Couple dead after alleged street racing incident
CTV.ca News Staff
A Toronto Ontario husband and wife on their way home from celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary are the innocent victims of a street race between two young men, police say.
Two red Hondas a Civic and Del Sol, were travelling north in Richmond Hill Ontario at about 9:50 p.m. Saturday May 27th, when the Civic struck the couple's southbound Hyundai Elantra.
Robbie Manchester, 47, and his wife Lisa, 43, were pronounced dead at the scene, just 3 blocks from their home.
The couple leave behind a seven-year-old daughter, who was being watched by a family friend at the time of the accident.
"She's going to be totally devastated," said Pierre Frenette, whose daughter was babysitting the young girl.
"She is one of those kids that is devastated about a cat she lost five years ago."
Marco Gasparro, 19, of Richmond Hill driving the Del Sol, is charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death.
The 21-year-old driver of the Civic is in critical condition in Sunnybrook Hospital. Charges are pending against him.
Police say the two racing vehicles were travelling 150 km/h ( 95 MPH ) in the 80 km/h ( 40 MPH ) zone.
Earlier this year, Toronto cab driver Tahir Khan was killed after two teens were allegedly street racing along Mount Pleasant Avenue in Toronto, reaching speeds of up to 140 km/h ( 90 MPH ) in the 50 km/h ( 35 MPH ) zone.
Khan was just 2 days away from becoming a Canadian citizen after leaving his wife and home in Pakistan six years ago to build a new life in Toronto Ontario.
Tougher laws proposed
The weekend tragedy comes just days after Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced in Victoria, B.C. plans to introduce legislation to crack down on street racing.
On Thursday, Harper said he would make street racing a specific Criminal Code offence, with stiffer sentences for those convicted.
The prime minister said the legislation, which would be introduced this spring, would also include driving prohibitions.
Street racers currently convicted of dangerous driving face a maximum sentence of five years. If someone is injured the maximum is 10 years, and 14 years if sometime is killed.
Still, the promise for tougher laws doesn't bring comfort to friends of the Manchesters.
"These kids I'm sure listen to the news, they knew the law was coming in. It didn't stop them from having what they call fun," said Anita Kampen.
"But it's not fun. They have to redefine the term fun."
^^I see your point. that's why there are laws regarding tint %.
most people just ignore them, because "the darker my tint, the cooler I am".
and LastRites... yes, the number of accidents caused by street "ricing" is in fact very low compared to the ones caused by alcohol. But that doesn't mean that we should go easy on street racers. I mean... the number of american deaths caused by terrorist attacks on US soil is definitely lower than any other cause of death, accidental or not. That doesn't mean you should go easy on terrorists, does it??
The ethics of determining how wrong something really is very difficult to. The easiest way is to measure it is the reaction of the original wrongs consequence. Basically, how bad was the result. In several cases the result has been very bad like the Police officer in Vancouver and this couple from Toronto.
But you can basically boil it down to how the public is going to be the beneficiary (sp) less than the majority of people street race. Therefore protect the majority. The amount of deaths caused from street racing is probably pretty noteable but nowhere near that of guns, drugs, and drunk driving.
What I am getting to is that street racing is not something that the majority of society benefits from. There is most certainly a niche like you and I who benefit from it but it is in the public interest to crack down on street racing. I agree with them, I would me very pissed if a kid in a Civic slammed in to me because he was racing. That being said I didn't buy an SRT4 for the ride.
I think racing should be for the track. Its a lot cheaper than you think and you get giver $h*t without any danger. Race at a track, or somewhere if you crash only you get fricked up!
My $.02 on street racing comes down to 2 factors, both of which trump speeding on your own as far as danger to yourself and others.
When you are racing somebody, you will find yourself caught up in competing and doing things that you would never do if you were just trying to drive fast on your own. Just by dint of racing instead of speeding, common sense starts to take a back seat to winning. Anyone who has really raced will know all about how much the "Red Mist" can cloud your thinking.
Secondly, you are dealing with an unknown and uncontrollable factor, which is the other car. Seeing as the majority of the time it's somebody who you do not know but is eager to prove themselves, how can you possibly put your trust in their judgement and skill? It doesn't matter if you're friggin Schumacher himself, you can't control that other person's actions. And though you cannot control them, you are responsible for them both legally and morally.
So is speeding, to dark a tint...the list goes on. Illegal is illegal and there isn't much of a variance (opinion). Admittedly you can guess that somethign like 75% of street racers are asshats but then again probably an equal amount of drivers, if not higher, simply cannot drive at all whatsoever and are just as dangerous. I'm not a street racer but if everything lines up just right (safety assesment, a worthy car to run) then yeah I will at times run. Will I do 90 in a 35, no way unless it's in BFE. My record is spotless and I've caused zero accidents in my history which is doing much better than alot of 100% law abiding types. Some of us know what we are doing out there, not many but some. I remain convinced that the percentage of street racing accidents is far below that of the average "lack of ability to operate a motor vehicle" drivers.
One of the local news stations in my area ( Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, VA Beach, VA) did a report on drivers speeding while eating, talking on their cell phone and doing other things, and they followed the people to their work and homes to question them if they thought they were being unsafe...
They had one lady doing 85mph, eating, talking on a cell phone AND playing with make-up / hair all while driving.... They also had some guy doing 100mph while talking on the cell and eating too, he got all pissed and was yelling at the reporter...
My $.02 on street racing comes down to 2 factors, both of which trump speeding on your own as far as danger to yourself and others.
When you are racing somebody, you will find yourself caught up in competing and doing things that you would never do if you were just trying to drive fast on your own. Just by dint of racing instead of speeding, common sense starts to take a back seat to winning. Anyone who has really raced will know all about how much the "Red Mist" can cloud your thinking.
Secondly, you are dealing with an unknown and uncontrollable factor, which is the other car. Seeing as the majority of the time it's somebody who you do not know but is eager to prove themselves, how can you possibly put your trust in their judgement and skill? It doesn't matter if you're friggin Schumacher himself, you can't control that other person's actions. And though you cannot control them, you are responsible for them both legally and morally.
I definitely agree with you but I had two instances last night in relatively heavy traffic where an Acura TL (2.4) and then later a Dodge Inrtepid R/T were trying to race me when I had my cruise control on at 80mph.. They were acting like a$$hats by falling back and then flooring it up to 95-100mph and then slamming on their brakes right before they run into the bumper of the car in front of them. So I jumped in the HOV lane and got away from them b/c I didn't want to be behind them if they failed to stop in time.
There are times when street racing can be safe, and then there are times when people with no common sense at all will try it when they shouldn't be thinking about it at all...
While I am not at all defending these guys racing 95mph in a 40mph zone, the article does say that the family was struck while making a left turn. It sounds like the street racers may have had the right of way, and the collision could have been avoided if the driver making the left turn had yielded (if he/she could even see the cars coming that fast, I don't know).
I'm just saying, everyone wants to blame 100% of it on the streetracers, and not the poor, "innocent" family. Sometimes facts get distorted, and that's how stupid laws get made and end up wasting lots of your tax money.
street racing under any circumstances is illegal and dangerous. road conditions change everyday and one day it seems like it's 100% safe while the next day there will be potholes and you think to yourself that road is safe wen it's really not... or a kid might run out between 2 parked cars. you just never know. it also requires the maturity and restraint of the driver to know what is right and what is wrong. racing at the track is fine because of the controlled environment but the street is ever-changing. i don't want to sound hypocritical because i myself had raced on streets and might drive over the posted speed limit but that doesn't make it any safer or any more legal.
Hey Chad I picked up on that and all is cool, was vibing ya' man. Great input from everyone I think and I've really enjoyed the reading, especially Carrera26...you sir appear to be a very wise man!
Here's more food for thought: It's tough for me to recognize differing levels of crime. It's either break the law or do not but man does it sem like every driver on the road gets caught up in the p3nis rattling show. You see it all the time if you live in a city, may not be doing 90 in a 30 but it's still a lot of mine is bigger (faster) than yours. Even the soccor moms do it, the guy in the rusted & bondo'd Escort will do it. Running is running.
I'd like to also interject that I will never run in traffic or in rural areas. Each story that I post is in an area where children and other people should not be like the interstate or roads leading to BFE. I usually post all of my runs online and if you do a search you'll see that it's just not too often that I do that. A very good point was brought up about the other guy, the one that you (me) are running and that got me to thinking about something I hadn't considered before so thank you for the thought.
Although we may be on differing sides of the argument here your maturity in expressing your thoughts is appreciated.
Street racing has been going on for years...but feel that doing it in a area where there are alot of other cars traveling etc is just plain stupid....going out in the middle of no were....risking ones own life and not others is the way it should be done if the need is there. Yes....I know it is still not legal but how many of us here follow all the laws that are set down?
They should outlaw low performance drivers.... not high performance cars.
Yes street racing is illegal, have I done it.... yes. Has others on here done it.... yes... I would guess that 80% of the people on here have done it at least once... does that make it any less illegal.. NO
but if you have done it, stop your bitching because you're just as guilty as the guys who caused this wreck.
While I am not at all defending these guys racing 95mph in a 40mph zone, the article does say that the family was struck while making a left turn. It sounds like the street racers may have had the right of way, and the collision could have been avoided if the driver making the left turn had yielded (if he/she could even see the cars coming that fast, I don't know).
I'm just saying, everyone wants to blame 100% of it on the streetracers, and not the poor, "innocent" family. Sometimes facts get distorted, and that's how stupid laws get made and end up wasting lots of your tax money.
If you watched the National CTV report and not the Local CTV report you actually get the witness's accounts of the accident, and It was the street racers fault, because the wintess said they started to make their turn as the cars were a block away.
SpeedOften said:
There are times when street racing can be safe, and then there are times when people with no common sense at all will try it when they shouldn't be thinking about it at all...
Really there is no such thing as safe street racing, You can't control the other drivers around you, and you can't tell whats down the road, and you don't win anything. So what's the point of doing it ?
This is why every major city should have a strip with free access, and a little statement that says that only the drivers can be held responsible for any accidents that occur on the strip. If people could have a place to go where they could have a safe race, not have to wait forever, and not have to pay, well accidents like these would occur a lot less often.
the problem with free access is one the cost of the land and two the cost of insurance, no one realizes the risk the owner of this strip, the city has to be insured for, its really not a top priority of any major city. plus up keep costs money.
This is why every major city should have a strip with free access, and a little statement that says that only the drivers can be held responsible for any accidents that occur on the strip. If people could have a place to go where they could have a safe race, not have to wait forever, and not have to pay, well accidents like these would occur a lot less often.
1. The 95% of the people on the road who don't race, and pay their taxes aren't gonna wanna pay for this strip (myself included)
2. All the people who wreck at this free strip would still clog up our already clogged legal system with bullshit lawsuites.
3. I already pay high enough insurance for all those dumbshits on the highway on their crotch rockets doing 120 through traffic, and all of you who think you're Fernando Alonso or Petter Solberg and decide to do this racing shit on the street, and all of the SUVs that don't pay their fair share of insurance to begin with. I don't need my rates going higher for a bunch of retards who are too cheap to do it the right way and go to a real dragstrip, autoX, or road course.
Just wanted to add.. I was in court last month for a speeding ticket and this guy was ahead of me.
Father of 2 young kids, had a wife, and full time job. Arrested for DUI spent the night in jail was way over the legal limit and the judge fined him $250.
In my opinion something is wrong with that.. your telling me that a man who has had to much to drink and who is weaving all over the road gets a 250 fine while two people who take off from a light can get there car impounded, jail, fines, lose license... both did what they did deliberatly, both can lose control of there cars at any instant... I just dont see how in this day and age when drunk drivers cause a majority of accidents there are not greater fines.
I am not supporting street racing, I am just wondering why punishments are so much different for crimes that can have the same affects.
In Washington you can get a "once in a lifetime" DUI deferment if you are an alcoholic, druggie, etc. and seek treatment. After succesful treatment the charge is dropped [rolleyes]
Me running my car up to 60-80 for like what, a city block, isn't nearly as dangerous as a junkie rolling around all over town (opinion)
^^ yes true in some ways, not in others. You could still kill someone in that one block speed run.... it's hard to weigh in if one crime is better or lighter then another but the potential is still there. It only takes one accident to kill someone (type of saying)......
Just wanted to add.. I was in court last month for a speeding ticket and this guy was ahead of me.
Father of 2 young kids, had a wife, and full time job. Arrested for DUI spent the night in jail was way over the legal limit and the judge fined him $250.
In my opinion something is wrong with that.. your telling me that a man who has had to much to drink and who is weaving all over the road gets a 250 fine while two people who take off from a light can get there car impounded, jail, fines, lose license... both did what they did deliberatly, both can lose control of there cars at any instant... I just dont see how in this day and age when drunk drivers cause a majority of accidents there are not greater fines.
I am not supporting street racing, I am just wondering why punishments are so much different for crimes that can have the same affects.
You never know there might be more to it then just what you see/heard. From what i've heard if your charged with a DUI your insurance company drops you instantly (probably not all of them but i'm sure most will), and if you want to be reinsurred it's gonna be hell to find a company that'll take you, and even if they do the rates are most likely gonna be insane. The driver is also suppossed to get his license suspended for however long (I guess depends on how good a lawyer you have). There might be other little things associated with it...but these are the major ones that i've heard of. I might be wrong with some of the information though cause it has been a while since i've heard this but i'm pretty sure i didn't distort my facts that much.
My son's friend just graduated from high school two days ago and his parents gave him a brand new 06 WRX as a graduation gift. Yesterday at 5:37 PM, he killed himself and sent 6 other people to the hospital street racing his older brother.
A family pulled out in front of him, probably thinking that at the posted speed limit (45 mph), they had plenty of space. What the family didn't know is that the WRX was going 120 mph. Race tracks are there to provide a controlled space for racing. So many things on the street are out of your control.
Just to add, the average cost of a DUI is about $7,000 overall with insurance rate hikes 'n the Breathalizer Starters 'n such.
I think if a drunk person cannot pass a field sobriety test within set tolerances, IE not just a bit over the limit but have their wits but sloppy drunk, then it should be an automatic 1 year suspension on their liscence for the first offence and a lifetime ban the second time. The statistics on how many alcohol-related accidents are cause by repeat offenders are just awful!
In all honesty, after going to SCCA events, racing somebody on the street, even if it is the safest it could possibly be, just seems terribly lame and uninteresting. Given that there's an event nearly every weekend within easy reach of everybody, I don't think we neccesarily need to start building strips... And after trail-braking at 70mph to hit the perfect apex with inches to spare, going in a straight line on a city street just couldn't sound less interesting.
Not to mention that that experience gives me an idea of how a car acts at those speeds and puts the fear of god in me if I were to try it in an unknown environment with what could be a total bonehead just a couple feet away...
My son's friend just graduated from high school two days ago and his parents gave him a brand new 06 WRX as a graduation gift. Yesterday at 5:37 PM, he killed himself and sent 6 other people to the hospital street racing his older brother.
A family pulled out in front of him, probably thinking that at the posted speed limit (45 mph), they had plenty of space. What the family didn't know is that the WRX was going 120 mph. Race tracks are there to provide a controlled space for racing. So many things on the street are out of your control.
So far in Canada 7 ppl have been killed in street racing related accident.
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