Maryland State Police Cracking Down On Drag Racing On I-70
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland State Police say they are cracking down on a potentially deadly stunt, going after drag racers who are using a Baltimore interstate as their course.
Innocent people have died watching high-speed drag races, and that's why state police are desperately looking into new methods to catch these drivers.
Maryland's no stranger to illegal street racing, but now bold drivers have kicked it up a notch, and are taking over I-70 on the baltimore county-city line.
"It is very dangerous and it's illegal," said Capt. Holly Barrett, Maryland State Police.
Maryland State Police say they'll be launching an aggressive effort to shut down the illegal activity, and hopefully save lives.
"When the driver loses control at a high rate of speed, who knows where that car is going to end up, into another car or into a person," said Capt. Barrett.
Maryland has unfortunately seen it's share of devastating drag racing accidents, including a tragedy on route 210 in Accokeek.
Eight people died after a car slammed into a crowd at a drag race.
"People were getting hit with body parts. People's body parts was breaking other people's body parts," said one witness.
Mary-Kathryn Abernathy and Jonathan Henderson died when a drunk driver hit them.
"It's been going on every weekend off and on for years," said Garry Cerrone.
For people like Garry Cerrone, who were so fed with the danger, and noise at all hours of the night, they sent a letter to the governor. The hope is that state police will stop the illegal racing once and for all.
"You know, they are having fun, but they don't realize the implications to everybody around them," said Cerrone.
Along with stepping up their visibility out on I-70, state police say they'll also look at possibly putting up barriers, so the drivers won't have space to park and wait.
Baltimore County Police will also help state police with this crack down on drag racing, that's expected to continue beyond this weekend.
