A Year After Fatal Crash, Some Say Street Racing Is Dead

Indian Head Highway No Longer a High-Speed Hot Spot

A year after eight people were killed at an illegal street race in Prince George's County, the stretch of road where it happened has grown eerily quiet.

Gone are the crowds, numbering in the hundreds, that used to gather along Indian Head Highway, summoned by cellphone and e-mail to impromptu races where money and reputations were on the line. Gone are the souped-up cars and the lookouts who monitored police scanners. Gone, too, are the skid marks that were the only evidence that they had ever been there.

The deadly street race, which took place a year ago today, seems to have brought an end, at least for now, to the decades-old tradition of drivers matching skills on dark rural roads in Prince George's and Southern Maryland, according to police, racing enthusiasts and residents near the site where the crash occurred.

"Nobody is street racing anymore," said Antonio Torney, who was among those injured when a car plowed into a crowd of spectators at the race in Accokeek. Torney, 31, was left with a broken leg, other fractures and a deep gash near his right eye.

"It used to be fun," he said, "but people died, you know what I'm saying? We lost friends."

After the crash, law enforcement officials cracked down on street racing, increasing patrols near popular sites, conducting helicopter surveillance and urging residents to report races. Police agencies began sharing intelligence and coordinating efforts.

"I think you have to factor in all of that -- the monitoring, the operations and the incident itself -- in changing that culture," said Diane Richardson, a spokeswoman for the Charles County sheriff's office. "Perhaps people didn't really realize how dangerous it was to stand along the sidelines, and that certainly was an eye-opener."

Residents near the site of the Accokeek crash said the once-familiar sounds of the races -- the revving of engines on Friday nights -- are gone.

"It has been quiet," said Dionne Poteat of Accokeek Landing Drive. "There has not been one night when I have heard anything."

Darren Jamar Bullock, 21, and Tavon Taylor, 18, are each charged with eight counts of vehicular manslaughter and other offenses in connection with the crash. Taylor is scheduled to go on trial May 4, Bullock on July 20.

The crash occurred just before 3 a.m. in a remote area of southern Prince George's, on a stretch of highway that was long a favorite of street racers. A contest that drew hundreds had ended a few minutes earlier, and spectators milled about in the street. Men laughed. Wives and girlfriends slept in cars parked nearby, escaping from the cold.

Police allege that Bullock and Taylor happened upon the scene of that race by chance as they raced each other. Investigators have said they were going more than 100 mph, their headlights off, in the moments before Bullock plowed into the crowd.