to St. Mary's Hospital.
LEXINGTON PARK (Feb. 23, 2008) --- Two
men blasted through radar set up by two Maryland State
Troopers and before the troopers could get behind them,
their car left the highway and plowed up about 50 feet
of sod before slamming into this major utility pole,
breaking it in half.
State Police Trooper First Class Thomas Quade and
Trooper Kevin Roby on the scene said that the men were
traveling at 115 mph as they passed them with a radar
point further north on Rt. 235. By the time the
troopers were able to follow, the car had already
crashed. There was not a police pursuit involved
in this wreck.
Had the car gone to the
nearby intersection at the Naval Air Station and hit a
vehicle coming through the traffic light or the nearby
IHOP, they most likely would have killed someone.
Luckily, they didn't and instead spun out on the slick
road, hit the curb, crossed the sidewalk, dug into the
grassy knoll, wiped out several small trees, scattering
debris and car parts across a row of new vehicles and
broke the pole in half.
Jerry Dilliard, owner of the Park Dodge Chrysler Jeep
dealership, was still at work and heard the crash. He
said he ran to the wreck to see if he could help and
couldn't believe that the men had survived the
collision.
"The sound of the impact was like an explosion," Dillard
told ST. MARY'S TODAY.
Debris from the pole splitting in half flew through the
air and damaged the large dealership sign more than 40
feet in the air while a jack from the wrecked car
blasted through a windshield of one of new cars.
The men, with Pennsylvania addresses, did not employ
seat belts in this mission of madness and they left
their car ready to be traded in to the Park Dodge, after
settling up for debris thrown across several new cars.
SMECO linemen streamed to the area with a half dozen
large trucks needed to drop the lines and replace the
pole. State Highway Administration crews were
awakened to direct traffic and spread salt after Bay
District firefighters were able to pry the two
speedsters from their busted bucket of bolts.
Even Metcom and phone company linemen were called out to mark their
underground lines before SMECO could dig out the broken
pole and drill a hole for a new one.
For the record, this highway, Rt. 235, is posted with a
40 mph zone at this point, just a few hundred feet north
of the intersection with Pegg Road and the North Gate of
Patuxent River NAS.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photos
This row of new vehicles were covered
with mud, tree branches and smashed hot rod as the Speed
Demons nearly met their maker in this after-midnight
road racing crackup.
READER FEEDBACK:
As the sister of the passenger in
this car I am appalled that another human being could
disregard another's life! This article was written as
if these 2 young men are known street racers, which is
not what they were doing, or have they ever done. Yes
they were going too fast, however this does not mean
that they were racers.
My brother, the passenger is fighting for his life and
the reporter made it sound as if they walked away from
the accident unscathed. I am sickened by the words
that were used and by the reporter's lack of respect
for human life.
I would like a public apology and a front page article
explaining that the first article was garbage. Lawyers
will be contacted. This is slander! You can not write
an article and try to put a fun spin on it. I am
disgusted.
Mrs. Dawn Wolfgang
(Editor's Note: Your brother and his friend were doing
115 mph in a 40 mph speed zone and when they spun out of
control were within 300 feet of an intersection with the
main gate of the Pax River Naval Air Station and an all
night restaurant with traffic entering the highway and
could have easily have plowed into another vehicle and
killed innocent people. Since your brother and his
friend didn't care about anyone else's life why should
anyone care about theirs? Whether or not these speed
demons were regular speed demons or not is of no
consequence, they clearly were this time and put
many others at risk. You clearly are too immature to
understand this or just don't care about the lives of
others, only your own relative. By all means go to a
lawyer and pay him or her to explain the law to you, you
need the lesson and then have your brother and his
friend write an apology to this community for
endangering so many lives, we will be glad to print that
one. In addition, we will press for authorities to
charge them both with reckless endangerment of our
community. Surely the utility company and the car
dealer will be seeking reimbursement for their costs
caused by your brother and his friend in their midnight
madness.)
ST. MARY'S TODAY photos
|
|
