tourenwagen

I will admit to driving briskly on the street from time to time, but I leave a massive margin for error. Among the many reasons I take it to the track to get my ya-yas out: modern race tracks tend not to have telephone poles in the run-off areas.

I saw a report about the incident below on the TV news last night. The pole they hit was indeed shattered at the base — snapped off and splintered. It’s a damn shame these kids didn’t get into a high performance driving program with one of the many car clubs in the area. And I do have to ask, who the hell gave them the keys to a Corvette?

Car Crash Kills Two Castro Valley Teens

ALAMEDA CO., Calif. (KCBS) — Shortly after midnight Monday in Alameda County, there were reports of a 1997 Chevrolet Corvette street racing a BMW. Less than an hour later both teenagers in the Corvette were killed in a high-speed crash. Officers can’t say for certain if the driver of the Corvette was racing when he crashed, but say he was driving very fast.

”Looking at the evidence at the scene, you have approximately 400 feet of skid marks on the roadway, leading up to the Corvette leaving the right side of the road. It then jumped a curb, went into a cyclone fence, struck a utility pole, and shattered that, maintaining contact with the cyclone fence for another 75 to 80 feet,” said Officer Steve Creel.

The crash was reported at about 12:45 a.m. just south of Interstate Highway 580 near the intersection of East Castro Valley Boulevard and Dublin Canyon Road.

The crash damaged about 200 feet of fence and around 15 Pacific Gas and Electric poles.

There is a possibility that the driver of the BMW could be charged in the teens’ deaths.

”The C.H.P. has taken a very aggressive stance against street racing. Obviously, as this collision testifies, street racing is very dangerous to those involved and to anybody using that road. And yes, whenever we can prosecute someone for street racing, we take that opportunity,” said Creel.

The victims, 18-year-old [redacted], who was driving, and 17-year-old [redacted] were both from Castro Valley.