Street Racing is ‘Out of Control’
Gavin Simcoe almost killed himself when he lost control of his Civic Hatchback at speeds of over 100 mph. Simcoe was driving at 110mph when a car, pulling out of a driveway forced him to swerve to miss the vehicle. Simcoe's swerve sent him into an embankment, his car leaving the ground at speeds passing the ton mark. Miraculously, Simcoe survived with only a few scratches and a concussion.
Law officials say that the trend continues to grow at alarming results, even though the numbers of tickets given for speed contests have gone down. The reason is because those numbers only cover highway reports. An increasing number of individuals and groups are taking to back roads and cities to race, only making their illegal activities more dangerous. Other drivers and pedestrians have become victims as well.
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Police say that there are typically three ways that street racing occurs, spontaneous stop light racing, groups of cars that take over the highway, or planned events where gambling is often involved. Simcoe has wised up and plans on only racing at the track from now on. However, even Simcoe acknowledges that , "nothing short of a million police officers can stop street racing." That hasn't stopped him from trying though. Simcoe has told his classmates about the dangers of street racing, but he says he still hears stories of kids going way to fast.
Authorities are trying a few things to crack down on street racing, but are having a hard time finding a penalty that sticks. Florida is actively targeting street racers but finds that convictions are hard to come by, as prosecutors must prove that someone was actively involved in street racing. Recently Ontario, California made headlines by crushing the cars of people found guilty of street racing. Even this isn't deterring street racers, in fact it may even be encouraging them. Street racer Johnny Wong states, " ... the more boundaries you put up, the more people want to race. The people who are driven by it -- it's a bigger rush knowing the risks." Even spectators aren't getting away with just watching the races, authorities are imposing big fines on those who watch illegal street racing and don't report it.
Comments
CHARLES G.
So why bother with the separate classification of "street racing"? Call it speeding/reckless driving and when someone gets hurt/killed, reckless endangerment or manslaughter.
Up the penalties not just for speed but for excess over the posted limit. Sixty in a 30 mph zone isn't 30 over the limit; rather it's 100% over the limit. Increase the penalties accordingly.
The fact this accident involved a car pulling out of a driveway indicates it took place in a populated area, not on the open road. Hope the insurance co. doesn't pay off on the collision portion of the policy.
Yeah, I've had mine up in the triple digits, but not where I have to worry about driveways. Deer, wildlife, changing road conditions, etc. yeah. But if I lose it, it's just Bambi, Rocky Racoon or a few hundred feet of guard rail.
Russ Bellinis
I don't think anything has changed, at least in my lifetime. At my high school a girl in my seneior class was killed when she stepped into the street in front of two class mates who were drag racing in front of the school during lunch hour. I still don't but what she was trying and succeeded in committing suicide, but it happened in the San Francisco Bay area in 1964. Robert Peterson was told not to name his new magazine Hot Rod because "hot rodders" had such a bad reputaion back in the late 40's and early 50's. I suspect that the biggest causes of street racing activity in So Cal is that the land has gotten too expensive for race tracks to operate. A buddy of mnine used to race professionally in pro stock in So Cal, and he could run in professional races every day at tracks around Los Angeles and make a nice living from the prize money and local sponsorship. The only one of those tracks still in operation is Pomona, and it is used for professional shows only now. Irwindale has weekly 1/8 mile drags on Wed nights, and Fontana runs street legal drags 3 or 4 weekends a year. There are simply a lot more potential street racers with no tracks to run on now days.
detroit9000
Note to self... put pencil beams into bumper so old men see me and don't back out of driveway into my driving path.
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