This is a really sad story. May she R.I.P.
Probe launched in fatal Ont. rocket car crash
Updated Mon. Oct. 2 2006 10:24 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A United States-based drag racing association has launched an investigation after a 17-year-old Ontario girl was killed while driving a jet-powered car at more than 500 km/h.
The probe is trying to determine why Kendall Hebert was behind the wheel of the powerful vehicle during the tragic incident at a Cayuga racetrack, near Hamilton, Ont., on Sunday.
The fatal crash at Toronto Motorsports Park occurred when Hebert’s vehicle veered off the end of the quarter-mile track strip. The car then slammed into a concrete barrier, bounced over the wall and rolled several times, ejecting Hebert.
“All the steps were taken to make sure that if something did happen, all that could be done would be done,” said family friend Chuck Fram. “Unfortunately, sometimes when you crash, you crash too hard.”
The track is a member of the International Hot Rod Association, a drag-racing sanctioning body based in Ohio which says the organization only licenses those 18 and older to drive jet-engine propelled vehicles.
“I want to know for our organization’s benefit what went on and for the sport what went on here,” Skooter Peaco, vice-president or racing operations, told the Toronto Star.
“Maybe they have different sets of rules in Ontario.”
Outside Hebert’s Windsor workplace, a performance auto shop, friends hugged and consoled each other next to a makeshift memorial.
“Kendall, it doesn’t take long to get to heaven at 300 mph,” reads the shop’s sign.
“This is what Kendall wanted, this is the way she wanted to do it,” said Fram. “She had no fear. She did more living in 17 years than most of us will ever do.”
Flags at the Cayuga racetrack were lowered to half-mast.
Hebert started racing at the age of eight, and was a promising up-and-comer, her friends said.
“It’s something a lot of people are brought up into,” CASCAR driver Neil Fair said of the risky career choice. “A lot of people start racing at an early age.”
The Ontario Provincial Police, who are also investigating the death, said Hebert was “conducting a performance” on the vehicle, not competing.
Hebert’s death was witnessed by spectators, including members of her family, and the event was carried live on the Internet, police said.
With reports by CTV’s Scott Laurie and Austin Delaney
