Teens Injured in Drag Racing Accident

HOUSTON - Two teenagers were sent to area hospitals Friday night after an apparent street racing accident.
Witnesses say a Chevy sedan and Lincoln Navigator lined up to race at Keith Harrow Boulevard and Barker Cypress in West Harris County around 11pm Friday night.
The race lasted only a few seconds and ended when the road dead-ended at Old Greenhouse road. The sedan was dumped in a ditch while the Navigator slammed into a telephone pole.
The 15-year-old driver of the Chevy was taken to a hospital in fair condition. The driver of the Navigator, also just 15, was critically injured and taken by lifeflight to Memorial Hermann Hospital. His 15-year-old passenger was not injured.
Neither of the teens has a drivers license, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Department.
Investigators on the scene indicated the victims' parents may have known the kids were driving the cars. "The parents were out here on the scene and they didn't indicate they (the cars) were taken without permission," said Dan Drake with the HCSO.
Nearby residents like Miguel Rodriguez say drag racing is nothing new around here. "Mainly at night you just hear engines going," he said.
Senseless street racing accidents like this brings the pain back for Melissa Larwa. Her 18-year-old son, Zachary Larwa, was one of three people killed during a street race last year in North Harris County. "Parents have to realize they really have to preach to these kids in a harsh way, you can't race, you can't do it," she said.
It's a message too late for Zach and for the teens in this latest crash. "You don't have to do it, it's just not worth your life and people say it's not going to happen to me. It's going to happen to them eventually if they continue to do it," said Larwa.