On a Houston, Texas highway feeder road this weekend, hundreds of sickos showed up to encourage assholes to “fly by” at speed to show off their ability to spend money on cars and go-fast parts for the express purpose of putting others’ lives in danger. It all went perfectly to plan when this bright yellow Camaro impacted an innocent bystander’s Chevy Malibu reportedly with a baby inside, sending that car into the gathered crowd, injuring one, and killing two. The impact is said to have been well in excess of 100 miles per hour.
Car culture really needs to end its dangerous obsession with speed and showboating. Anyone not actively discouraging drivers from participating in this dangerous nonsense should be seen as encouraging deadly and disgusting anti-social behavior. The 22-year-old Camaro driver, Andrew Mock, has been arrested and charged with one count of manslaughter and two counts of assault by reckless driving. Those charges will most probably be upgraded after a second victim died in the hospital.
Street racing has existed for decades, basically since there have been cars and streets to race them on. This isn’t a new phenomenon, but as cars continue to get faster and more powerful, speeds are increasing and taking danger right along with it. I don’t want to be a sanctimonious asshole, as I’ve definitely done some extra-legal speeds in my day, and may have illegally street raced once or twice, but I’ve certainly never done so with a crowd of hundreds lining the street.
I know that this isn’t a particularly new thing in Texas either, with highway roll racing and fly by shows happening pretty much every weekend. With fewer cars on the road during early Coronavirus lockdowns, many took the opportunity to do some really messed up shit on the street, and now that more cars have returned to the road, they haven’t stopped. Despite a massive reduction in crashes across the pandemic lockdowns, Houston saw a sharp increase in speed-related incidents. I don’t really know how to say this, but showing off your car and money to a crowd of strangers definitely isn’t worth killing people over.
Sign up for a track day or a top speed event, or drag strip night or something, you inconsiderate pricks.
