Dragcar loses control, kills 6 (update sign the petition)

[SpoolMan]

Originally Posted by TZENU

Unfortunately, to the Americans, the easiest person to point the finger at is Troy.. We can only hope that when he faces the jury they understand the situation that Troy was and is in now..
I cannot begin to understand the pain and trauma that those parents who lost their kid's are going through and can somewhat understand that they want someone brought to justice, but putting the blame solely on Troy IMO is totally unfair..

EDIT: Petition Signed

Spot on the blame needs to be shared it shouldn't rest with one person, maybe they don't want to point the finger at there police, Fire brigade, the person looking after safety, or the promoter.... I also wonder if they done a risk assessment on the site before this public/charity event went ahead, it appears not.

[graphixboy]

This is just crazy... Signed!!!

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by schnoods

All honesty though, Troy will never be the same and this incident will haunt him, I doubt he will ever race again let alone be in the scene

He is head mech in his team now.

[tom_woolley]

Just talkin to one of me mates, he rekons Troy got a hundred years is this true? I hope not.

[nommic]

Haven't seen anything through Google News yet tom. I'd say your mate was telling porkies.

[FPVF6X201]

Originally Posted by tom_woolley

Just talkin to one of me mates, he rekons Troy got a hundred years is this true? I hope not.

As if!

He may not (AND SHOULD NOT) do any time. But the 60 minutes story mentioned possible civil action which could cost him millions.

Sympathies to the families involved, but also sympathies to Troy and his AMERICAN family.

[SpoolMan]

for those that havn't seen the story on 60 minutes, heres a link a 2 part story on youtube.
Selmer drag crash 60 Minute special
part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgipzjKQ4mA
part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo8fuFwyfLw

[Wally]

So if any of you were invited to witness an organised event that featured a high powered car doing burnouts, would you half expect something could go wrong and make sure you put a good distance betweenyourself and injury? Would you drag your kids along and give them a kirbside seat? If you were driving the car, would you take the risk of injuring the morons? Well yes you would on both counts if you were going through puberty.

[scoupedy]

Why would you stand in front of a car like that with no protection?

[Uncle Raggy]

Signed and forwarded to mates

[Uncle Raggy]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/aus...306938568.html

[Jason[98.EL]]

thats great news for troy

wonder what the conditions of the probation are

August 13, 2008 - 6:23AM

Australian drag racer Troy Critchley has negotiated a deal that will keep him out of an American jail.

The Queensland-born, Texas-based Critchley was facing life in prison, but in a plea deal agreed upon with Tennessee prosecutors and supported by families of the victims, he was sentenced to one year of probation and a suspended one year jail sentence.

He will only go to jail if he violates the probation.

It is a huge relief for Critchley.

The 37-year-old generated worldwide headlines last year when his high-powered performance car skidded out of control at a charity event in the town of Selmer, Tennessee, and crashed into the crowd.

Six spectators, aged 15 to 22, died and 22 other people, including a five-year-old boy, were injured.

Critchley was originally charged with six counts of vehicular homicide and 22 counts of reckless aggravated assault that could have sent him to jail for 90 years.

Under the deal, the charges were dropped and replaced with 28 counts of reckless simple assault.

Critchley is expected to enter guilty pleas to the charges in a Tennessee court on Thursday.

Critchley was known as the "Burnout King" for his expertise in performing the stunt at charity events and drag shows.

In an interview with Australian TV news show 60 Minutes earlier this year he said his memories of the crash would forever haunt him, but he does not know how to apologise to the victims.

"I don't know how I can ever say that I am sorry," he said in the Nine Network interview.

"I will be sorry for the rest of my life."

AAP

[Martyvan]

Fantastic news, and appears to be the commonsense decision...... Im shocked that a yankee has shown commonsense!!!

[|||]

well done to everyone who signed the petition. people power at work. a great result.

[TZENU]

Awesome news... So the Yanks did come to their senses and stopped pointing the blame squarely at Troy..

[XlR8TED]

Originally Posted by TZENU

Awesome news... So the Yanks did come to their senses and stopped pointing the blame squarely at Troy..

If you read the article on 'The Australian', it mentions that the plea deal was the idea of the victims relatives. It then mentions that the criminal side of things concluding will speed up the civil damages.

So in other words, they're simply greedy bastards who want money and in all likelyhood, don't give a %*$@ about where the blame lies.

From the article:

"In a twist, it was the victims of the crash, who had criticised Critchley and the charity event's organisers in the days after the crash, that relented and called for the lenient plea deal. "

and

"The deal will fast-track the civil suits, which reportedly seek $US100 million ($113 million) plus in damages from Critchley, his race team's owners, sponsors and officials of the city of Selmer. "

Still, a good result for him regardless of the reasons.