Racing wreck was no 'accident'

By: | TriCities.com
Published: February 10, 2010

CORRECTION, Feb. 11, 2010: A Wednesday editorial stated that police have known about, and ignored, habitual street racing along Gate City Highway in Bristol, Va. This was based on eyewitness accounts but is not supported by police data. Bristol Virginia Police Capt. Maynard Ratcliff said Wednesday that speeding is a problem all over the city, but incidents of speeding and reckless driving on Gate City Highway are no more prevalent than on other high-traffic roads. “I don’t know of any street in Bristol, Va., that has a reputation for being a drag strip,” Ratcliff said. “And I’ve been here for 26 years.”

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Street racing along Gate City Highway near the Bristol Mall is one of the city’s worst-kept secrets. Police reports printed in this newspaper’s Bristol Blotter reflect numerous instances of this reckless sport across the city. Neighbors have known about this illegal activity near the mall for years.

Yet Bristol police seemingly have looked the other way.

Such negligence ended in tragedy Monday when an Abingdon, Va., woman was killed while leaving the mall. Melinda Woodward, 38, died inside her blue Ford Mustang after proceeding through a green light at the intersection with Osborne Street, where she was hit by a silver Pontiac Trans Am driven by Joseph D. Rose, 19, of Wise County, Va.

Rose was racing a red Ford Mustang that did not stop and whose driver remains unknown.

Rose staggered out of his crumpled car to a nearby gas station. Woodward died instantly. The coward in the red Ford Mustang fled.

Police know the racers were traveling at a high rate of speed, but not how fast. That’s because of the unsettling fact that there were no skid marks left at the scene and that likely means neither vehicle braked before the crash.

Terri Green, a clerk at a Citgo gas station near the crash scene, estimated she has heard at least one race each day since she started her job more than a year ago. Mark Cox, who lives within sight of the wreck, said local street racers flock there because the Osborne Street traffic light is the last stop leading northbound out of Bristol.

Why then did the Bristol Police Department not go to extraordinary lengths to enforce traffic on this road? Having this stretch of highway gain the reputation for a speed trap is much better than its reputation as a racing venue.

If the police were understaffed, then why not consider decoy vehicles or the installation of a camera along Gate City Highway to catch speeders and add fines to city coffers? Such cameras have slowed down speeders all over America.

This was no accident. Intentionally racing on public streets and then killing someone should lead to prison time.

Police know where one of the drivers is because he was injured in the wreck and treated at Bristol Regional Medical Center. We urge the public’s help in reporting the other driver to the Bristol Virginia Police Department. The car is described as a 2004 or 2005 model red Ford Mustang, possibly a Cobra design, with a V-8 engine and aftermarket wheels.

This is a distinct vehicle. The driver should not be allowed to remain in the shadows.