New law seeks to slow drag racers

Those convicted could serve up to 2 years in prison

Fueled by memories of tangled metal and backed by a new, tougher state law, police in Boston, Lowell, Revere and other communities are cracking down on drag racing, trying to prevent funerals like the one being held today in Ashland for 19-year-old John Curtin.

On the North Shore, troopers have identified "unofficial street racing clubs," said State Police spokesman David Procopio, and have increased efforts to bust up late-night gathering spots popular with young people looking to race their souped-up cars.

In Lowell, where a 2005 drag-racing death of a pregnant woman and her unborn son shocked residents, police have handed out 33 drag racing citations since January 2007, including 15 this year. Boston police, concerned about a drag-racing crash in Hyde Park last month that left one woman seriously injured, have stepped up efforts as well. And in Revere, authorities are using unmarked cars to monitor parking lots where young people congregate with speed in mind.

However, even with these efforts - and a new state law threatening convicted street racers with up to two years in prison - drag racing remains hard to prevent and prosecute. According to data from the state Registry of Motor Vehicles, only 29 percent of the 550 people cited for racing last year in Massachusetts were convicted of the crime.

Of the 105 people cited through March of this year, four have been convicted and others await their hearings, state data show. And a lack of street racing accidents doesn't necessarily reduce the risk for a community, as the town of Ashland, population 16,000, learned with Curtin's death on Monday night.

Curtin and a lifelong friend, Robert Supple, also 19, were driving their cars on a quiet residential road in town, police said, when they began speeding, going about 70 miles per hour in a 25 mile-per-hour zone. At one point, Curtin, a bespectacled, likeable young man who had just returned from a family vacation in Mexico where he swam with dolphins, attempted to pass Supple on the two-lane road, police said, and that's when Curtin lost control of his used Lexus and struck a utility pole.

"How has this impacted us?" said Marcia Mobilia, whose son, Brian, grew up with both Curtin and Supple. "Well, when Robby came back from court on Tuesday, we were all at the Curtin family household, comforting each other, consoling each other. And when Rob walked in, we all hugged him and said, 'Robby, this isn't your fault. We're going to tell you this until you believe it. This isn't your fault.' Johnny put his own foot on that gas pedal."

Supple has been charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, reckless operation, and street racing - the first such citation that Ashland police can remember handing out in at least a year. According to the Middlesex district attorney's office, he is the first person in the county to be cited with racing since the new law threatening jail time went into effect in February. But statewide, Curtin's death was only the most recent fatality allegedly caused by people using the public roads as personal raceways.

Two Babson College students died last year in Wellesley while allegedly racing a third student, whose drag-racing charges are still pending. Two drivers from Rhode Island died last November on Interstate 95 in North Attleborough in a fiery crash after clipping each other's cars while racing at speeds approaching 100 miles per hour. Revere Police are investigating a recent road fatality that may have been caused by racing, said Sergeant Jeff Graff, who oversees the department's traffic unit.

A deadly 2005 road racing tragedy still reverberates in Lowell. In November of that year, 31-year-old Deborah Hornberger, pregnant with her unborn son, was headed to a prenatal yoga class when an 18-year-old driver, racing another man, lost control of his Acura, crossed the median, and flipped into oncoming traffic.

"It was a horrible thing to occur," said Lieutenant Tim Crowley, commander of the Lowell Police traffic division. "Obviously, it was worse for the husband . . . but everybody with a pulse is going to be appalled by that because here you had a woman minding her own business, doing the right thing, and you had two people who decided they were going to take possession of the road for themselves, disregarding everyone else's safety."

In response, Lowell police have cracked down, stepping up enforcement and seeing a drop in accidents not only on roads popular with drag racers, but citywide. The Lowell deaths also pushed state Senator Steven C. Panagiotakos to file the new drag racing legislation, which has now been used to charge Supple, a former lacrosse player and 2007 graduate of Ashland High School.

Supple and Curtin had known each since kindergarten, Mobilia said, marking just about every milestone in their lives together. They celebrated first communion together, went off to summer camp together, graduated from high school together, and spent Curtin's last night together.

At the scene of the crash on Eliot Street, residents said they heard Supple hollering out his friend's name as he stood over the wreckage.

"John? John?"

Curtin never answered.

Keith O'Brien can be reached at kobrien@globe.com.