Man driving kart dies

A 23-year-old Chicago man racing a kart vehicle at a Far-Northside track died Thursday after the kart crashed.

The specific cause of the driver's death was not immediately determined, and an autopsy by the Marion County coroner was planned for today.

The accident happened about 7:40 p.m. Thursday at Fastimes Indoor Karting, 3455 Harper Road. The indoor track, where people can rent the small, four-wheeled motorized vehicles, is one of many retail businesses that have sprung up along 96th Street east of Keystone Avenue in recent years.

Sgt. Paul Thompson, a spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said the man was one of several AT&T employees in the Indianapolis area for training. His name was not immediately released.

The Chicago man was driving a kart out of a turn on the indoor track when the kart crashed into a polycarbonate barrier, which shattered, Thompson said. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man was wearing safety belts and a helmet, but the kart might have flipped in the crash, police said. Indystar.com