Deleted by Bieg

 

I'm sure everyone does think about it. Street racing carries all sorts of risk and I don't think anyone engages in it without thinking first. (Well, I'm sure a *few* knuckleheads do.)

The main issue here is, be safe at all times. If you are going 100+ in heavy traffic then you are bound to die sooner or later you are simply rolling the dice. What is unfortunate is that you are going to take out some poor bastard or his family along the way probably.

But I do feel there is "safer" street racing. Open road, road familiarity, light traffic. Those are a recipe for a successful race. I *never* get on it on roads I don't know especially non-highway streets. As you get driving experience I think you start to learn these things over time. And be man enough to shut it down when you do not feel safe anymore, thats the golden rule. Some people just cannot lose no matter what and that is where the real danger begins.

Just wanted to counter your lecture with one of my own.

Keep it safe.

 

You are missing the point. Recent case law (the case I mentioned above) has set a precedent that it does not matter that YOU did not hurt anyone or screw up, YOU are still guilty (and libel to go to jail as well as be sued) if the OTHER GUY screws up and kills someone simply because you engaged in an illegal activity that resulted in a fatality.

My question to everyone is "How do you know the next guy who challenges you on the street is not going to Fu*K Up and kill someone with the end result of YOU going to jail?"

THAT is something to keep in the back of your mind because IT IS ALREADY HAPPENING.

 

Simply put, you don't know... Everytime we street race, we roll the dice. It's an inherit risk we all take when we decide to do it.

 

The way I handle it is by only racing under safe conditions when I don't know the person. Sheesh! If the sidewalks are crowded with people, and there is a bunch of traffic, I don't race! Not exactly a tough call. Those people who are in trouble for accidents caused by racing are getting what they deserve, IMHO. I don't race where people could get hit. Yeah, anything is possible, but some things are more likely than others. Taking care to only race in safe circumstances eliminates a lot of the risk.

 

FYI, The same exact thing happened in Oregon ~ 4 months ago. Two cars got into a race, a car pulls out in front of car #2; car #2 swerves into a pole, and a passenger in car #2 dies. Driver of car #1 is convicted of manslaughter and gets three years in jail (he did not make contact with anyone involved). Driver of car #2 is awaiting trial.

 

These are old news bits. Posted right after it happened, actually.

Blake

 

Here is something to think about for all you "street racers" out there.

Those who say they race only in "safe conditions" are not much different from those who race in any condition. "Safe condition" could have many different meanings depending on who you ask. Some would say a safe condition is racing when sidwalks are completely empty, somewhat emty, not many on-lookers, no on-lookers, abandoned roads, hardly used roads, heck, some would even race with a condom on and call themselves "safe".

Point being, nobody knows what is safe and what's not. So just stop street racing all together and bam, problem solved....kinda.

I say kinda because nobody in their right mind cares what I have to say about street racing, so who am I kidding. In an ideal world, all the cars would have electronically controlled speed limiters, GPS units, and cameras so that "Big Brother" would know every move we make and every place we visit.

I work for "Big Brother" I just might be able to help make that happen.......

 

blue2k2s2k- "Safe conditions" means different things to different people, sure. If you refuse to admit that a road with no sidewalks, no cross-streets, and no traffic late at night is a safe place to race, you are being intentionally obtuse.
You state that no-one can know what is safe or not. Well, apparently your "Big Brother" can, and does, building roads and setting speed limits. Who does this work? Some alien race that provides for us lowly humans because our extremely large brain case is incapable of making that call? C'mon. People can and do exercise good judgement on a regular basis. There is the occasional accident involving two people who should have exercised better judgement. Should we outlaw driving because some people get into accidents? Are those people who fall asleep while driving safer drivers than those who race at night in abandoned parts of town where there is no traffic or pedestrians? I think not.

 

I agree 100% with 99GT. Abandoned or empty areas are safe, the only thing that can happen is one of the 2 losing control of the car going in a straight line. Which is highly unlikely.

Also i disagree with the manslaughter law. I think the idiot who cut in front of car #2 should be convicted of manslaughter. He is the one who made error, not car #2. Just my opinion.

I also think that the U.S is really f*cked up when it comes to law enforcement. The whole way it is run doesnt make sense. Basically we pay taxes so someone else can be an asshole towards us. This doesnt make sense to me. How ofen does a police officer pull you over and nicely tell you something, happened to me once, thats about it. They give nasty attitudes and dont have a problem writing you a $300 ticket. They just get commision and the government can hire more cops, and get better radar equipment.

So our whole lives we pay for someone else to limit our freedom. I dont kno if anyone has looked at it this way but basically that is how it works. I can understand if someone is truly endangering others, but if I am travelling at 60mph in a 45 and there is no one else around, why should i be penalized? Why cant I accelerate quickly to the speed limit and then let off? Why is that against the law? What is the real purpose of cars having top speeds of over 80mph if you cant do it anywhere? Why make cars that acclerate quickly if you never get to use the accleration?

The answer is, without those cars cops wouldnt be around to give tickets for speeding, etc. They would lose a lot of income, which they dont like. That is the reason we still have cars like this today.

I do not believe in speed limits, as I think people can generally find a good speed to drive at depending on the road. On a 4-5 lane highway I feel that 90mph is a good speed to drive at. Not the posted 70mph. On a 2 lane road with a large center median and a sidewalk about 50 feet away, your body adjusts and feels that 60mph is a good speed not the posted 45. I beleive the body is capable of automatically finding a speed that suits the road. That is how my mind works, I dont kno about others but its probably the same way.

To sum things up I think the entire law enforcement system(laws, enforcers, etc) is corrupt, and needs to be changed.