Why Street Racing Is So Damn DUMB!

It was on the TV station site and seemed like a link to what was actually a You Tube vid. You might search around there a bit.

Basically, there was a narrow two-lane road with a crowd of people lining both sides. The video was taken from what appeared to be just past the 1/2 'track' mark. The two cars, one of which was a very serious late model Mustang in the left lane, not sure the make of the other, lined up and you saw the Mustang do a couple of dry hops, clear out the exhaust and get ready to go.

The person taking the video was actually IN FRONT of the Mustang and on the track at one point. The view jumps around as the Mustang goes by and you can see the car is getting very loose and in fact, gets crossed up right as it goes by the camera. You see the front end go off the track to the left, into a crowd lining the road. A metal light pole is knocked down and bounces around a bit before the car comes to a stop.

You can hear the guy with the camera swearing and in shock as he makes two or three false starts toward the wreck. There are a lot of people running AWAY from the now stopped car and the injured people. Only one or two that are obviously moving in, possibly to assist the injured.

Looked to me like the majority of the people shown in the video were more worried about their own sorry selves than trying to help the people that got hurt. The video ends just after that.

Just a really tragic, horrible, and preventable thing all the way around.

Let's look at just a few of the things that would have been different had this occured on a legal race track.

We don't know why the driver lost control. Wet? Parts breakage? Inexperience? Just plain old cockpit error? Whatever, the specific cause might or might not have been affected at a legal track.

When the driver lost control, the car went sideways and off the left side of the road. I couldn't tell and frankly don't remember if there were any curbs or not. On a race track, there would have been a guard rail, keeping the car away from spectators and on the track.

On a race track, there would have been fencing to keep the spectators away from the track and the cars.

At a race track, the starter likely wouldn't have allowed the race to start until the idiots on the track were cleared off. At the now defunct Orange County Raceway (OCIR) in southern Orange County, California, that exact scenario literally shut down racing for nearly 45 minutes while Security cleared the morons who were RUNNING ACROSS THE TRACK after a green light and the cars launched. This happened twice, the first time the announcer warned those dopes. The next time, the racers shut down on the track, the racers in the staging lanes were told to shut down and everything came to an immediate halt. Security escorted at least four incredibly lucky Darwin Award contestants out of the facility with instructions to stay the hell out. This was, geez, like close to 30 years ago.

So, looking at what happened on the street and comparing it to what would have been the likely result at the track, it's easy to see that on the track would have been limited to some bent sheet metal, smelly drawers and perhaps a tow back to the trailer. Nobody hurt, nobody killed.

 

There was a second video from the starting line.

 

I would not like to live somewhere where i had to be armed to feel safe.

i take it you don't venture into big Croc territory?

frankly, you need to calm down and not believe the hype ( OMG, US is full of murdering lunatics ... they have shoot-outs every day ) so much.

the facts are that fewer than 25% of adult Americans own a gun and that a miniscule fraction of those are ever involved in a hostile exchange of gunfire.

it's also true that if you stay out of a few, normally well defined, inner city areas or don't work the night shift at a convenience or liquor store that you will almost never see a gun unless you want too.

by far the vast majority of gun crime is committed by drug gangs. you know, like the morons in this story.

 

I recently learned that, on average, a police officer will be required to draw his weapon only 6 times over a 20 year career, and that for every 100 [career] police officers, only 4 of them will ever be forced to fire their weapon in the line of duty.

 

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Not the same race, but when you see stuff like this, hopefully it makes you think twice.

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That video should be required material in every driver's ed class in the country.

 

ford2, your statement is incorrect. the right to bear arms has NOTHING to answer for (even if it were a person and could answer). this whole message thread started with the premise that street racing is dumb because it is an illegal activity which is being carried out in the wrong location, in the wrong way. therefore, people sometimes get killed or severely injured. you are obviously a "car guy" or you wouldn't be in this site. I notice that neither you nor anyone who responded to this thread suggested that the proper course of action is to outlaw cars. particularly, you didn't say that the driving "privilege" has a lot to answer for. the very same principle holds true for firearms. if you mix firearms and fools ,it is just as bad as mixing cars and fools. please don't be insulted by my reply. that is not my intention. i just want to reverse some of the brainwashing which is done by the news media all over the world. i want people to think for themselves and think about what they're told. i want people to judge what they are told by the news media against logic, reason and truth. the truth is that many, many more people are maimed and killed every day because of vehicle accidents than because of firearms, and nobody goes after the private ownership of cars like they do the private ownership of firearms. yes, i have a buick 455 and a colt .45. i prefer quality. thanx and God bless.

 

This thread was in no way meant to make any kind of statement other than pointing out yet another example of what happens when carelessness overcomes common sense.

Please, let's dispense with the editorials on guns, the right to bear arms, etc. Some folks believe one way, some the other. Fine. Either go to the appropriate place and have that conversation or let it go.

Thanks.

 

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=145533

 

I like the way you think:Brow: .

 

My insurance policy--in effect since 1911. When guns are "outlawed"---I'll be an "outlaw" :TU: Pete

 

[
Please, let's dispense with the editorials on guns, the right to bear arms, etc. Some folks believe one way, some the other. Fine. Either go to the appropriate place and have that conversation or let it go.

i've got a better idea. let's NOT stick our heads in the sand anymore. let's NOT dispense with the truth, either. and while we're at it, how about let's direct our replies to the appropriate source. ford2 took a thread about street racing and turned it into a gun issue. i simply responded to it.

thanx and God bless.

 

:ball: :ball: :ball: :ball: :ball: :bla: :bla:

Tony.:sleep: :sleep: :sleep:

 

This was just on Yahoo news.... http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=6041099&ch=4226713

Cops crushing cars of street racers... That's a lot of flattened rice!

 

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2008/01/24/pf-4790627.html

"A 37-year-old man is facing multiple charges [assaulting] half a dozen people, including a pregnant woman."

if hockey sticks are outlawed, only outlaws will play hockey.

thank god a i live in the US where we can bring guns to a hockey fight!

:bglasses:

 

i teared up when it showed his mom taking care of him in the hospital bed.

it really hits home for me. my brother rolled his truck late one night when he fell alseep. most of the pictures in the clip are all too familier. its just flat out selfish to speed even if you arent racing.

 

hey guys , im up here in canada , forget weapons.the point is poor conditions to even do such a thing. the big problem is most not all kids today cant handle true horsepower cars like we had in the good days. those cars from that video look like 10 or 12 second cars. whatthe hell the doing on the STREET. second of all any body heard of pinks on t.v. the will gladly set up a track and look after your money.10,000 dollars is good money.we have a local track 20 east of here and for 20 bucks on saturday nite from 5.30pm till 11.00pm all the runs you want ,heads up.grudge matching etc. i watched this video 3 times ,i cant believe why ,were ,NOW LOOK AT THE CONSEQUENSES. too bad , thats what tracks are for.street racing kills .provinn fact. IN CANADA THEY STATE YOU RACE GET CAUGHT 10,000 DOLLARS IN A FINE ,LOOSE THE CAR ,BY BY ,THEN COURT ,DEPENDS ON JUDGE. then no licence 15 years. maybe USA SHOULD LOOK AROUND AT THE NEIGHBOR. just my oppinion. shawn in canada.

 

Here we go again. This time in Maryland. See the CNN story here :af: :rant:

ray: for all involved.