Street racing poses safety threats
A black Charger ready to race
September 20, 2013
Street racing is illegal motor racing which takes place on public roads. Most of the deaths caused by street racing are innocent drivers not involved in the actual race and this is unacceptable. There are 135 street racing related deaths every year, this number should be zero.
Street racing is illegal for a reason; it puts the lives of the drivers, passengers and innocent bystanders in danger. Property damage can happen and cause chaos following an accident. Keep the streets safe, do not street race.
Some police departments in the United States have created community outreach programs to educate the racing community about the dangers of street racing, as well as to encourage them to race in legal events. I wish there were more outreach programs spreading across California. This has also led to a campaign introduced in 2000 called Racers Against Street Racing, RASR, a group consisting of auto manufacturers, after market parts companies, professional drag racers, race tracks and automotive magazines promoting the use of safe and legal raceways as an alternative to street racing. The racing community is really doing its part to stop street racing and to keep the streets safe.
Other such alliances have been forged in southern and central California, reducing the occurrences of street racing there. This is only the beginning of the solution.
Living in California is a great, but is plagued with street racers. California is considered the birthplace of North American drag racing.
Florida is also a hot spot for street racing. I wouldn’t want to visit Florida because of this issue. The most commonly used highway in Florida is US-27 because of its city bound location along the swamps of south Florida. This highway has its own nickname, “the Highway of Death”, coming from the fact the surrounding area is only swamps with alligators and also because it is not an easy place for fire-fighters, ambulances or police to get to.
Street racing is dangerous to anyone. The efforts by the racing community and law enforcement are making a difference in the lives of anyone attempting to street race.
