Cars started trickling into the Columbia park-and-ride lot a little after 1 p.m. Saturday, and by 3 p.m. there were enough Hondas, Volkswagens, Audis and others to make some of their owners misty-eyed.
It's not often drivers wish for a full lot, but these car enthusiasts were there to remember one of their own in the most obvious way they could, with a "car meet."
"This is something she would have really liked, a whole lot of people parking, hanging out," said Wayne Floyd of Brooklyn Park, who helped organize the event in a few days through word of mouth and a Facebook page to remember Sarah Marie Stebbins of Elkridge, who died May 29 after she crashed her Nissan Xterra on Route 32. She was 21.
More than 260 drivers were expected, many times the usual size of a meet. And their main goal beyond sharing their grief was to make a public call for road safety. Police say Sarah was speeding and not wearing her seatbelt.
Her distraught and bewildered friends said she was never one to show off and certainly knew how to control a car. But that only shows that diligence behind the wheel is always required, said Tom Stebbins, Sarah's father.
"I see too many people looking down instead of at the road," he said mimicking someone texting, which he believes may have contributed to Sarah's accident. "We don't want anyone else going through this. It's pain you can't imagine."
But today, he and his wife, Valarie; daughter, Heather; son, Sam; parents; and at least a dozen other family members were more proud of Sarah for inspiring such an outpouring. The crowd was turning the tragedy into a public service.
To spread their message, the drivers swapped dollar bills for stickers and placards for their rear-view mirrors that bore pictures of Sarah and the message: "Buckle up, no excuses." The money will go to Days End Horse Farm and Rescue in Lisbon.
In addition to cars, Sarah loved horses. She was a competitive rider and taught her cousins and other children how to ride in her spare time.
"She was just as comfortable in the inked-up car crowd as in the button-down equestrian crowd," said Tim Greisman, Sarah's uncle. "She was quite an extraordinary lady."
Most of the family planned to join Sarah's friends in driving past the accident site and to the Kent Narrows Bridge about an hour away on the Eastern Shore, a favorite gathering spot. There they would talk about roll bars, new suspension and exhaust systems and wheels — and Sarah. Jimmy John Gill of Glen Burnie said he'd miss giving Sarah rides in his Honda.
Steve Frostbutter of Odenton said no one had to have an expensive car to belong to their group. He initially spent only $1,000 on his Honda CRX. He said most people put whatever money they had into their cars over time, "making them their own." He said that's what Sarah had been doing with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, or Evo.
She had named it Clifford because it thought it resembled the big red dog. But recently, she had painted it purple and renamed it Barney. Mike Sweeney of Charm City Tuning said his shop would finish the work she started this week and hand the car over to Sarah's brother.
Sarah's mother Valarie said, "Sarah would have wanted it to stay in the family."