Tragic Yes But Avoidable

The eight people killed and five injured resulting from a car running into a crowd that gathered at 3 a.m. last Sunday in the middle of a Maryland highway to watch an illegal street race was both tragic and senseless. But what gets lost in the whole discussion surrounding this accident is the obvious question, what were they doing there in the first place? Highways and thoroughfares are, by definition, designed to carry vehicular traffic, which makes them inherently dangerous to pedestrians. Highways were never intended to be gathering places for spectators in the darkness of night to watch impromptu, illegal street races. To behave otherwise is manifestly irresponsible and an assumption of unnecessary and avoidable risk.