Street Racing: Too Fast, Too Furious and Too Fatal

Despite public awareness campaigns and massive crackdowns, street racing is becoming a popular and deadly past time for teens and young adults across the country and around the world. While only 8 years ago less than 150 deaths in the United States were attributed to street racing, recent estimates seem to indicate a steady climb in street racing-related fatalities. The most popular regions for street racing appear to be Centered in the South and in Southern California. However, this is a problem law enforcement finds itself facing almost everywhere bored people with fast cars happen to be.

This kind of racing is illegal and endangers not just the participants, but also people who just happen to be occupying the same public street as the street racers. Street racing causes increased wear on the roads street racers use, but also can cause property damage when cars go out of control. Street racing taxes law enforcement dollars and, in some areas, has been linked to a rise in car thefts as the criminal-minded target fast street cars to feed the growing market.

Street racers claim that they do not endanger others as they take precautions to ensure their raceways are unpopulated or not frequently traveled, however, the statistics show a different story. Florida and California both yield a long list of deaths and injuries attributed to street racing, sometimes several a week. Tracks offer an alternative to street racing, but often charge a fee or impose other restrictions street racers find objectionable. There is always the simple fact that street racing, because it is illegal, offers more of an adrenaline rush for some people.