Bassman.357

before your flame and/or ban, this isn't a post glamorizing street racing nor is it about a member gloating about racing some ricer nor is this a post about condoning it. it's a post about street racing and why I'm wondering there isn't much the law or society is doing for it

i was just reading a post about how someone who recent raced a prelude and how he was happy (hey I'm not going name you or call you out) and he def. got saved by some good lookouts following the forum rules and it made me wonder.

there's a huge entity of trying to prevent street racing and for the most part, outlawing it. or if not preventing it, trying to make a huge killing out of commercializing it, it's kind pointless to have a custom street machine and not be able to really run it once a while.


my thing is this, how come there really aren't that many areas for, "enthusiasts" like us to "test". but we can make skate parks for those who want to obey the law and follow the rules, we can make gun ranges for those who wants to obey the law and follow the rules, we can build casinos for those who want to obey the law and follow the rules. why is it when proposals go up for drag strips or mini race ways they get labled as, "wastes of money and/or time" or "not enough money" but we can fund other more important things like...rebuilding pre-existent fishing bridges, or increasing political paychecks or building more bars...I don't know much, but if people want to do the right thing why isn't there much access for them to do it?

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

infinimax96

There is actually a lot of places to legally "test" your vehicle. Lots of states have local tracks both circuit and or drag that allow open track days or drags at a very affordable price of $15-50.

As for being able to Mod your car legally but not use it on the streets that's America for you. You can legally smoke at the age of 18 in the State of UT but can't buy or have a pack of cigarettes in your possession until you are 19. The U.S. Constitution is great and our freedoms are great but man does our legal system know how to bend it in so many different ways it's nearly impossible to comprehend.

aackshun

iTrader: (3)

They seem to have things pretty well organized



Maybe you need to get your friends together and have an outing like those guys, they seem to have things pretty well constructed.....

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Plenty of tracks around to run your cars at. Probably more local then you think and closer then any casino, unless your in Vegas...

Thread [/closed]

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

IBTL

T_Behr904

I understand what the OP is talking about. Our local drag strip here in Jacksonville was closed several years ago. There isn't anywhere close by to race. Gainesville is an hour and a half or more away. I've heard that there's an old airport that people go to, but that's also a couple hours south of here. Alot of political red tape, vague noise ordinance laws, and zoning that is confusing along with a "not in my backyard" attitude has a new racing facility held up in limbo. First Coast Racing has been trying now for years to build a new track. Not just a drag strip, but also a road course too. Unfortunately their website hasn't had any updated news in a while. There's also currently a petition online to have a new race facility built as well.

Bassman.357

hmm

Rsprince89

Ibtl

Flynnsmax

Theres a couple tracks that are about 60 miles from my house. I would go to the track if I could trailer my car out there. But there is alot of people that meet up in the cities to stret race. It has been going on for years and it keeps going. I have seen people get killed that werent even racing. I not going to say I havent done it. But I dont know why my state hasnt done anything to fix the problem. They have more cops out and busting us at a spot. So now everybody goes out on the highway where theres more people and the speeds are much higher. I have heard people racing over 160 mpm on the highway. it was safe 5 years ago but now its really dangerous. I think cities that have a problem should fix the problem the right way. Not by putting more cops out on the street to try and catch people racing. They should shut down a street, road, highway and let us race woth them there. And charge them money to race legally. street racing has been going on for years and will keep going. I hope some day they can make it a legal thing to do instead of going to the track.

USDM Cefiro

Spot on Flynnsmax. The problem is that there are tracks to go, but not locally accessible. I don't race because I am more of a "S.L.A.B" (Slow, Loud, and Bangin) person. I'm more for show than speed but I will school a ricer every now and then (within reason) but obviously if I had a legit track (not a drag strip or anything like that, that gets boring after a while) then I would buy a race car and race. This is one of the few instances where "Build it and they will come" actually works, but the problem is that they (the state) get more money keeping it illegal than legal. Hell, Virginia considers you a "reckless driver" if you go 20MPH over the speed limit or if you go past 80MPH. A search on the city data forum shows that most of those cases end up in a with the person being convicted of a lesser charge, usually one that assesses a fine (reckless driving is a criminal offense in Virginia and they will register you in the national criminal database) so what does that tell you?

b0nzzzzz

The one in Jax was only an 1/8th wasn't it?

Utah blows. Bottom line.

Cobra Rob

I safest way to race i think on street is go out of town at 1 am at night. I used to race in town when i was younger and that was very dumb of me.

styliztik

sounds like here in AZ. I don't know if it's just AZ but, you have to be 18 to buy a rifle/shotgun, and rifle/shotgun ammo. but you have to be 21 to buy a handgun, and 21 to purchase ammo for it..... but you can carry a handgun at the age of 18. and it's illegal to buy guns for other people. lol

T_Behr904

Yeah it was. I wish it was a 1/4 mile. What sucked about the 1/8 is that the AWD cars ruled everyone on street nights. Even RWD cars running slicks had a hard time hooking up and getting a good 60ft time since the condition of the track wasn't all that great.

T_Behr904

Virgina laws are strict. Speed traps everywhere, and you're not allowed to use a radar/laser detector either.

MoncefA33

iTrader: (6)

Street racing takes less lives than drunk driving, but it almost seems like people get crucified for it here (and other places). They won't crush a car owned by a DUIer but they will crush a car for racing.

Why the government does what it does is a totally different discussion...

Until changes are made, we will have to just resort to driving to computer generated highways in Mexico...

djsunny24

to me, again me, it seems like organization. I've heard about a couple of people trying to get permits to drift in a local parking lot. again i heard, that the cops come around and don't say anything unless the suspect drugs/burnouts.

Mr. Blue Sky

iTrader: (1)

well, from what I have seen around me, people will race on the streets even if a track is nearby. They will also race on the streets even if they go to the 1/4 mile strips themselves. Maybe it is the danger aspect, or the illegal aspect that brings some people to want to race on the street anyways. I do know that if there were more centrally located 1/4 mile tracks, the number of street racers would diminish. By how much, that I do not know.

Grimix

I don't really condone street racing...having seeing the differences between racing on the street and on a track, the thought of endangering innocents lives kinda makes me lean towards track. However I do have an issue with tracks in that the atmosphere is quite different from meeting up on the street. Track strikes me more of a business atmosphere and while can be fun there's nothing like riding around and having fun in your car with your friends driving around you. Would be nice if there were scheduled events to simulate street racing scenarios where streets would be closed for enthusiast purposes(with safety precautions and such) since other avenues of this hobby get such treats. I can think of one around where I live that involves motorcycle owners where police pretty much close off a few lanes on a highway and escort the drivers as they drive around the highway.

Rods03Max619

iTrader: (5)

I feel you on this they need more tracks around, we have a 1/8th about 20 miles from me but Damn some people tralier there cars there like really, its a 1/8th and the closest 1/4 to me is about a 100 plus miles...

WesCTR

iTrader: (2)

for a lot of people, the spontaneity that comes with random highway runs and traffic light launches is more interesting than lining up at the track.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

Racing 150+mph on the streets anywhere is never safe if there's anyone else out there to hit.
the reason there are not many places out there for people to go is because it's freaking expensive to run. Sure a dragstrip isn't cheap to build, but the insurance costs to keep it running are insane. If you're running at night, then you have to light the entire thing as well, and those huge lights are $500+ each and burn a ton of electricity.

now throw in the noise issues. big engines make lots of noise. Car enthusiasts don't care about the noise. Your grandma does. Grandma does not want a dragstrip or road course near her house. So you have to build this track way the f*** in the middle of nowhere.

So people that just want to make a few runs against friends aren't going to drive 1hr+ to BFE and then pay $25+ for a few runs to wait in line to race to 100. They'd rather just open up on the highway and get it over with and it doesn't cost any money... unless they get caught.

Is that okay? NO. Is that what happens. Yup. And more often than any of us want to realize, someone screws up and gets killed- often taking out bystanders in the process.

and just to put a little realization on things.. how many places do you guys race where there's a concrete wall or a bridge? what happens if you hit it going 100+ ??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dI5e...layer_embedded

T_Behr904

You do bring up a good point, however that vid of a car hitting a concrete wall square on at 120 isn't an accurate representation. Something more like this is.



Or this...

Mikeyb23

Coming from somebody who use to street race all the Time I completely agree with you and I do understand there are drag strips but that can get kind of pricey as well as there almost an hour and a half away from me. I myself stopped street racing due to seeing a lot of people getting hurt and arrested (because all the ricers). But every once in a while I like to burn people from the light in my 5th gen