Cruel as it may sound, I rather hope that the driver doesn't live. That way, long-term care for his injuries and repeated legal efforts won't be burdening anyone; it's a safe bet that the young man doesn't have a high-paying job with good health coverage. Hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and the court system will now have to take care of this matter, and this man. And who knows how many years it will be before this case gets "resolved," as the victims and their families seek out a justice that can never erase the anguish this idiot caused.

Death will ensure that he won't ever hurt anyone, ever again.

That driver may not survive. But others he was racing against should be caught and held responsible. Just like in case of death during armed robbery, all the others racing should be held responsible equally.

Really sorry for unimaginable loss to the family.

Too bad the driver lived. Now the State will get to foot the bill for his continued medical problems after he is sent to prison.

@chipper-2999335, I was thinking the same: Killing someone, while "acting in concert" during the commission of a felony, is felony murder (for example, the driver of a getaway car). Why would it not be here too?

Charge them all, convict them, and lock them up 25 to life. Set an example.

In Saudi Arabia, they just beheaded a guy for something similar. Over there it's called "drifting."

My heart goes out to the families and those who survive. If you have a young or new driver in your life, send them over to see crash videos on LiveLeak- it's very sobering to see just how quickly it can all go SO wrong.

Saudi Drifting is usually only done one vehicle at a time, and the object is a high speed slide that alternates right and left.

What we call Drifting is done on a track layout, and may or may not involve more than one vehicle.

I drive a really, really freaked-out truck that looks like it has 600HP. I am almost constantly being dogged by Mustang drivers who think they've finally found somebody to race. I've learned to ignore an engine revving next to me at a stop light.

As long as young and/or stupid people are allowed to drive, it's up to the rest of us to look out for them.

I'm pretty much the same mind, some part of me hopes the driver doesn't survive. But some part of me hopes he does so he can live with his idiocy for the rest of his life. It's just too bad that there's nothing in place for losers like this to be stripped of any medical benefits on grounds of extreme idiocy.

What a horrible avoidable tragedy.The mother and daughter, if they survive, have lost half their family, and the breadwinner, father.Unimaginable how they will cope with trying to recover physically and emotionally from the foolish act this mindless stupidity this driver engaged in. I hope he does survive. I pray they will recover and be surrounded by loving caring people always.Perhaps, in addition to whatever legal penalties imposed, he can go around sharing his story with other young people in schools and colleges. Talking about the devastating consequences of drag racing. So if he is serving time, he can at least do something productive besides just watching t.v. Let him constantly remember what he has done in killing those who were innocent, just for some cheap thrills and stupid entertainment. Those who participated with him can also share in his punishment. This is deliberate and no accidental taking of life when they chose to break the rules of the road. Especially crossing and driving on the wrong side.Defy the laws, kill others, pay with the rest of your life.

Society will never stop young people from feeling immortal and invincible. No matter how many die in car crashes. There was an experimental program at my high school for driving class where, with the parents permission, students spent time at the hospital ER for a certain number of hours for several weekends. Just to give them an eye opener of real life and what happens when people engage in certain behaviors, from not wearing seat belts to drinking & driving, distracted driving, running stop signs/red lights and speeding. It was a sobering experience. When one of the stars on the football team was in a horrible accident, it just brought the message even closer to home. I really wish schools today would do something similar. Because it seemed to really have a huge impact on everyone who took the course and the stats in our town were very low compared to the national averages.

All of the people involved (kids at this point) need to held responsible along with all there parents as it was their parents that allowed them to have souped up cars (rice grinders at that) in the first place. Any kid who is given a car that is set up in any way to race is going to do so so I ask why did the parents even allow this with such young inexperienced drivers?

The story also said that there was possibly 3 autos involved and that could explain why the one car lost control if one of the other cars racing was to even touch or bump into another car they would lose control and crash as again there's little to no experience with young drivers in even normal driving let alone racing cars on any city's street and at high speed to top it off.

This not only saddens me but makes me sick but there is nothing I can do to stop it or change what happened. The younger people out there driving have to be shown what happens in the end when you do anything dangerous in life and put others at risk because they think they are better at everything than everyone else. Schools were helping some but I don't know if they still do but seeing it up close and personal is the best way.

My heartfelt condolences go out to the family in the SUV but not to any of the drivers or participants of this idiotic racing, they are sadly going to have to live with there choices for the rest of there lives while others are now gone way before there time because of there stupidity and recklessness..

Lastly I hope everyone involved in all of this is caught and brought to justice for their part in all of this and that includes everyone in their car even the passengers.

How horrible is that. Engaging in drag racing should carry life sentence by default and in this particular case the guy should get a capital punishment. Period.

Someone down there needs to go to this dick heads hospital room and inject some air into one of his IV tubes and save the family he has destroyed a lot of pain enduring trials for his criminal negligence not to mention save the state a lot of money we all know who is gonna end up picking up this piece of @!$%#s medical bills.

..............put the criminal in the gondola of that balloon that the guy jumped out of at 24 miles up without a parachute and eject his ass out. That should give him enough time to think about hitting the ground at Mach 1 seeing as how he wants to go real fast! Better yet, do it over the water so no one has to scrape the filth up........

Otherwise, give him 20 years for each death........

back in the day, we used to drag race, but never in areas where there where other people. it's a fun sport, but really dangerous.. makes a good argument for public racing tracks like the one we used. If you want to risk your own life, fine, but don't risk others.

about ten years ago, this guy who owned a body shop had this custom porsche that belonged to a customer, he took his brother who was a doctor for a ride and gunned it on 9w here in joisey. . he and his brother died and so did a woman and her kids, the engine of the porsche was stuck in a tree. all to show off a car. All for ego.

@george pau.. exactly right. I own an old one of those little rockets and they are really quick and really dangerous if you are not used to them. Sad that the punk-ass's think the street is the place. (because they do not own a helmet for the track)

A horrible tragedy all the way around. Makes me angry. I agree that the others involved should be charged for their part in vehicular homicide, or whatever charge will stick.

this is terrible. street racing deserves severe punishment. i hope all the drivers and passengers in the street racing vehicles get the book thrown at them.

this is one of the reasons why organized drag race organizations make room for folks who want to grudge race or just plain see how their street cars run - in a controlled and managed environment. going through the whole process at a drag strip sanctioned by nhra, ihra, adrl, mmpsa, etc drag strip, give a sense of the seriousness of racing. not to mention it is in-expensive to get in on a friday night or weekend event.

education and communication with young drivers can go a long way in reducing these types of horrendous incidents. not to mention directing those who want to race, to do it in the correct venue and learn to enjoy the sport of drag racing.

p.s. i have a 3000 lb small block mustang that can run well into the 7s in the 1/4 mile on dot tires, but you will never see it drive on the street. drag racing is fun.

street racing is dangerous, irresponsible and leathal.

"I knew what kind of car it was because I know about that," said onlooker Antonio Hernandez. "But it was, my impression was I have to stop to see that because I need to stop racing."

Good idea to stop racing...

The morons who do this kind of racing, and I mean street racing in a busy urban area, aren't going to learn a thing from this tragedy. But I do hope that it leads to stricter and harsher punishment for anyone who races like this. Start off by confiscating their cars, permanently, revoke their licenses, and add jail time. It shouldn't matter if they are involved in an accident, if they weren't they were just lucky this time. Its a lot harder to race without a car and they've proven they don't have the intelligence or maturity to handle a car. I hope the survivors heal and can go on, and the fool who slaughtered half this family doesn't.

Who'was the id 10 t whom titled this drag racing this was purely illegal Street Racing and the idiots who do should be prosicuted to the fullest extent. There are much safer venues for this type of thing called DRAG STRIPS. That is drag racing not what those fools do on the Highway.

Racing your car is no different than those who sky dive, cliff climb, bungee jump...odds are a percentage are going to die.

This is why everyone should have access to Health Care, and it should be mandatory.

Here in Arizona there is a way around having auto insurance - they just keep getting those temporary paper license plates that allow them to drive with out insurance. This Right to Work State is really just a right to screw people State...Arizona; live at your own risk - and if it impacts others, oh well.

@ Todd Grezel

Its very pathetic that a low life would bring politics into a thread about the slaughter of half a family. Are you really that petty? This has nothing to do with politics and only an idiot doesn't know that. Now that we've all seen what kind of person you are, why not go read a book on English and capitalization, you've made yourself look like a fool.

The illegal alien comments are just ridiculous.

I used to know several street racers and they were as white a snow, pureblood USA bred Americans or however you want to call them. They were street racers, not drag racers. There's a fairly large difference. Drag racers race on a track that's been deemed safe. Street racers, well race on the street.

This is not drag racing, this is illegal street racing and should be titled as such. Drag racing happens on dedicated tracks called drag strips. Please change the title as misleading titles like this give actual drag racers a bad name.

To repeat some of the other commentators..... THIS IS NOT DRAG RACING! This is illegal STREET RACING! Irresponsible journalism such as this gives all legal forms of motorsports a bad name. It would be non different if the headline read; stock car racer kils people or something similar... it is NOT an appropriate headline and journalists who continue to try to sensationalize their story by giving a headline that grabs attention innapropriatly should be redirected in their persuit of a career.

Welcome to the Magic City. My home sweet home. I feel sick to my stomach.

Stupid little pr*ck. Nothing more to say.

BP, This guy appears to have killed three people and critically injured two more, and you simply want him DEPORTED? Did you think before posting? I think he is in line for a very long prison sentence if he is convicted. Who cares if he is an illegal or not? None of that matters now....

I agree on that. I also hope he lives the rest of his life a quadroplegic.

Yeah, well, I hope that he lives as a parapeligic in prison and is repeated raped.

And, no cookies and milk at bedtime.

Let's see you top that.

Let's see:

He ends up in Locked-In Syndrome, in a dank corner of some low-budget hospice.

I agree on that. I also hope he lives the rest of his life a quadroplegic (sic).

Matt-3103993 - yeah, right...so his care can milk the taxpayers dry. Who else do you think is going to pay for his maintenance for the next 60 or so years?

I'd like to see one of two things:

1. Alejandro dies of his injuries, saving the taxpayers millions. He's not worth it.

2. Alejandro makes a full recovery. He's a legal citizen, and his wages are garnished for the rest of his life to pay settlement to the family of those he slaughtered.

Either way, not a dime of compassion or taxpayer money should go to this waste of carbon.

Not a damned dime.

His parents better hope he wasn't on their insurance. If this car was insured then that insurance company is going to be on the hook for a major portion of the expenses here. If he lives and makes it to prison which he will, yes he will be a cost to the state. But people with those types of injuries usually don't have a very long life span.

well, not necessarely. They could live for years if they get off the ventilator and can breathe on their own. Likely quads and in a vegetative state, after a feeding tube has been placed, they can live many years......at the states expenses. We need euthanasia, badly.

While I have no sympathy for the driver, it's entirely possible that, contrary to your assumption, the victims' families may be more evolved than you and not care to torture or kill someone else. Just sayin'.

And I'm saying Ron Goldman's dad would take the offer. Pay Per View, my money waits.

...the victims' families may be more evolved than you...

Rick - it has nothing to do with how "evolved" the family might be. You might feel differently if it had been your family members who were killed and in critical condition. Look at it this way...the response by Idiot-for-watching is much more normal than your response, so perhaps you shouldn't be criticizing others.

I'm evolved enough to know when an individual isn't worth the effort or resources to 'sustain'.

When an individual is a waste of carbon, and the good of society is best served by eliminating them.

Any other attitude is simply smarmy, delusional denial - and cowardice.

Amen.

What kind racer is not important. The fact is he needlesly killed somebody.

I agree.. The media are idiots.. When was the last time you saw a Scion "DRAG RACING"????

No doubt, the title of the article is very misleading.

"Drag racing" , now an acceptable event with safety precautions did begin as an outlaw event.

My thoughts exactly Bill. And RTSOB, how do you type with your whole hand up your backside?

Street racing is not drag racing. Drag racing is a sanctioned sport conducted at a dragstrip track. Even years ago when street racers did illegally competitively race on the street, they usually did this in more remote areas with no traffic. These guys are total idiots, and they were obviously driving like this for a while, as a Scion isn't going to get to 100 mph in a short distance like in a drag race.

This kind of behavior is a byproduct of unrealistic movies and video games and it gives racing a bad name. If you want to risk injuring or killing yourself racing, that is your choice, but if you a doing it in public areas on public streets you are putting many other people at risk. Hopefully this at least serves as a wake-up call for those with half a brain, that besides risking their own lives, they might have to end up living with the knowledge that their actions resulted in the deaths of innocent people.

Why don't they call it NASCAR racing? It would be about as appropriate.

Quit splitting hairs... "street racing" is a relatively new term. Drag racing is when one or more cars race side by side, in a somewhat (hopefully) straight line of travel.

Most people don't have access to a drag strip, to do their drag racing. So they find a deserted piece of roadway and do their thing. It's always been illegal, but it's always been going on.

Do you think that all of those guys that had all of those muscle cars (and testosterone) just calmly cruised around the burger joint?

They used to have some sense about it, taking it to the country, or at least waiting until everyone else was sleeping, with their cars in the garage. They were quite careful about it.

These days, it's all I, me, and nobody gives a rats butt.

My condolences to all involved, excepting , perhaps the driver, but including his family, because they will face a lot of angry people in the future. They also have the burden of having someone so stupid in their family!

The NBC headline, using the possessive (family's) made me think that the drag racer killed his own family.
It should've read "Drag racer hits family head on.............." nevertheless:

FLORIDA!! -- again Florida!

build more legal municipal drag tracks, you make money for the state and keep the trouble off our roads. In warm states like florida they would do a booming business. Charge each racer ten bucks a run, they will line up for miles. the concession stands would rake in cash too. Should make a motorcycle track also.

Did the driver have a helmet on ?

Was there officiating ?

Was a prized offered?

Was it an organized event ?

Without those 4 items it is NOT Drag racing !

baschnagel... I have news for you Greenhorn, "Street Racing" became a common term prior to 1950, DRAG Racing was developed & organized by Mr. Walter Parks to differentiate itself from outlaw street challenges & the reason was because of fools like the Scion driver .

An idiot in a speeding vehicle is as much a "Drag Racer"

as

a person wielding a knife is a "Brain Surgeon".

Prevarication in communication is the mark of a society in sure decline, deliberate inaccuracy is called LYING .

Annie-322924... I appreciate your correction as well as commend your futile effort .

It seems Americans would rather be fat & ignorant that anything else, like precise & succinct .

@ Annie,

My impression was the same as yours, I thought, a "professional Drag Racer" killed his or her father and son, doing something other than racing a car.

I'm sure whether they were drag racing vs. street racing will make a big difference to the mother and daughter. /sarcasm/

Annie, the headline was correctly written. The street racer did not hit the family, the street racer hit the family's car (in which the family was riding). Although, it could have been less confusing if the writer had just omitted "family's". Then again it could be misinterpreted as the racer killed his own family. Headlines are rarely precise in describing a story.

When will Obama put a end to this senseless tragic street racing? Damm

Ron B-2757074 It's not about "correctly written". It's about syntactic ambiguity. Most people don't understand this facet in a written presentation.

@Bucket: "If you have a young or new driver in your life, send them over to see crash videos on LiveLeak- it's very sobering to see just how quickly it can all go SO wrong."

The sad thing about this, is even if these kids (teens) SEE that website or a wreck in person, they STILL don't think it will happen to THEM. Young people feel invincible. Don't you remember feeling like that when you were young? Did you really think anything would make you DIE? Naaaaw. I didn't think about death then either. But I do now.

The kids here drive on a 65 mph road every morning, going to the Junior College at the next town, doing 100 mph up the highway. They don't care. They don't think. They pull out of side roads in front of other cars and run stop signs. The unfortunate thing is grownups do it too, which is where they learn it.

I don't wish death on this boy. I hope he survives and gets well....and pays like hell for the lives of the innocent people he took just because he had to "show off".

My initial impression from the headlines was the same as Annie's. Although technically correct, the headline was still rather confusing.

My condolences and prayer's for the innocent victims of this senseless act. I hope and pray that the victims in this will be surrounded and supported by their loved ones and that somehow they will be able to rebuild their lives in a way that gives their lives meaning, purpose, and joy.

To Antonio Hernandez, the onlooker--You have been given a 'wake up call'. It may very well be the only one that you will receive--time to walk away from it completely.

Let's just call it racing, or as some police jurisdictions call it, a speed contest. It covers perfectly what was happening, drivers who were competing to see whose car is fastest. Actually a race is a contest to see who can reach an endpoint or goal, first. Most people who do this are trying to see who can out accelerate the other. It continues until one driver concedes to the other. If neither driver accepts losing, it continues until they run out of open road, or someone get killed.

Baschnagel, you need an awareness class. It was called street racing WAY back when. But when we 'street raced' it was in industrial parks way back before they were even called that. Then they built drag strips. What it was we were doing WAS drag racing but it was illegal, hence the street tag.

Youth is waited "BY" those who haven't lived long enough to appreciate it!

What a horrible tragedy that is sure to inflict pain and sorrow for a long time: deepest condolances to families and relatives...

What God wants. Not easy to watch at times, but so it goes, so it goes.

You really think that is what God wants? He gives us the freedom to make a choice. The choice the kid made cost others their life. Otherwise God would just manipulate all of our choices so that we never made a mistake.

No, it should read "STREET RACER HITS FAMILY'S CAR HEAD ON..."

How about "DumbAss Causes Multiple Tragedies".

If two cars sprint from a stop in competition, they ARE drag racing. "Main Drag" never, ever refers to a sanctioned raceway or track.

"Drag Racers" who run at those venues can be rightly offended by the headline, but doing so here is misplaced, there is no intent to identify them in particular as bad people.

Don't make any difference Vern Don't bring anyone back to life, no matter what you call it. Most of us are not that interested in the correct term for it, what he did was horrible. Just about everyone will call it drag racing even if it is done on the street, just out of habit.

It makes a BIG difference to real "DRAG RACERS" who do it safely at the track...

These were just dumb kids racing in traffic..

Drag racers don't do that..

The Media, YOU, LYNN, and anyone else who thinks it was "DRAG RACING" are idiots..

Sanctioned drag racing is a SPORT, with SOBER participants, on a closed racing course, with an ambulance standing by. That's why stuff like this doesn't happen at an actual drag strip.

Argument because one was possible, Vern. Get over it, nobody called you out.

the degree of support of ignorance in this segment of the thread is mind boggling. it is ignorance that leads to street racing in the first place. to further promote the ignorance will lead to more street racing in the future.

adults, listen; if you have young drivers YOU are the number 1 person responsible for guiding, helping, encouraging your young driver to avoid such things as street racing. i hope you all have open communication channels with your young driver. i hope you listen to them and talk to them about topics that could endanger them. if they have interest and desire in racing, please, take them to the local track. drag strips are easiest as there is no door banging and bone stock cars are allowed to go out and run after passing tech at a sanctioned track.

at those local tracks your young drivers can learn to drag race and will learn how easy it is to race at the track vs street racing.

knowledge is so much better than ignorance. if you pursue knowledge rather than ignorance when spending time with your young driver, there is an excellent chance your young driver will do the same.

Sadly the fact that it was an "accident" would most likely would mean at most a couple of years for involuntary manslaughter( lost control not on purpose) a good lawyer can fix most things. Also doubt that all three drivers combined are worth much(all their money goes into the car)

Andres- The "Dead" wont get anything, other than maybe buried. And I doubt that the other participants have any "pool" to financially help the non-dead victims. Most street racers don't have a pot to pizz in, or at least no "legal assets" to take.

@Our Planet -

I doubt this will be classified as an "accident" and you don't know if he had any alcohol(though often not, it's possible) and that would make the penalties even more severe. You also don't know the ages of the other drivers. If any of them are dependents for their parents, their parents are the ones that will be sued. The drivers don't necessarily have to be friends. When I used to drive my father's '65 Mustang people would challenge me at red lights all the time. I just ignored them.

I do find suspicious though this "witness's" comments:

"I knew what kind of car it was because I know about that," said onlooker Antonio Hernandez. "But it was, my impression was I have to stop to see that because I need to stop racing."

He said "I need to stop racing" and his last name is the same as the driver of the speeding car. It could be coincidence. I guess time will tell.

There is no such thing as a Street Racing license.

Jr. Dragster competitors start as young as 8 years old, and they don't kill people.

Licensed racers take unsafe vehicles out and operate them in unsafe ways, it happens.

A pointless argument, and a thin bit of skin here, I think.

WOW!

Yup. Even cops drag race. Look up "Beat The Heat".

Street racing is for dummies.

In this part of the great white north, if you go double the limit, you get a drangrous driver summons(prove that you still deserve to drive). Your car is gone for awhile, huge dollar fine, and an extra $600. a year or so on the licence. That is if it is only you involved.

tiger61378 --"If you're caught street racing, they pull your licence, take your car, and crush it". Yay for Canada--I think that's a GREAT idea!

They tried this in Oakland, CA, and it was later found unconstitutional. They were taking cars before the drivers were found guilty in court, so they had to stop taking cars. Also, the cars were typically owned by a lien holder who were a little upset at losing the security interest of their loans.

BP the grape--yes, they would have to find the person guilty or it would be unconstitutional. But they can still impound the car. Then the car could be disposed of after the 'guilty' finding--either returned to lien holder, or crushed if the perp held the pink slip. Perhaps if the law was written correctly to avoid the unconstitutionality of depriving someone without due process.

@BP|LisaC: The lien holders might be pissed off about scrapping the vehicles but the fact is the vehicles could be heavily modified and so they aren't exactly fit for auction to the general public. The lien holders should have a co-signer with more collateral to go after in the event the car is destroyed. I think it would be a nice touch to have the driver(s) at fault brought down to the local junkyard along with the local access channel or something and film them pushing the button to start the crusher. Then send them back to jail and broadcast the clips as Public Service Announcements to spread awareness.

Not only are these kids racing but most of them are tooling around with their cars. Tracks require a safety inspection before the driver can even get behind the wheel. Imagine if one of these cars had some improperly torqued lugs, poorly mounted suspension, questionable mods to any number of safety mechanisms and there was a failure. That is a big difference between regulated fun and unbridled chaos.

Exactly what I was thinking. But even in a Scion, anyone who street races is automatically a loser.

You can supe it up with turbo's and headers all kinds of things. All those pocket rockets can been hopped up. Makes them a rice burner on steroids.

Amber
From your "handle" I can tell you are a low-class individual.
Some people should not be calling other people names.
Get my drift?

Stop feeding the troll

OK
Sorry.

No seat belts in that speeding machine....or kids so high, they do not remember to buckle up. Where they in little Havana ? I see only latino names......I guess the population in Miami is mainly Latino...Cuban ? They are notorious for not wearing seat belts. Not profiling here, stating a fact. It seems to be an intellectual effort to buckle. Some people do not have it....like not taking their birth control pills even though they have them, in that convenient little case.

Wayne

Yea lets kill some more, it's all about the killin!

Nobody has ever gotten out alive. We're all gonna die.

However, I do draw the line at eliminating people who will obviously do it themselves at some point.

Then again, we might save two lives by taking his one. Math is hard!

More capable vehicles today, and stupider Humans operating them: See "Idiocracy".

My Wife was killed by a red-light runner doing 45-MPH on city streets, my neck was broken our vehicle destroyed.

The driver was not insured, a citizen of the USA nor did he speak english nor did he attempt to render ANY aid or comfort.

20 WHITE witnesses stood around long enough to watch her die, not one would give their name as a witness, the only MAN who came forward was BLACK .

When I see a driver TEXTING while driving

I want to drag them out of that car & beat them within an inch of their death with THEIR phone in MY fist...... but the sight of another lifeless body in the street, stuck in my head, prevents me .

My condolences.
I don't blame you one bit.
I'd feel the same.

@ Mr.F.. Yea, but "murphys" law would kick in and you would be hit while fixing the texting problem.

Been there done that Rushless. I'm with you; how the h3ll did we get out alive. Those were the days though big block engines, every type of racing part imaginable was being produced gas was about 25 cents a gallon, I had a red GTO and would wear out a pair of rear tires every 6 months. Got caught once, just left the the outdoor movie about racing and me and the commissioner's kid lit'em up between red lights, we had what was called back then: gas on the chest. The other guys Dad got him off so the judge let me go too. Different days back then like you said there was always a clear strip and it was only 2 cars one way.

A Scion a high HP car??? Come on..

These guys hang nitro bottles into these souped up little engines. They go like stink.