Peril of drag racing

WE SINCERELY hope that all the young persons injured in Sunday morning's drag racing incident at San Fernando will recover fully and that the driver responsible for this horrible incident will feel the full force of the law. It seems miraculous, in fact, that no one was killed on the spot when the driver of a Honda Civic lost control of his silver grey car which jumped the pavement and ploughed into spectators standing along the Rienzi Kirton Highway at Cross Crossing. One drag racing spectator and eye witness to the incident, Larry Lall, told Newsday that he felt empty when he saw "bodies flying in the air." He added: "It was the worst thing I ever saw. Everybody just rush to see what going on and I try to tell them to move away to give them (the injured) room to breathe."

Of the 11 victims, the most seriously hurt was Arum Ramdeen, 14, who suffered head injuries and is now in the ICU unit of the San Fernando General Hospital. Arum went to watch the drag racing with the two sons of Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma, Moonish, 13, and Devaan, ten, who were also injured in the incident. It seems amazing that little Devaan who was pitched into the air and landed on the sun roof of the car did not sustain any major injury. Also on the injured list are three brothers, Kerry Warner, 20, Kendall, 13, and Kirk, nine. The unorganised, illegal and dangerous "sport" of street drag racing has become a regular and even popular event along this stretch of San Fernando highway, in spite of repeated warnings from the media, including this newspaper. We understand that an organisation has actually been formed to promote this form of madness. The inevitable, it appears, has now happened and we expect that the authorities will finally take the necessary steps to stamp it out. Just how crazy this "spectator event" has become was seen in the antics of the Honda driver who, we are told, was showing off in the road just before losing control. "He made a 180 degree turn and was flaunting his car," said Rajendra Sharma, cousin of Moonish and Devaan.

This incident is typical of a number of administrative failures in our country, where those responsible allow dangerous activity, conduct, and conditions to persist until something terrible happens. In a broader context, drivers continue to speed recklessly and with impunity along our highways, creating horrible accidents which kill and maim, and the authorities, for whatever reason, seem incapable of curbing this kind of perilous irresponsibility. Motor racing is an exciting sport that enjoys tremendous spectator support all over the world, but it is conducted on prescribed tracks and circuits and under strict conditions and management. In Trinidad and Tobago, car lovers and fanciers who want to participate in this kind of competition can do so in events organised by the TT Automobile Sports Association whose motto is: "Race on the track and not on the street." TTASA, the accreditied governing body for motor sport in TT, is also an affiliate member of the Federation Internationale de L'Automobile (FIA) which is the governing body for motor sport in the world. According to TTASA, both drivers and spectators can be assured that international rules and conditions prevail at their events held at Wallerfield. The Association, however, is concerned that "the one place where racing can have a home, under stringent safety and regulatory conditions" will be taken away from them, when Government implements its plans to establish a technological complex there. If this is done, will the drag racers find somewhere else to do their illegal and dangerous thing?