Illegal Racing Essay
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Race the Strip, Not the Street. One of the fastest growing worldwide sports right now is racing. There are numerous forms of racing but Street Racing is one that is mainly performed by teenagers. Street racing originated from Drag Racing, on a quarter-mile strip. As the sport of street racing began to spread around the early ‘90s, people couldn’t really afford to go to a legal track and race, and soon enough teens began racing on public streets and highways.
Street racing is an adrenaline rush to teens but most do not realize the hazards and consequences they have to face if something goes wrong.
Many teenagers think it is fine to race or speed on public streets because that’s what they see in video games. Its either racing on the street and you get no damage to your car or you are running away from police.
All these games greatly impact those who race the streets because they think they are invincible just like in the games where if they total their car, it restarts, or if they get stopped by police, cash or points are being taken away.
Some don’t realize that street racing is a serious issue not to be thought of as a game. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 16 and 20.
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(NHRA Illegal Racing Stats) Teenagers have a higher probability of death from an automobile accident, due to irresponsibility and deficiency of driving experience. Most teenage fatal accidents are a cause of teenagers under the influence of a substances or just simple reckless driving to make an impression towards their peers. “Street racing is just plain ignorant.
Types Of Street Racing
Why would you want to put anyone else’s life in danger? It’s just ridiculous. “(Gary Scelzi, NHRA Driver) Indeed, it is ridiculous, street racing not only puts their life in danger but as well as pedestrians, and other drivers. Before they choose to race someone on public roads they should ask themselves this, “Would I like the guilt and consequences for the death of a family I killed in an accident because I lost of control, just for the fact that that I wanted to race a friend on the freeway? ” In Arizona, the law for street racing is harsh and has serious life changing consequences.
Arizona’s Racing Statue 28-708) states that: A person shall not drive a vehicle or participate in any manner in a race, speed competition or contest, drag race or acceleration contest, test of physical endurance or exhibition of speed or acceleration or for the purpose of making a speed record on a street or highway. Penalties for conviction of street racing (first offense) include: Possible jail time and/or probation, a fine of around $250 or more, suspension of your license for a period of time determined by the judge, up to 90 days, and community service.
A second offense within 24 months can result in a Class 6 felony: jail time-no probation, a fine around $350 or more, and revocation of your license. Racing counts as 8 points against your license. Accumulation of 8 points in one year results in Traffic Survival School, and 13 or more points can result in additional license suspension. If drag racing leads to catastrophic auto accident or fatal accident, you will be charged with a felony crime and open yourself to liability in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. Cheryl A Brown, Phoenix Street Drag Racing Attorney) Nationwide statistics show that 49 people are injured for every 1,000 who participate in illegal street racing. (Illegal Racing Stats, NHRA) When racing on public streets a lot of hazards are present. These hazards consist of traffic, pedestrians and objects such as trees, numerous types of poles, walls, and signs. An accident at high speeds in this kind of environment is extremely dangerous. A Street racing accident causes catastrophic damage to themselves and others due to loss of control at high speeds.
If a collision with an object or loss of control were to happen at high speeds there is nothing to stop them except for what is around them which generally is something harmful, such as trees, buildings and other another vehicle. A collision with another object in a public area is almost certainly fatal. The majority of outcomes of racing accidents are disastrous on both sides, drivers and victims. Illegal street racing not only takes its toll in innocent lives, but affects families for years after.
Their grief is compounded by knowing that their loved one died without reason; that their death could have been prevented. (Families Against Speeding Drivers-FASD) Success of racing without losing control or colliding without some object is not always triumphant there can still be legal consequences that can affect their daily life. These legal penalties could put them in a financial loss. This financial loss can come from fines and citations they receive. Jail time is going to greatly put them in a financial loss, from paying attorneys to being able to afford to bail them out.
Meanwhile in jail their employment can also be tarnished, they will lose wages from their job. In Arizona there have been numerous tragedies with teenagers street racing, one which went to local high schools. Phillip Vogel, a student from Chaparral High School passed away on May 16, 2006 from a fatal car accident. The night before he was racing a fellow student when he lost control, hit a tree and a concrete entrance of a neighborhood subdivision. Phillip was a senior and because of what he decided to do that night he never lived to see the day of his graduation. Mike Sakal, East Valley Tribune) It is very unfortunate these tragic accidents happen, but sometimes teenagers do not stop to think of the possible outcomes and risks involved in street racing. Most don’t realize the tremendous consequences and risk of death; they don’t stop to think that those could be their last moments. Yes, sometimes there are substances involved, and driving under the influence is another factor that comes into play into street racing. When driving under the influence of a substance, teenagers feel invincible, they start playing around and that is when accidents start happening.
Teenagers feel that they need to prove themselves by racing some one else, but they do not realize in how much danger they are putting themselves in. They feel the need for speed and don’t stop to think. “Street Racing is always too intense to have any fun. You have to run away from the police, make sure no one cuts in front of you, that you’re not going to crash. It’s crazy. You can’t have fun worrying about so many things. At the track, these things don’t exist and you can just go fast! (ABEL IBARRA, NHRA driver of the K&N Filters/Toyo Tires Mazda RX7) There are many alternatives to street racing, teenagers just have to realize how dangerous it is to race on the streets and look for a local track where they can race on the weekends for an affordable price and a safe and controlled environment. In the early 1950s, NHRA founder Wally Parks began working with law-enforcement agencies around the country to entice illegal street racers onto dry lakes and abandoned runways where more organized competition could be staged. Today, that basic initiative remains NHRA’s primary mission.
Given the scope of today’s street racing epidemic, NHRA is even more committed to providing safer racing alternatives through thousands of legal, sanctioned events that take place on hundreds of drag strips across the United States each weekend through its Street Legal program. (NHRA STREET LEGAL DRAGS) This alternative to racing the streets because there are no worries. They don’t have to worry about police or having to worry about the dangers, such as colliding with other traffic or harmful structures. They just get inspected to insure the car is safe to race, pay a small fee and just have fun, in a safe controlled environment.
At the urging of Southern California law-enforcement agencies, NHRA in 1994 began a high-profile and closely scrutinized program of events for street-legal cars and motorcycles in Southern California. Since then, thousands of potential illegal street racers throughout the country have turned to Street Legal programs at NHRA member tracks, where as many as 700 racers may attend an event. (NHRA STREET LEGAL DRAGS) Many racers have chosen to go the safe way and race the strip for a small fee. Others choose to race their streets and take a chance they say that the adrenaline rush is not the same at the track. Looking back, I know I could have benefited from a Street Legal program from the standpoint of safety for myself and others around me. You always hear about people doing dumb things on the streets at three o’clock in the morning; these kinds of things just don’t happen at the racetrack. ” (NHRA, LARRY DIXON, driver of the Miller Lite Top Fuel dragster) At the track there’s a less significant chance that something is going to go wrong. It is so controlled and precise that the only thing that could go wrong is technical problems with the vehicle. Compared to the streets they don’t have to worry about all the dangerous factors hey just concentrate on pure racing, and have their mind set on what they have to do to win their race. Many street racing accidents can be prevented by the teenage racing community it is just a matter of them getting educated about the consequences and hardships you can suffer from an accident involved in street racing. There are also many that don’t know that possibly their local track offers events where they can race and prove themselves in a controlled and precise environment for a small fee and an inspection of their vehicle to make sure it is safe for the track.
If they truly love the sport of racing they should race at the track. Not only is it going to keep them out of trouble but it is going to keep them safe and having fun racing in a carefree environment. Works Cited Brown, Cheryl A. “Drag Racing. ” Cheryl A. Brown, LLC. Attorney at Law. 2007. Cheryl A. Brown, L. L. C. 21 Dec 2007 <http://www. duiaz. com/PracticeAreas/Drag-Racing. asp>. Dixon, Larry. “Take it from the Drivers. ” NHRA Street Legal Drags. 2003. National Hot Rod Association. 21 Dec 2007 <http://www. nhra. com/streetlegal/drivers. html>. NHRA, “Illegal Racing Stats. NHRA Street Legal Drags. National Hot Rod Association. 21 Dec 2007 <http://www. nhra. com/streetlegal/stats. html>. NHRA, “NHRA Street Legal. ” NHRA Street legal Drags. 2003. National Hot Rod Association. 21 Dec 2007 <http://www. nhra. com/streetlegal/index. html>. Ibarra, Adel. “Take it from the Drivers. ” NHRA Street Legal Drags. 2003. National Hot Rod Association. 21 Dec 2007 <http://www. nhra. com/streetlegal/drivers. html>. Sakal, Mike. “Street Racing Accidents. ” Evo Street Racers. 2006. East Valley Tribune. 21 Dec 2007 <http://evostreetracers. com/streetracingaccidents190. tml>. Scelzi, Gary. “Take it from the Drivers. ” NHRA Street Legal Drags. 2003. National Hot Rod Association. 21 Dec 2007 <http://www. nhra. com/streetlegal/drivers. html>. Unknown “The Effects of Illegal Street racing on Families. ” Families Against Speeding Drivers. 2005. FASD (families against speeding drivers). 21 Dec 2007 <http://www. fasd. info/home. cfm? dir_cat=38151>. Image of Chart: NHTSA “Fatal Car Accident Statistics. ” Fatal Car Accidents – Pictures & Stories. www. car-accidents. com. 21 Dec 2007 <http://www. car-accidents. com/pages/fatal-accident-statistics. html>.
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