Illegal Drag Racing Kills Mother and Young Daughter

You're probably familiar with illegal drag racing from movies like Grease, where it appeared to be harmless teenage fun from the 1950s. But the fact of the matter is that drag racing is still prevalent atd it is very dangerous. Sadly, a mother and her 2-year-old daughter were the victims of a drag racing accident in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Cynthia Furr, age 45, and her young daughter were struck by Tyler Statsko, age 23, in his Mitsubishi Eclipse. Statsko was apparently drag racing against Carlene Atkinson, age 47. A teenage passenger in Statsko's car also died. It was reported that the two drag racers were traveling at speeds over 85 mph when Statsko's car struck the back of Furr's vehicle. Atkinson pled guilty to three counts of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 32 months in prison, while Statsko was sentenced to 45 months after a jury found him guilty of three counts of involuntary manslaughter in December.

Drag racing became especially popular again after the release of the "Fast and Furious" movies where the main characters stole cars and drag raced with one another. Experts say that the demographic is usually 16 to 24 year old males who participate in drag racing, so it was odd that Atkinson was involved as a 47-year-old woman.