Speed
It took a horrific car crash and a vigil by the bedside of his fianc? to make Floyd Andrew Morgan of Lake Lynn learn the dangers of drag racing. Morgan was one of the crowd that routinely turns Route 51, from Hollywood Video to the Route 119 overpass, into a drag strip. At 18, he probably thought he was just as invincible as all the other teens who soup up their cars with cold-air systems to make them run hotter. What’s the harm in a little race?
For the racing set, the biggest risk is cops. Or so that’s what Morgan thought then as he took off, racing through city streets to make his grand escape. Only he went too fast; he lost control of his car, hit a tree and nearly killed his girlfriend. She’s still recuperating from fractures to her pelvis, tailbone and collarbone. The thing is, Morgan learned his lesson. But did anyone else? Probably not. Racing on Route 51 has been going on for a couple years now. As much as we would mourn the loss of life and limb by those stupid enough to engage in this risky endeavor, we deplore the fact that they put the rest of us at risk.
Did any of them ever stop to think that they aren’t the only ones on the highway. The road is shared with workers traveling to their jobs and families to their homes who unwittingly find their streets are turned into racetracks.
We thank Morgan for having shared his story with us in the Sunday edition, and we wish his friend Wendy Lynn O’Steen a full and speedy recovery. We would hope that those who – like Morgan did – itch for races would stop and think that accidents do happen to people just like them. How are you going to feel when you hurt or kill someone?