# Something not quite right about that Crown Vic that plowed into the spectators in MD. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 17, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023 "2008-02-17T22:35:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023/101 "2008-07-30T19:31:14Z")
Here is an update to this story: [Driver Who Hit Crowd, Killing 8, Is Charged; 2 Waldorf Men Now Believed Involved in 2nd Street Race](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072901505.html). Basically, the driver of the Crown Victoria, who had previously said he was just innocently driving along when he hit the crowd, was allegedly actually participating in a second, unrelated street race, with his headlights off at a speed of 100 mph, when he plowed into the crowd watching the first street race. > [@](#): > > In a dramatic new account of a deadly accident that killed eight people in February, the driver of the car that plowed into a crowd watching an illegal street race was charged with vehicular manslaughter yesterday as authorities said for the first time that he was involved in a separate race on the dark rural highway in Prince George’s County. > > A grand jury indicted Darren Jamar Bullock, 21, and another driver, Tavon Taylor, 18, both of Waldorf, on eight counts each of vehicular manslaughter as well as for two additional offenses, reckless driving and engaging in a speed contest. > > A surveillance camera at a nearby factory caught Bullock and Taylor driving with their headlights off a quarter-mile from the crash site, said a source close to the investigation. “They’re caught on camera at 110 miles per hour,” said the source, who spoke anonymously because the investigation is ongoing. By comparing images of the cars to fixed objects, such as light poles, investigators calculated the speed of the vehicles, the source said. > > The accident occurred as Bullock’s white Ford Crown Victoria sedan crashed into spectators who had just moved on the roadway to watch two other cars race away. At the time, many witnesses suggested that Bullock was speeding and that an additional car was involved, but police had no conclusive evidence to bear that out. I was pretty surprised by this. All the initial reports said that the cops believed that it was all an accident, and that Bullock was just driving along innocently when he crashed into the crowd. Now we find out he was in his own race, with his lights off, at speeds of 100 mph! It’s sickening and tragic. I am also surprised that it took so long (6 months) to arrest this guy. So it looks like the witnesses who said that the car didn’t have its headlights on were right. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023/102 "2008-07-30T19:43:12Z")
It does tend to remove any sympathy I may have had for the killer. It’s one thing for an innocent mistake and inexperience to end in tragedy. But this guy had the “Idiot” button mashed down hard and made others pay the price. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023/103 "2008-07-30T20:10:08Z")
I feel terrible for the family and friends of those who lost their lives, but I have absolutely zero sympathy for the ones directly responsible – both for the street race that caused the crash and for the assembly of the other street racers who were about to initiate another one; those drivers should be charged with something, 'cos if they weren’t going to start their own street race the crowd wouldn’t have been there to crash into. (I know, you can’t charge someone for something they haven’t done _yet_. Doesn’t stop me from wishing.) The racers should spend a good long time behind bars and never be allowed to get behind anything more powerful than a wheel of cheese for the rest of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023/104 "2008-07-31T14:24:58Z")
What would be the point of running with no lights? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023/105 "2008-07-31T14:29:25Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] What would be the point of running with no lights? [/QUOTE] I don’t understand that either. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023/106 "2008-07-31T14:47:11Z")
[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] I don’t understand that either. [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t it make them invisible to police officers who just happened to be driving in the area? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023/107 "2008-07-31T15:15:57Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] Wouldn’t it make them invisible to police officers who just happened to be driving in the area? [/QUOTE] Maybe that was the intent, and I guess I shouldn’t expect too much wisdom from someone who engages in high-speed street racing. Well I will say I did a few high-speed races in my Mustang back in my 20’s but never would have considered running with no headlights. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023/108 "2008-07-31T17:06:52Z")
Around where I am, the sign for road racing is putting your blinkers on. I never much thought that was a good idea, because it gets hard to signal lane changes that way. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023/109 "2008-07-31T17:15:28Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] Wouldn’t it make them invisible to police officers who just happened to be driving in the area? [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t they just plow into the police officers if they couldn’t see where they were going? They’ still hear your engines, they still have their own lights, it really isn’t going to help _that_ muci, I wouldn’t think. It makes more sense to kill the lights if the cops are already chasing you because then you can hope they’ll have trouble catching you without tail lights to follow. But driving at 100 mph without being able to see what’s in front of you is idiocy. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023/110 "2008-07-31T17:21:14Z")
I’m not claiming it’s a _good_ strategy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-not-quite-right-about-that-crown-vic-that-plowed-into-the-spectators-in-md/438023.md?page=5)