Witness haunted by memory of ATV crash that killed 2

Stephanie Farr

George McLaurin doesn't want to remember what he saw Sunday night, but he can't forget.

The memory of a crash of an all-terrain vehicle that killed two people has brought him back every day since to the Wissinoming intersection where he watched it happen.

With the weather expected to reach into the 50s this weekend, police are concerned that even more ATV riders will be illegally taking their vehicles on city streets, creating a hazard for motorists and pedestrians.

About 7:20 p.m. Sunday, McLaurin was driving north on Torresdale Avenue when he was startled by an ATV that pulled up along the left side of his Cadillac.

He said he pulled over to allow the ATV, which was essentially riding north in the southbound lane, to pull ahead of him.

Neither the young male driver nor his female passenger was wearing a helmet, and the ATV did not have headlights on, McLaurin said.

Once the ATV driver passed him, McLaurin said, the driver "opened the thing up full throttle - he was flying so fast."

An SUV driver traveling south on Torresdale, who later told McLaurin he hadn't seen the ATV, went to take a left turn onto Kinsey Street and collided head-on with the ATV, he said.

The 17-year-old male driver was thrown onto the hood of the SUV, police said.

"I thought the impact had knocked the person out of their coat since it looked like a coat was just draped over the front of the SUV," McLaurin said. "But then I saw two feet hanging down over the hood and I realized it was a very mangled body."

The crash sent the 23-year-old female passenger into the middle of Torresdale Avenue, where she lay face down and unresponsive, McLaurin and police said.

The teen driver was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger was taken to Temple University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 4:15 a.m. Monday, according to police.

Authorities are not releasing their names at the request of their families. Lt Frank Vanore, police spokesman, said that under the vehicle code, a car accident is not public information.

Accident Investigation Division Sgt. Albert Gramlich said the two share the same last name, but it is unknown if they are related.

The driver of the SUV, who was able to walk away from the crash, has not been charged, pending the results of toxicology reports, Gramlich said.

This was the first ATV fatality of the year, police said.

"This was early for an ATV to be out, but they come out every year when the weather breaks," Gramlich said. "They'll probably be out this weekend."

In September, ATV and dirt-bike riders in Kensington terrorized a 29-year-old motorist, who dared to tell a group of them to move out of the roadway.

The riders chased him until he crashed his vehicle.

When the motorist fled his wrecked vehicle on foot, the riders ran over the motorist with their vehicles until he stopped moving, police said.

Two of the eight alleged assailants in that case were arrested and the victim spent more than a week in the hospital.

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Source: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20100305_Witness_haunted_by_memory_of_ATV_crash_that_killed_2.html

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