Car Accident at Parade in TN
SELMER, T.N. (AP) -
As drag racers revved their engines and burned their wheels for hundreds of spectators standing shoulder-to-shoulder along each side of a highway, metal guard rails protected only a small portion of the half-mile parade route.
When it was pro drag racer Troy Warren Critchley's turn to show off at the Cars for Kids charity event, his engine roared and his tires smoked, but then the car got away from him.
In just seconds, he sped a few hundred yards past the section with guard rails, lost control and skidded left into the crowd, tossing bodies into the air.
Six people died, all in their teens and early 20s, Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning said. Saturday's wreck injured at least 18 others, including a 5-year-old boy, who were taken to hospitals in Tennessee and Mississippi.
Authorities on Sunday said Critchley, an Australian who is now based in Wylie, Texas, suffered minor injuries and was taken by car to a nearby hospital for treatment. No criminal charges were filed against him, Browning said.
The crash happened during an "exhibition burnout" -- when a drag racer spins his tires fast enough to make them smoke. Drivers of other dragsters in the parade had been spinning their tires and then accelerating quickly, but everyone else put on the brakes before going past the guard rails, said Garett Moore, 19, who said he was about 15 feet away when car the wrecked.
"I was about to head across the street, and I saw him barreling toward us," said Moore who was not injured. Cindy Stevens, 17, of Selmer, was standing on the back of a four-wheeler to get a better view of the parade. A piece of the dragster struck her and knocked her to the ground.
"Before I could move a piece hit me," said Stevens, who had her arm in a sling and was using a crutch Sunday.
Matt Griffin, who was at the car show and has been drag racing for five years, said it was a "pretty stupid thing" to allow dragsters to perform with masses of people so close to the road.
"There's a button inside the car that you hold down, and it holds the front tires down during a burnout," said Griffin, 19. "If the throttle gets hung, or if your foot gets caught, then you'll take off and you wouldn't be able to stop.
"Most drag-racing tracks put down an adhesive to make your tires stick. You don't really do that on streets," he said. "Most drag racing tracks have a fence. Some even have a wall."
Larry Price, the founder of Cars for Kids, said he has been staging this event for 18 years in Selmer, and they always do burnouts at the end of the parade. There had been no accidents in the past, he said.
"We're not racing," Price said. "We're just doing little-old burnouts, revving the motors up, stuff like that."
There were four professional drag-racers at the show, and each was supposed to do one burnout, Price said. Most people burn the tires for less than 50 feet, but Critchley went much farther than that before losing control, Price said.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol declined to make any statement Sunday about road conditions or safety procedures during the parade of cars from antique roadsters to modern muscle cars. A news conference is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. EDT Monday.
Matthew Brammer, administrator of AMS Pro Modified Series, which sanctions drag races, said Critchley had driven the car involved in the wreck in competition.
Critchley's Web site said he began his career in an engine building shop in Brisbane, Australia, in 1986, and then raced on the Australian circuit in the '90s. He moved to the United States in 1998. By late Sunday afternoon, the Web site carried a message saying it was not available.
Mourners placed small votive candles, flowers, teddy bears and a ceramic angel at the crash site in front of a drive-in restaurant, which is located along state Highway 64 near the intersection with state Highway 45.
Nick Staples, who was at the show with his wife and three children from Columbus, Miss., said he was standing 20 feet from where the car plowed into the audience.
"There should have been guard rails," Staples said. "But even if there had been, it wouldn't have mattered."
The Highway Patrol said Raven Griswell, 15, of Finger; and Sean Michael Driskill, 22, of Adamsville, died at the scene. Four others -- Brook L. Pope, 20, of Selmer; Scarlett Replogle, 15, of Selmer; Kimberly A. Barfield, 17, of Adamsville; and Nicole Griswell, 19, Selmer -- died later in area hospitals.
About 40,000 to 60,000 people had been expected to attend the weekend event in Selmer, located about 80 miles east of Memphis.
Cars for Kids holds several events throughout the nation and raises close to $200,000 annually for charities that help children in need, according to its Web site.
A statement posted on the Web site Sunday offered an apology to the victims and their families: "The loss is deep within our hearts and we will carry the scars of each loss forever."
The charity was formed in 1990, two years after Price's son, Chad, suffered a severe head injury in a bicycle accident. Price promised that if his son was saved from lifelong injuries, he would spend the rest of his life raising funds for disabled children, according to the Web site.
Price said he hoped to keep the charity going, but he wouldn't do any more burnouts on public streets.
The town recently was in the national spotlight when a woman killed her preacher husband with a shotgun in the parsonage where the family lived and fled with her three small children. Mary Winkler, 33, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in April and sentenced to three years in prison.
When it was pro drag racer Troy Warren Critchley's turn to show off at the Cars for Kids charity event, his engine roared and his tires smoked, but then the car got away from him.
In just seconds, he sped a few hundred yards past the section with guard rails, lost control and skidded left into the crowd, tossing bodies into the air.
Six people died, all in their teens and early 20s, Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning said. Saturday's wreck injured at least 18 others, including a 5-year-old boy, who were taken to hospitals in Tennessee and Mississippi.
Authorities on Sunday said Critchley, an Australian who is now based in Wylie, Texas, suffered minor injuries and was taken by car to a nearby hospital for treatment. No criminal charges were filed against him, Browning said.
The crash happened during an "exhibition burnout" -- when a drag racer spins his tires fast enough to make them smoke. Drivers of other dragsters in the parade had been spinning their tires and then accelerating quickly, but everyone else put on the brakes before going past the guard rails, said Garett Moore, 19, who said he was about 15 feet away when car the wrecked.
"I was about to head across the street, and I saw him barreling toward us," said Moore who was not injured. Cindy Stevens, 17, of Selmer, was standing on the back of a four-wheeler to get a better view of the parade. A piece of the dragster struck her and knocked her to the ground.
"Before I could move a piece hit me," said Stevens, who had her arm in a sling and was using a crutch Sunday.
Matt Griffin, who was at the car show and has been drag racing for five years, said it was a "pretty stupid thing" to allow dragsters to perform with masses of people so close to the road.
"There's a button inside the car that you hold down, and it holds the front tires down during a burnout," said Griffin, 19. "If the throttle gets hung, or if your foot gets caught, then you'll take off and you wouldn't be able to stop.
"Most drag-racing tracks put down an adhesive to make your tires stick. You don't really do that on streets," he said. "Most drag racing tracks have a fence. Some even have a wall."
Larry Price, the founder of Cars for Kids, said he has been staging this event for 18 years in Selmer, and they always do burnouts at the end of the parade. There had been no accidents in the past, he said.
"We're not racing," Price said. "We're just doing little-old burnouts, revving the motors up, stuff like that."
There were four professional drag-racers at the show, and each was supposed to do one burnout, Price said. Most people burn the tires for less than 50 feet, but Critchley went much farther than that before losing control, Price said.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol declined to make any statement Sunday about road conditions or safety procedures during the parade of cars from antique roadsters to modern muscle cars. A news conference is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. EDT Monday.
Matthew Brammer, administrator of AMS Pro Modified Series, which sanctions drag races, said Critchley had driven the car involved in the wreck in competition.
Critchley's Web site said he began his career in an engine building shop in Brisbane, Australia, in 1986, and then raced on the Australian circuit in the '90s. He moved to the United States in 1998. By late Sunday afternoon, the Web site carried a message saying it was not available.
Mourners placed small votive candles, flowers, teddy bears and a ceramic angel at the crash site in front of a drive-in restaurant, which is located along state Highway 64 near the intersection with state Highway 45.
Nick Staples, who was at the show with his wife and three children from Columbus, Miss., said he was standing 20 feet from where the car plowed into the audience.
"There should have been guard rails," Staples said. "But even if there had been, it wouldn't have mattered."
The Highway Patrol said Raven Griswell, 15, of Finger; and Sean Michael Driskill, 22, of Adamsville, died at the scene. Four others -- Brook L. Pope, 20, of Selmer; Scarlett Replogle, 15, of Selmer; Kimberly A. Barfield, 17, of Adamsville; and Nicole Griswell, 19, Selmer -- died later in area hospitals.
About 40,000 to 60,000 people had been expected to attend the weekend event in Selmer, located about 80 miles east of Memphis.
Cars for Kids holds several events throughout the nation and raises close to $200,000 annually for charities that help children in need, according to its Web site.
A statement posted on the Web site Sunday offered an apology to the victims and their families: "The loss is deep within our hearts and we will carry the scars of each loss forever."
The charity was formed in 1990, two years after Price's son, Chad, suffered a severe head injury in a bicycle accident. Price promised that if his son was saved from lifelong injuries, he would spend the rest of his life raising funds for disabled children, according to the Web site.
Price said he hoped to keep the charity going, but he wouldn't do any more burnouts on public streets.
The town recently was in the national spotlight when a woman killed her preacher husband with a shotgun in the parsonage where the family lived and fled with her three small children. Mary Winkler, 33, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in April and sentenced to three years in prison.
