The Dangers of Drag Racing

Arizona State Rep. Cal Holman, 76, was returning home for lunch one day in January 2007 when two cars, both traveling at speeds exceeding the speed limit by more than 20 mph, struck his vehicle, killing him. Yet the drag racers whose deadly game killed an innocent man may not be held responsible, despite the fact that one exceeded the speed limit by 22 mph, and the other by 33 mph.

Statistics illuminating the dangers of drag racing on a national scale are sparse; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documented 135 fatal car accidents attributed drag racing in 2001. But while drag racing may be illegal and all too often deadly, the drag racers who crashed into Holman's vehicle may escape accountability for his death. Under Arizona law, because Holman was turning left, he was responsible for assuring that his path was clear. Had Holman been driving in a straight path or making a right turn, there would be no doubt that the drag racers were responsible for his death.

Under A.R.S. 28-772, the driver of a vehicle turning left in an intersection is obligated to yield to a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction that is within the intersection or so close as to constitute an immediate hazard. The attorney general has interpreted this statute as allowing drivers to make left turns only when it is safe to do so. Arizona courts have upheld this interpretation, ruling in Smith v. Johnson in 1995 that Arizona's left turn statute is one of negligence per se, eliminating due care as a defense when a driver making a left turn is involved in a crash.

One of the drag racers who ran into Holman, Robert Van Brakel, had a history of moving violations, including seven since 2004. Van Brakel was ticketed after being clocked at 120 mph in one instance. The other driver, Travis Aronica, was likewise a repeat offender, with 13 moving violations amassed since 2002. Despite these accumulated violations, Van Brakel and Aronica may be able to minimize their responsibility for illegal drag racing by pointing the finger at the man whose vehicle they both hit. He was, after all, the one making a left turn.

In fact, Aronica worked out a favorable plea bargain, but the judge rejected it after a public outcry. Aronica's sentencing is now scheduled for March.

A crash six months before the one that killed Holman underscores the problems with the state's negligence per se left-turn law. When Robert Logan Myers III sped through a red light, crashing into a car driven by Guadalupe Pedraza, five members of Pedraza's family were killed, and a little girl passenger was paralyzed for life.

The left-turn law shielded Myers, as it threatens to shield Van Brakel and Aronica: Myers' defense attorney argued that Pedraza's duty to yield extended even to a vehicle speeding through the red light. Myers was sentenced to a mere year in prison with "work release" seven days per week from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., followed by four years of probation and $450,000 in restitution.

Whether it's drag racing or other illegal driver behavior that leads to a crash in Arizona, woe be to any victim who happens to be making a left turn at the time of the collision.