Some actual Kills. Think before you race!

**cailey37** · 02-16-2008, 07:07 AM

Read this article this morning. I know it's easy to get out there and run our cars without a care in the world, but sometimes we've got to stop and think what can happen! Best advice anyone can give, take it to the track and keep it off the streets!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330892,00.html

**Danger731** · 02-16-2008, 07:15 AM

or 'don't stand on the side of the road" that is always a good one.

**cailey37** · 02-16-2008, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by Danger731

or 'don't stand on the side of the road" that is always a good one.

Just dont participate. That's even a better one. I'm not saying that I've never done it but I guess I've been lucky just like everyone else. I remember when I was out in San Diego there was a time this was really getting bad. People getting killed watching and crap like that.

I would just hate to see any of you ruin you life by having something like this happen. Like I said....take it to the track....

**hutch1999** · 02-16-2008, 08:46 AM

it was a bad deal, what more can you say...

**jrc1122** · 02-16-2008, 06:21 PM

Not condoning street racing at all but.....

But from everything I have heard on the news, It wasn't even a "street racer" that caused the accident.

The race was already over - according to all the reports I have seen on the news today.

It was a random car that wasn't involved at all with the race.

I have no clue why a 60 year old man (now dead) and his 13 year old granddaughter (alive)-- would be out at like 3am watching a street race. Sounds weird to me.

**t-rock** · 02-16-2008, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by cailey37

Read this article this morning. I know it's easy to get out there and run our cars without a care in the world, but sometimes we've got to stop and think what can happen! Best advice anyone can give, take it to the track and keep it off the streets!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330892,00.html

oh and dont forget to brush your teeth before bed tonite to honey.

THANKS MOM.

**Johns00Z28** · 02-16-2008, 10:00 PM

Yeah I don't agree with street racing either but I don't necessarily think the racers are to blame for it either. I think those people were there voluntarily and they placed their own lives in danger by standing in the middle of the street. None of it would have happened had they not placed themselves in harms way.

**98Z28importslayer** · 02-18-2008, 01:16 PM

not everybody can afford track fee's and meet regulations, i dont think people should street race in highly populated area's or in the city but i dont see why it would be a problem on a highway (as long as there isnt a ton of traffic)? ( plus if the driver wants to get a ticket its their problem) more accidents/deaths come from stuiped people forgetting to put there blinker on, or people driving drunk in one week then a street racer ever. So in todays world we shouldnt worry about one or two street racers but the 43261436 people that forget to put a blinker on and end up causing a 7 car pill up.

rapter34 · 02-18-2008, 01:26 PM

its a sham but they way it sounds is that it was less the street racing and more there just being crowd on the side of the road that caused the problem. I think getting all those people together and doing a bunch of races from digs causes a lot more problems then doing a 40MPH roll on the freeway. Thank you very much Fast and the Furious.

**98Z28importslayer** · 02-18-2008, 01:49 PM

haha yeah people getting way to many ideas from those damn movies lol

**Tommycat** · 02-18-2008, 08:44 PM

What might help would be if more towns adopted a policy of having LEGAL street races. Set up barricades and have safety crews on hand. Then it would discourage illegal races by giving people a way to race their cars without the hassle of the track.

**jrc1122** · 02-19-2008, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by Tommycat

What might help would be if more towns adopted a policy of having LEGAL street races. Set up barricades and have safety crews on hand. Then it would discourage illegal races by giving people a way to race their cars without the hassle of the track.

That would NEVER happen, but hypothetically, if it did.. Then it becomes regulated and turns into a "track".

Who is to pay for the "safety crews" on hand? The tax payers? Who is to regulate traffic, because you know 100's of people would go to this "free" illegal, legal street racing spot.

A place is already set aside for this; it is called the track. I do agree that more cities should be allowed to have tracks. Too many cities/ towns, etc. have ordinances and rules against tracks in certain zones. Which makes it harder to find a track that you can get more than 3 runs in a night.

Last note-- In my area (S.W. Pennsylvania)-- each summer at local small airports they shut down the runways and for a few days out of the summer - they charge 20 bucks a driver and you can run 1/8 mile run grudge matches. Pick your opponent. Completely legal.

Lots of fun.

**cailey37** · 02-19-2008, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by jrc1122

That would NEVER happen, but hypothetically, if it did.. Then it becomes regulated and turns into a "track".

Who is to pay for the "safety crews" on hand? The tax payers? Who is to regulate traffic, because you know 100's of people would go to this "free" illegal, legal street racing spot.

A place is already set aside for this; it is called the track. I do agree that more cities should be allowed to have tracks. Too many cities/ towns, etc. have ordinances and rules against tracks in certain zones. Which makes it harder to find a track that you can get more than 3 runs in a night.

Last note-- In my area (S.W. Pennsylvania)-- each summer at local small airports they shut down the runways and for a few days out of the summer - they charge 20 bucks a driver and you can run 1/8 mile run grudge matches. Pick your opponent. Completely legal.

Lots of fun.

I totally agree with you!! Towns should allow more tracks or like you said, open up airports. But, because we still have towns that wont allow tracks that shouldn't give us the green light to make our own on public streets. The roads are no place to show you're car is fast. There are people out there just trying to get from point a to point b. They dont care out two guys trying to settle a "my car is faster that yours" tantrum. Believe me, I'm not going to say I've never done it. But I guess the older we get the wiser....or it just doesn't matter how fast my car is. I know how fast it is and I dont have to prove it to every young whipper-snapper that comes along and revs their engines. I just tell them I'll race them at the local track and be done with it....loser pays entry fee. And if you can't afford the track fees then you obviously can't afford to have a fast car in the first place. I know several tracks around here have fun runs were you pay like $20 for as many runs as you can get in...usually turns out to be like 4-5...

I'm just saying sometimes we have to use our heads. If you race out on the road and end up killing someone else you will pay for that the rest of your life. We just had a guy here that was involved in that race up in Alabama about a month ago that ended up killing a spectator. He turned himself in and now he's waiting for his trial....the video of the run is out on youtube.....

**Johns00Z28** · 02-19-2008, 06:26 PM

I agree that you should take stuff like that to the track but doesn't that show a sign of maturity? Not all people, even with age, have the maturity it takes. Here in Maryland we have 4 tracks which I think is a lot for such a small state. But they close around November through February and that leaves 3 months of nothing. I don't know, I guess some people couldn't wait another few weeks.

**Chris Arnold** · 02-19-2008, 06:46 PM

Street races are NOT going to end. They take people's cars for racing, now. They lock people up now. Are street races anywhere near ending in states with such oppressive laws? NO!

People will still go and hang out in local parking lots throughout the country, as is their right. Inevitably, two guys are going to want to run 'em. Naturally, people nearby will seek out this entertainment and follow in order to watch the spectacle. What do you have, now? An illegal street race. All the preaching in the world can't stop it. There aren't enough law enforcement personnel to prevent it either.

Old men say that you shouldn't race on the streets and that you should take it to the track. Young men have passion, and impulses that are driven by thrill-seeking hormones. You may not like it, but until you come up with something better than a slogan or a sermon, there's nothing that can be done about it.

By the way, street racing didn't cause this incident. The people that were killed here were there of their own accord. They weren't innocent bystanders. They were taking a risk that they shouldn't have. In this instance street racing didn't kill anyone, darwinism did. If you don't have the intelligence to get off of an unlighted smoky/foggy street at night, you just might end up dead.

I'm not saying that I don't agree with any of you, either. I think street racing for crowds, and maybe street racing in general is a stupid thing to do. I'm not going to stop racing when I feel I'm not endangering anyone except myself and potentially the person in the other car who also chooses to partake. I don't do the crowd thing, but then again this incident wasn't street racing's fault.

**98Z28importslayer** · 02-19-2008, 08:27 PM

I completly agree, and like i said before street racing isnt what we should be worrying about its the drunk drivers, people running stop lights etc. things that happen millions of times everyday that get innocent people killed/injuried. I dont see why going a mile in a "race" when almost no one is around would be a problem ? like chris arnold said if you and the other opponent agree to race then its your responsability if you get a outragous speeding ticket, or threaten your life. Also its the people that go from A to B everyday that you have to worry about its the one time they think " i dont think i need to use my turn signal at this light" next thing you know the car runs into a minivan that had a mom taking her sons home from soccer killed. There are ALOT bigger problems on the road then 2 people going fast for a mile.

**Tommycat** · 02-19-2008, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by jrc1122

That would NEVER happen, but hypothetically, if it did.. Then it becomes regulated and turns into a "track".

Used to happen in a town I lived in in Colorado. The Police were there, so were the fire crews. The police officers even took part in it.

Who is to pay for the "safety crews" on hand? The tax payers? Who is to regulate traffic, because you know 100's of people would go to this "free" illegal, legal street racing spot.

We already paid for the crews that are there. EMT's and Fire crews were more than happy to have one place to go to rather than the scene of an accident where people were already dead. Not to mention the number of people who would volunteer to help out. Not to mention that they could also charge an entry fee. Not to mention the car clubs that would pay and volunteer.

A place is already set aside for this; it is called the track. I do agree that more cities should be allowed to have tracks. Too many cities/ towns, etc. have ordinances and rules against tracks in certain zones. Which makes it harder to find a track that you can get more than 3 runs in a night.

And Phoenix having two 1/4 mile tracks and a NASCAR track has really cut down on the street racing here. No, some of the appeal is not being lumped in with people who spend 100 grand on a motor and trans set up designed to run 1/4 mile then be rebuilt immediately after. Or they might actually want to run more than 1/4 mile. You know kinda like a rally(incidentally the kind of races that I have seen put on by local municipalities in conjunction with car clubs)?

Last note-- In my area (S.W. Pennsylvania)-- each summer at local small airports they shut down the runways and for a few days out of the summer - they charge 20 bucks a driver and you can run 1/8 mile run grudge matches. Pick your opponent. Completely legal.

Lots of fun.

Um I kinda like what I'm talkin about better..

**Chris Arnold** · 02-20-2008, 05:14 PM

I like that idea too, Tommycat. I'd be willing to bet that there are EMT/ Fire department crews on standby that can hang out at the "street races" when there's not an emergency. Maybe we'll hear from our emergency response members here about the practicality of this idea.

Granted, they might have to leave if they need to respond to an emergency and the "street races" shut down for a couple of hours. However, this would be a great way to do it legally.

Chris

**jrc1122** · 02-20-2008, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by Tommycat

Used to happen in a town I lived in in Colorado. The Police were there, so were the fire crews. The police officers even took part in it.

We already paid for the crews that are there. EMT's and Fire crews were more than happy to have one place to go to rather than the scene of an accident where people were already dead. Not to mention the number of people who would volunteer to help out. Not to mention that they could also charge an entry fee. Not to mention the car clubs that would pay and volunteer.

And Phoenix having two 1/4 mile tracks and a NASCAR track has really cut down on the street racing here. No, some of the appeal is not being lumped in with people who spend 100 grand on a motor and trans set up designed to run 1/4 mile then be rebuilt immediately after. Or they might actually want to run more than 1/4 mile. You know kinda like a rally(incidentally the kind of races that I have seen put on by local municipalities in conjunction with car clubs)?

Um I kinda like what I'm talkin about better..

I lived in CO for a couple of years myself, and I never head of a place to go race for free on the public streets.

PS-- EMT & Firefighters may volunteer their time, but ambulances and firetrucks can't be "volunteered" -- if they are forced to be at the scene- then the are basically being used - meaning tax payers is paying for this. Not to mention they are basically unable to respond to another call- because in order to keep the illegal street races running, they probably have to be on site.

Not to mention you can't assume that they are closer to calls for help, just because you consolidate some racers together... because there really isn't a street racing accident every day like you make iit seem. But there are however a mix of other calls most every day. Regular car crash, house fires, heart attacks, babies choking, etc.

I live near Pittsburgh-- and I sometimes watch the local news- I have heard of maybe one street racing accident around here. But I have heard of countless car crashes, fires, murders, assault, robbery, etc. These are the things that the police department, fire department, and EMTs are likely to see. So adding a place to take them away from the normal bad shit they see every day is NO justification for allowing it.

I am sure if they added up all the First response calls in most any town, Illegal street racing crashes are probably very low, compared to the every day life stuff that happens.

About those races we have each summer-- It is a city sanctioned event, that is charged, that creates revenue for the town-- So I agree they aren't the same thing, But it is alittle more relaxed than the track. I mean you pick who you want to run, and you can get 10+ runs in (if you wanted to run your car that much in one day).

**jrc1122** · 02-20-2008, 06:36 PM

PS- I'm not trying to argue about it. I just don't think it is a feasible idea.

If they did in fact do this on a regular basis and it worked for the town that is great. I just don't see how the tax payers of the town would be cool with that.

Basically it is the law enforcement throwing up there hands and saying -- well we can't deter people from racing. At least we can give you a "semi" structured place to do it. Where regular commuters are not around.

That is like saying-- well we can't stop dope dealers, so we offer a street corner that is designated for slingin' rock or weed or whatever.

I'm so dumb as to think drugs and street racing are equivilant-- But for law enforcement to do this solely for the purpose of allowing an illegal action be done in a safer enviroment is absurd to me.

Those events I spoke of in SW PA-- weren't created to keep racers of the street- they were a way to create some extra money for the city, and they turned it to a family day time event, with cookouts, and vendors and announcers, and prize give aways.. Hardly the same as a few off duty cops hanging out with a bunch of street racers that would otherwise practice their fast and furious moves illegally on the streets.