About once a month, including last weekend, I almost get run off the road on a Friday/Saturday night when the idiot street racers take to the expressways at night. Other than trying to ID them as they fly by at +90mph and faster and dialing *999/911, how do we stop them? I think this is more pressing than the general “Speed Kills” issue. Here’s a CNN story that prompted my thoughts:
http://www…index.html
While all street racing is deadly, the worst are the younger drivers in non-performance cars that are clearly driving the cars beyond their handling/control limits, much less their own driving ability…
While I’ll never condone speeding, there are safe ways to go above the posted speed limits. However, IMHO, there is no safe way to street race…
All you can do is alert the police. If they get enough calls about a certain road, they will camp there and catch the racers. They typically lose their licenses for a time. My nephew was caught in a parking lot after hot rodding into it with some friends (4 cars). Even though they weren’t technically racing, he still lost his license for 6 months.
go find a 71 Chrysler imperial and drive it around when you know those kids will be racing. when they try to force you off the road, let them hit you. 1 less racer on the road and 1 new hood ornament for your car.
/sarcasm
not much you can do really, if it happens in the same spot often enough, just report it to the police and have them set up a speed trap or something.
There’s nothing you can do beyond notifying the police. They cannot cite them unless they witness it, but if they have a description of the vehicles it does give them probable cause to stop them. perhaps they’ll get lucky.
If they are fast and furious enough, they might have a bottle or two of nitrous oxide in the trunk. That’ll get 'em in way big trouble on the street.
There is nothing you can do directly The only fix involves the police. Often the police will pay more attention to it if the local news media starts to look into it. Hint, start calling the police, and the local news services.
Something tells me these folks will be thinning the ranks by themselves. Coming home last summer on the freeway, I was doing 70 and two idiots on bikes passed me doing wheelies. Couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Thought for sure I’d be seeing body parts all over the road.
Guns. They seem to fix problems fairly often.
OR, you have to beat them at their own game. Soup up a Honda, race for pinks, show 'em who’s boss.
I’m by no means a fan of those fast and furious clowns (and clowns are just what they are) but my feeling is that gabby idiots who can’t put a cell phone down or pull over are a far bigger danger.
There’s not a time when I go anywhere that someone won’t pull out in front of me or turn left while gabbing happily away.
The latest one today involved in a lady in a Lexus. I was already backing off the throttle and moving my foot to the brake when I saw her pull up to the stop sign with her left hand glued to her head.
Pulled straight across in front of me, turned around then and gave me a little pinkie finger wiggle as in “ta ta, sorry”. She did get a digit in return along with the horn.
Several months back on a county highway I came over a small hill and a farm pickup with stock trailer was parked in the middle of the road while the yokel owner was standing outside trying to get a better signal. There was a huge area right beside the road to pull over on but no…endanger everyone coming over the hill.
I’ve had the same experience on I-81 going through Syracuse in moderately heavy traffic. They were doing wheelies at at least 90 mph, weaving in and out of traffic flowing at 70-75. It’s incredible how stupid some people are.
Think 8 cylinders if you want to race on Pinks, even Pinks All-Out. A Honda won’t get you anywhere in that crowd. Unless you put a Chevy engine in it.
They are more of a danger because there are more of them.
Contact the cops. Contact local news media. You can’t legislate common sense. Remember when we were all young? “I’m freaking invinceable! It only happens to others.” Why do anything that might get YOU in trouble? You aren’t doing anything wrong. They are. If you can’t get something going with whoever answers the phone at the cop shop, write a letter to the police chief with a c.c. to the chairperson of the Police Commission. Same with the local media. Follow up with a letter to the local news editor with a c.c. to the editor in chief and the general manager. Same with radio and T.V. stations. Make a big enough stink, and somebody will pay attention.