Street Racing seems like the most affordable way to get the automotive adrenaline rush all us enthusiasts crave. What member of America’s youth doesnt get off to hot girls, fast cars, and free rides? What seems like fun and games to some, hoewever, is serious business to others. Not only is racing on public streets illegal in all 50 states, it is the most dangerous and selfish act the youth of today is getting involved in.



Taking off after WWII when the youth returning from war had extra money and a need for speed to go with their new mechanical know-how, street racing quickly evolved into one of America’s top killers in today’s society. Inspired and revived by the Fast and the Furious movies, street racing has contributed to a frightening level of fatal crashes. Fatal crashes related to street racing has increased by more than 85% every year for the past 6 years. From 1999 to 2000, San Diego, CA has seen an increase of 97% of fatal crashes caused by street racing. Still sound like fun and games?



In the state of Florida, pedestrian injuries related to street racing has increased by 222% from 1999 to 2001. The leading cause of death for people ages 16-20 is automobile accidents. National averages show that for every 1000 street racers, there are 49 innocent by-standers who are injured or killed. So why do kids street race?

America’s youth is largely ignorant and out to get a rush. Why can’t kids think rationally like adults? Del Worsham, NHRA Funny Car Driver, stated “If you want to be a drag racer, take it to a track.” The youth complains of a lack of tracks to race on, therefore, in their eyes, justifying their illegal actions. Yet there are over 140 NHRA tracks in North America, and a similar amount of IHRA and independent tracks. So now that the truth is out and kids have no more excuses, how can we pursuade them not to street race?



The average consequences for street racing are:
You will be arrested and have your car impounded for 30 days.
You will be arrested and have your car (or your parent’s car!) permanently confiscated.
You can be imprisoned for up to three months and fined up to $1,000.
Your driver’s license will be revoked.
Your car insurance rates will increase or you can be cancelled.
So America’s youth still thinks drag racing is a more simple way to get the automotive high?

All you need to race on an NHRA track is:
Valid driver’s license
Valid vehicle registration and insurance
DOT-approved street legal tires
Seat belts
Muffler

Hell, you need this stuff to ride on the street too! So the hard-***, ignorant street racers out there need to save up 20 bucks and enjoy the legal and exciting atmosphere at their local drag strip.

http://www.sshep.com/street_racing.htm
http://www.partsamerica.com/Motorspo...ckProgram.aspx
http://www.helpjacqui.com/home.htm

 

The sad part is, that when the street racers read this, they think we're old geezers preaching to them. Then once they get into a wreck or get their cars confiscated, or heaven forbid, kill someone, they come on the boards bitching about it and expect sympathy for their plight where none exists. Spending 5 bucks in gas to drive to a track and then another 15-20 to run your car is alot cheaper than $1000 and 3 months in jail.

 

ummm ok?

on that note, i think ill post a kill story.

 

agreed, plus in addition to the drag tracks around the country their is Autox(which is what i do) and all the SCCA clubs around that hold events usually once a month, and that is just as great a '' rush '' as the drag strip is.

 

I'm all for track racing, but the simple facts why a lot of my friends and myself a few times have engaged in street racing is thus.... the track is two hours away, they have regulations such as if you own a conv. and go 13.49 or faster u need a roll bar and other regs., also many people just wanna do a spur of the moment race with a guy they come up too at a light they don't intend to make a big production out of it. I love the track i wish i could go a lot, but it's far away and i don't go as often as i wish. None of my friends have died street racing although a few have been busted and throguh a good lawyer get off with minor fines... I'm not condoning i'm just giving you guys some of my age group's perspective. Also in high school many times the street races are like social events...one clique's leader thinks he's better than another clique's head ******* and both cliques cut class to go to a nearby road and anywhere from 10 to 150 people go to watch em race.... it is what happens a lot instead of fighting at our school. It's a massive social event and people go just cuz everyone else is.

 

Let me ask you a question....Do you have a girlfriend or wife? What if she was unavailable or out of town, but you wanted a piece of ***? Next time this happens tell her "hey look sweatie, I slept with your sister because you were too far away."

You kids need to grow up. The highways are not playgrounds and are not for racing no matter how far away a strip is.

I am very hard on street racing. Whenever I see it, I call the cops. I take down plates etc...whenever I can. My entire family was almost in a serious wreck a while back because of two racing idiots and I have no sympathy for those that race. You race and kill yourself, it is sad. You kill an inocent bystander, and it is real tragety.

If you street race, you don't deserve to drive a car.

Now, I do distinguish between spirited driving and street racing. Street racing is like ****. You really can't explain it, but I know what it is when I see it.

 

I cant help but wonder, do you do the same thing when you see someone speeding? Because all street racing is is going fast next to each other, so someone that is just going fast by themselves should be just as dangerous correct? so do you call the police/write down tags every time you see someone 'getting on it' and running through the gears and/or speeding?

or one step further, do you ever accelerate quickly by yourself on the street? meaning do you go WOT through a gear or two just to feel a little acceleration? because if you do, your just as guilty. and if you dont . . then why do you even drive/modify a mustang?

 

I agree somewhat, When I was in Highschool, our closest track was over two hours away, Street racing had killed a family one warm august night in Coral Springs Florida on Sample road and University Dr. After much debate and concern from the community the Broward County sheriffs allowed racers to race out at the end of Atlantic Ave, in unincorporated Broward county, a mile strip of road in the everglades. We raced there under police supervision every Friday evening. This continued to get more popular until it was attracting hundreds of cars and people, it was getting very dangerous, people were bringing home built dragsters, it was getting very clear to the police that it was getting out of hand, It was only a matter of time before tragedy would strike this dark road. and it did, I Trailered Camero, ran with me, the road was a 4 lane divided with a 3 ft median strip, we ran down the right side and the left was for incoming cars. So we ran first, we get down to the left turn around which had a cutout in the median for a future intersection 1/2 mile down the road, the camero stalled out and he could net get it running, the next group came racing down the road, two drag bikes. one of them could not see the stalled camero, the bike slamed into the back of the car at over 100mph killing the driver. there were several accidents and two more deaths before the police shut down the road once known at the Everglades Strip. they later admitted that the accidents were due to the lack of lighting and safty devices needed to protect the drivers and onlookers. Street racing once again pleaged the streets of Coral Springs and would take more innocent lives in the years to come, in the early 80's Coral Springs had to triple the police force to combat speeding. I moved out of south florida after that but still to this day the only Drag strip in south florida is in Miami Hollywood speedway home of the gator nationals. there was Moroso Motorsports Park in Jupiter, FL, still over 2 hours away.
There is a petiton to open one in broward county.
http://www.petitiononline.com/ourrace/petition.html

You should try to petition your county get one open one near you.
start a petition drive of a forum and car shows,

 

Read my earlier post!

There is a difference between sprited driving and street racing. Do I have to explain? Are you intending to tell me that lining up with 150 kids on a highway and having someone holding a flag is justified because we all hit the gas now and then. Don't be rediculous.

There is speeding, wreckless driving, and street racing. There are different citations for doing all of these....even the police distinguish between the three.

Going WOT on the street does not constitute wreckless behavior or street racing. But, lining up at 45 mph, honking your horn, and acellerating to 120 is.

 

WaterDR... just a simple question. I commend you on the fact that you do that, and 100% understand your doing for protection for yourself and other drivers.
Have you ever got on the gas when you were driving to see what your car can do? Have you ever just "raced" another sports car next to you even for 3 seconds? I'm sure you've punched it before in your car to see what it does. I mean, you do have a blower, right? I find it very very hard that you would have never punched it in your car. That there would be causing danger to other drivers because what if your vehicle went out of control? Just because you aren't "racing" someone, doesn't mean you aren't causing potential danger.

With that said, I've never street raced with an organized group and never plan too. Of course, I have "punched" it to see what my vehicle can do, just like all of you have done. I can recall a handful of times where maybe I'm just cruising along and anoterh Mustang or sports car pulls up along me. Maybe we punch it for 3-5 seconds, wave, and we are both on our way. Why is it more dangerous that two cars do it than just one?

 

I have been driving for 23 years. In that time span I have gotten about 2 or 3 moving violations. We all speed, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose. In those 23 years I have probably logged well over a million miles.

Have I ever punched it? Certainly. Punching it is not street racing. This thread is about street racing, not punching it on an entrance ramp. Am I a hippocrit for telling someone that they should not speed? Probably. Am I a hippocrit for telling someone that street racing is wrong? No way! I never said you should not speed....only came out against street racing.

People do change. We were all young. There are probably things I used to do when I was young and dumb that I don't do today. There are refromed drug users and smokers who also work to get people to quit. Does that make that person worng? Certainly not. People do change. When I was young and stupid there were a few things that I did behind the wheel where I am lucky to be alive today. But, I grew up. But in my days, we did not street race like kids are doing today.

One last thing, we can all be tempted by speed. Having a fast car requires a great deal of restraint and maturity. There is a reason why young people pay more for insurance. We all need to help eachother avoid these temptations.

If you think you or anyone has a right to street race and think it is fine, then state your point. Let's just be sure we are talking about street racing.

 

Imo there no more risk to street racing someone than if you are screwing around by yourself, whether that be a doing a burnout, punching it from a stop or on an entrance ramp, taking off fast, etc.

The only difference it street racing there is someone else next to you, they are all dangerous, and you can lose control doing any of them. You can wreck your car, hit a bystander, run into another car, etc doing any of them.

If you look down on one you should not do any of them.

Now do I go up to stop lights and race people, no, do I screw around sometimes, yeah sure. But there isnt really any difference other than you are more likely to attact attention when your doing the same thing with another car or with traffic or people around.

If your going to screw around do it in an industrial park, in the country, etc somewhere where there is no one around.

 

I gotcha! I think I read your original posts the wrong way. Glad to see we are on the same page.

To anyone, whatever you do, just be careful. We can't change how you drive, just be careful.

 

so when you think street racing you think 150 kids that are racing up to 140+mph? because when i think street racing i think catching a light with another mustang and going WOT through the gears till about 65 in a 50mph zone.

Now in THIS scenario, i am doing nothing more then yo if you were to go WOT through a couple gears, the only diffrence is there was somebody next to me doing the same thing.

"There is a difference between sprited driving and street racing."

yea, the difference is that everything else being equal, the only legal difference is if there is somebody doing the same thing next to you it is street racing, if nobody is next to you, it is speeding/reckless driving. (depending on how much over the speed limit you go)

So im just saying, all other variables being equal, under the same under the same circumstances, you "spiritually accelerating" from a dead stop to say 10 over the speed limit is just as bad as accelerating from a dead stop to 10 over the speed limit with someone else in the other lane doing the same thing. The only difference, is that if you were alone and pulled over you might get a small speeding ticket, if someone was next to you like in scenario B, you could possibly get your car impounded felony etc etc.

 

Ultimately, you can get cited for lots of different things. Speeding is speeding, but going 20 mph over on a deserted country road is one thing, but doing the same in Icey conditions in rush hour is another......but both are speeding.

Racing someone is racing someone. If cops think you are racing, then that is what the ticket is for. But obviously there are different levels of racing and some instances are a lot more dangerous then others.

When I was in Tampa 2 weeks ago, a bunch of us were in a car and got passed going over a bridge by 3 - 4 motorcycles. They were travling at well over 100 mph and probably something like 150. Following behind trying to catch up was a couple of ricers and a cobra. Is that speeding or racing? I can tell you that whatever they were doing was insane, stupid, and very dangerous.

 

The only joy out of street racing is bragging rights and thats it!!!!!!!!! Most people do get a rush out of it b/c of the risk you take in gettin caught. I dont deny street racing as i do it from time to time but i wont be doing it for awhile due to not having a license now for 3 months....why? I got busted for attempted racing and excessive speeding, so it's not worth it. Plus i spent this past weekend in jail over it too after being convicted last week.

The way I see it, most of the kids you see out here racing and having wrecks in the process are the young teenagers who dont know what they are doing and cant control their car at high speeds, or dont have the proper tires or suspension to being doing it. We have a gathering of people around the DC/Va/MD area that meet up in a disclosed place that only those who are known go to and this is OLD people in their 50's and 60's along with mid 20's who street race....and never have any problems with wrecks...why? b/c we are not careless like these young teens who are all about winning and trying to look good in front of their friends. If your a new driver then you dont need to be racing people on the street...plain and simple. Go too the track where you can hit a wall and it wont bother anyone but yourself and mom and daddy's pocket.

Honestly, I would like to know how many people on this board have been caught and convicted of street racing??? Be honest and admit you've been caught and tell everyone what the result was...cause i'm more than happy to tell everyone about my previous street racing tickets and convictions.

 

I have been caught when I was 20, and although it was 24 years ago, the price I paid was high. Jail time 10 days, several thousand in fines and court cost and 1 year suspention of my Drivers License. (100+ in a 35mph) This was in Florida so the laws are different from state to state. you now from time to time it comes up on reports for insurance. Since I live in Virginia (DC Area) my driving record does not follow me here but somehow insurance companies find this stuff

 

I saw your car at an NVMC meet in August and really liked it!

 

Inssurance companies can dig deep and find all info dealing with your driving record, even if it's a written warning! I've had a few of those show up! The result's of streetracing now from 20 years ago...they WILL take your car if you are caught in the act!!! I can very for that in Va, they took mine for 1 week and i had to pay tons of fees to get it back along with a $2500 fine and no license for year. That was my 1st time being caught back about 4 years ago when they wernt as strict on racing as they are now and i've had other occasions, even tho some werent able to be proven in court.

 

and yet, they still do it.

 

I dunno i agree the races in high school are all about girls and respect although occasionally they are for big money (up to $500) on one single race. The road they use is very remote and i go to watch quite often and do a lil bench racing. I have the fastest car in my skool so no one challenges me except for once. The only time i raced at the high school races was a ricer betting $100 on one race. I destroyed him by 5 car lenghts and he has never come around since. This is also how i met my gf at the time. I'm not condoning and i go to watch usually. I prefer the track and don't attepmt to justify street racing by any means i merely am attempting to provide you guys an idea of what happens weekly at my high school. Go to the track and have fun is what i believe, but i don't believe street racing is EVIL or anything like that. It is minor compared to the other types of things that go in high school (rape, gang violence, heavy drug use, etc)