Street Racing’s Tragic Consequences
Posted October 3, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Street racing is not only a hazard to the drivers who take part in it it’s a major danger to you and your family. Those who engage in the need for speed can now have their cars instantly impounded for a week if they’re found going 50 kilometres or more over the limit. And a new law that took effect at the beginning of October also allows police to take the car of anyone found using nitrous oxide to make their vehicles go faster.
Cops have also crushed cars used in the hot pursuits in the past, as a lesson that the dangerous practice won’t be tolerated. And still, it continues.
But that comes too late for the family and friends of Lisa and Rob Manchester. The two men convicted of killing the couple in a collision received their sentence on Wednesday. But fair or not, nothing can ever bring back what the Manchester’s young daughter has lost.
It’s not the first time street racing has brought such tragic consequences to a GTA family. Here are some examples.
The wake-up call that nobody wanted came fast and furious at the beginning of the New Year. As cabbie Tahir Khan was attempting to make a left turn at Mt. Pleasant and St. Clair, a Mercedes Benz appeared over the crest of the hill barreling right towards him.
It hit the 46-year-old before he could get out of the way, smashing the vehicle and killing Khan, who died at the scene.
“When he made that turn, two motor vehicles at a very high rate of speed were northbound,” related Det. Paul Lobsinger. “He crossed directly into the path of those vehicles and one of these vehicles struck him.”
Alexander Ryazanov and Wang-Piao Dumani Ross both received conditional sentences, much to the anger of the victim’s friends and family.
It was a story that left even the most hardened cops with tears in their eyes. Rob and Lisa Manchester were out celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary when fate brought them to the intersection of Yonge and Stouffville Sideroad.
Also there that night – two young men in fast cars. One of them slammed into the couple’s vehicle, killing them as they tried to make a left hand turn. He was just 47. She was only 43.
But most tragic of all is the person who was left behind at home waiting for them to return – their seven-year-old daughter Katie.
“We have information that there was two sports-type cars, Honda motor vehicles that were travelling at a high rate of speed northbound on Yonge Street immediately prior to the accident,” York Regional Police Staff Sgt. Gary Miner explained. “It’s just sad. You’ve got a seven-year-old who’s now an orphan and people that are without relatives – it’s just sad.”
Relatives are now caring for the little girl who heartbreakingly kept asking police what happened to her parents.
The two suspects were given conditional sentences. But as the family and police railed against the penalty, they were equally outraged that a judge refused to call it street racing.
York Regional Police arrest two drivers after spotting two cars racing down Highway 7 near Keele at top speeds. When the cop tried to pull one of them over, the driver kept going. He followed as best he could in his cruiser and watched as the driver lost control turning onto Weston Road, missed another car that just managed to get into the curb lane, and finally came to a stop on Chancellor Drive. The officer managed to get him out of the car without incident and took him into custody. Miraculously, no one was injured in the chase.
Street racing is believed to be behind a dramatic crash on Highway 427 near Rathburn Road that demolished the front end of a Corvette and left its driver in critical condition. The driver smashed into the guardrail as the car spun out of control. The highway was shut down for hours as police began a search for the other cars involved. Two men were eventually tracked down and taken into custody.
Peel Police arrest a 22-year-old Mississauga man after they allegedly caught him speeding in his 1993 Honda Civic against a later model Accord near Kennedy and Steeles. One driver lost control of his car and then slammed into a pole in front of a shopping centre. The driver of the other car and a passenger were both ejected through the windshield and suffered serious injuries.
An innocent foreign exchange student at the U. of T. dies after two street racers clip him during a pursuit on the Queensway near Cawthra Road. He was driving a friend’s truck, when one of the speeding cars hit him and his vehicle rocketed into a hydro pole, killing him instantly. Police believe as many as five cars were involved at one point in the race. The road was closed for more than nine hours.
A truck driver swerves to avoid a crash on Highway 400 near Barrie, after three men in their 20s allegedly came racing up behind him on the busy highway. The trucker died in the incident that closed the road for hours, but his sacrifice was great – he managed to avoid hitting anyone else when he maneuvered his big rig out of the way. The suspects were charged with dangerous driving causing death.
It was the Labour Day Weekend and cops were out in force on the highway. But their presence still wasn’t enough to stop an apparent street racing incident that left a couple in their 50s in serious condition. A Mazda Miata that witnesses say was weaving in and out of traffic collided with their car on the westbound lanes of Highway 401 near Allen Rd. Police contend the driver was racing at speeds of up to 150 kilometres an hour with another vehicle. One driver was charged with dangerous driving.
