“the SOUND of the DEAFENING REVVING ROARS of the ENGINES and the SMASHING of METAL against FLESH and BONE"

January 13, 2006 6:29 AM

Death Race 2000. Eric Red isn't the only celebrity to have killed someone in a car accident. But his story may be the most bizarre.
posted by you just lost the game (19 comments total)

It's a hand grenade.
posted by bbuda at 6:51 AM on January 13, 2006

And don't forget Matthew Broderick. (Scroll down for info on the Ireland accident.)
posted by jrossi4r at 7:28 AM on January 13, 2006

I'm surprised no one's yet mentioned Ted Kennedy.
posted by unreason at 7:51 AM on January 13, 2006

Never knew about Laura Bush, interesting. BTW, it's a small world, but my co-worker back in 2000 was Jason McCourt, the guy in the first link who Red crushed by pinning him to the bar. He won't sit by the window of ground floor restaurants or bars any more.
posted by jonson at 7:54 AM on January 13, 2006

A rally fascinating read.
Thanks for that.
posted by slimepuppy at 7:58 AM on January 13, 2006

Oh god. That wasn't meant to be a bad pun...
Honest typo.
"Really good read."

Jonson, that's interesting. And can't really blame him from being somewhat wary of places like that after his experience...
posted by slimepuppy at 8:00 AM on January 13, 2006

I'm surprised no one's yet mentioned Ted Kennedy.
posted by unreason at 10:51 AM EST on January 13 [!]

Guess what Teddy named his dog?
posted by bondcliff at 8:53 AM on January 13, 2006

Guess what Teddy named his dog?

I was afraid he'd named it Chappaquiddick...
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:04 AM on January 13, 2006

I was afraid he named it "Girl I Drowned."
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:10 AM on January 13, 2006

What about that (now) one-armed drummer dude? Rick Allen?
posted by fixedgear at 11:17 AM on January 13, 2006

That's a fantastic story. It sounds like Eric Red has done everything possible to weasel out of the crime, but maybe that's just the reporters perspective. Still, smashing into a building and killing two people and claiming you fainted sounds pretty stupid.
posted by mathowie at 11:41 AM on January 13, 2006

The most disturbing thing about this to me (I haven't finished the Eric Red article yet) is that the link to the article about Rebecca Gayheart had a poll which asked if she should be given leniency due to her celebrity status, and 90% of the people who answered said "yes." I can't decide if they really meant it, or if 90% of people who answered don't know what leniency means.

Anyway. Back to the main article, very interesting so far.
posted by jennaratrix at 1:16 PM on January 13, 2006

That was fascinating. Thanks!
posted by graventy at 2:05 PM on January 13, 2006

Fascinating stuff. By the way, I had no idea The Hitcher and Near Dark were written by the same guy... Great flicks, both.
posted by brundlefly at 3:03 PM on January 13, 2006

Whoa! Here's to hoping Fenderbent gets made!
posted by brundlefly at 3:16 PM on January 13, 2006

Whoa! Here's to hoping Fenderbent gets made!

So you mean, "Here's to hoping this guy gets off completely from having killed two people and seriously injured several others, probably wilfully"?
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 5:16 PM on January 13, 2006

Uh... no. That's not what I mean at all. What the hell is your problem?
posted by brundlefly at 8:20 PM on January 13, 2006

jennaratrix, it's possible that the answer to your question is contained in the response above.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:20 AM on January 14, 2006

I can't understand how a story like this can be presented and the topic of epilepsy never comes up.

The guy has epilepsy. How anyone could think differently is beyond me.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:07 PM on January 15, 2006