Mystic_88

Here is an article that happened with a race from a STI and an Evo.

was the Monday following the Thanksgiving weekend and Specialist James Wallace got off duty about 5 p.m. His family lived too far away to visit, but he had met Michael Holloway earlier that year at an area skateboard park. Jim and Mike had become good friends, so with nothing much going on that night, Jim picked up Mike and drove to another friend’s house to watch videos. Mike had to be home by 10 p.m.

The friends watched movies until it was time for Jim to drive Mike home. They piled into Jim’s 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution—a factory production street rally racer with a top speed of 152 mph. The Mitsubishi was Jim’s “dream car.” He’d boosted the 2.0-liter engine from 271 to almost 350 horsepower for even more “kick” on the highway. He’d also dumped the original 17-inch wheels and their 235/45ZR17 tires, going instead to 19-inch wheels sporting low-profile 215/35ZR19 85W tires for their “cool” look. The Evolution’s original wheels and tires were tuned to the car’s suspension to keep it sure-footed in the turns. But now that had been changed. (See “Dangerous Amateur Tricks.”)
Jim and Mike headed east on a four-lane road that tied the city to the nearby Army post. They were still inside the city limits when they stopped for a red light. As they sat in the right lane, Jim noticed the car on his left—a Subaru STI. Like the Evolution Jim was driving, the STI was a factory-built rally racer. In fact, the cars were so closely matched, the October 2004 issue of Motor Trend featured a head-to-head shootout between the two.
Behind the Subaru’s wheel, CW2 Matthew Pearson heard Jim rev the Mitsubishi’s engine and took it as a race challenge. The light turned green, but both drivers eased forward cautiously to avoid drawing the attention of a police cruiser at the intersection.


Once the cruiser was out of sight, Jim hit the accelerator and raced past the Subaru, showing off his speed before slowing down to allow Matt to pull alongside. Matt paced the Mitsubishi briefly and then sped up to between 55 and 60 mph, pulling ahead of Jim and then cutting into the right lane in front of the Mitsubishi. Easing off the gas, Matt slowed down to show he was the better driver and had the faster car. Jim couldn’t resist taking the bait. He pulled into the left lane and accelerated past Matt’s Subaru.
For the next mile-and-a-half, the two played tag as they neared the outskirts of town, where the traffic would be lighter and, perhaps, they’d have a better chance to show off their speed. However, it had rained earlier and the road was still wet. Matt decided the road was too slick for racing and slowed in the left lane to turn onto a side street that ran to his house. As he stopped to make the turn, Matt watched as the Evolution blasted past him and entered a slightly ascending left-hand curve about 200 yards ahead. On the right, the lights of a golf driving range lit the road well enough to show the outline of the highway.
As the Evolution entered the turn doing approximately 75 mph, it began losing traction on the wet road. Jim couldn’t hold the Mitsubishi in the left lane and began drifting across the road toward the right shoulder. He tried to brake and regain control, but his right-side tires eased about four inches onto the grassy right shoulder. Trying to regain the road, Jim steered too sharply to the left and sent the Mitsubishi skidding sideways, passenger-side first, across the east and westbound lanes. The Evolution went onto the left shoulder and skidded 136 feet over the grass and dirt, striking a speed limit sign, a light pole and a junction box. Still sliding sideways at approximately 50 mph, the Mitsubishi’s right side slammed into a large, wooden utility pole. The impact—right behind Mike’s passenger door—snapped off the pole, crushing the right side of the car and part of its roof. Fortunately, the damaged power pole with its energized electric lines was leaning away from the wrecked car.
A short ways back on the road, Matt saw the commotion ahead and feared there’d been an accident. Canceling his turn and driving toward the curve, he saw the mangled Mitsubishi on the left shoulder. Matt used his cell phone to call 911 and then got out to check on the car’s occupants. He found Mike lying motionless, but breathing, about six feet in front of the crashed car. Mike wasn’t wearing his seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle when the impact ripped open the passenger-side door. Jim was also unconscious. He was laying across the front interior of the car with his head hanging out the passenger door. Unbelted, he’d been violently thrown against the car’s interior and had taken brutal blows to his chest and head. He was bleeding through his eyes, and Matt could hear gurgling sounds as Jim labored to breathe.
An off-duty law enforcement officer arrived and helped Mike while Matt tended to Jim. Within minutes of the 911 call, police and fire department personnel arrived, followed a few minutes later by two ambulances. Jim and Mike, both unconscious, were transported to the local hospital. Because of his severe injuries, Jim was transported to a hospital in a larger city, where he could receive more comprehensive care.
Jim and Mike both survived, but there was a terrible price to be paid. As Jim was being treated in the hospital, it became evident his head injuries were permanent, severe and incapacitating. A moment’s recklessness had left him with a life-long sentence too difficult to describe and almost too tragic to imagine.
The consequences of this accident are now known. The questions that must be answered are why this crash happened. What were the links from which this tragedy was forged? In the end, every investigation comes down to a list of findings—actions that measurably contributed to the accident and its severity. In summary, those are listed below:
• Jim drove at excessive speeds, violating the posted 40 mph speed limit by more than 30 mph. This excessive speed, in conjunction with the wet road surface, led to the Mitsubishi losing traction and going onto the right shoulder. By willingly violating the speed limit, Jim demonstrated a disregard for the law and Army policy and also revealed a dangerous overconfidence in his driving abilities.
• Jim did not wear a seatbelt, nor did he require Mike to wear one despite their use being mandated by state law, Army Regulation 385-55 and the installation regulations where Jim was stationed. As a result of being unrestrained during the accident, Mike was thrown from the vehicle and Jim suffered serious head injuries.
• Matt, although not physically involved in the accident, nevertheless contributed to it when he accepted Jim’s challenge and accelerated well above the posted 40 mph speed limit. By posturing for a street race, Matt’s competitive actions encouraged Jim to drive recklessly.
The events of that night can never be taken back, but there are some important lessons to be learned.
Racetracks are designed for high speeds and have expertly maintained road surfaces, proper banking and boundary protection. Also, when accidents do happen, medical help is immediately available. None of these things are true on the street.
Modern cars are designed to crush during impacts while protecting the passenger compartment. The key, however, is that occupants must remain in their seats. Without seatbelts, people are either thrown around violently inside the vehicle or thrown out, where they can land in the vehicle’s path and be crushed. Soldiers are responsible for ensuring they and their passengers wear seatbelts.
Finally, only you can make the choice of whether or not to accept a street race challenge. However, if you’ve got the guts to say “no,” you may not just be saving your life, you may be saving the other guy’s.

Just be careful.


Something to think about. More on Army wrecks and accidents here is a link

https://crc.army.mil/Multimedia/maga...yjune06web.pdf