[ZTWsquared]

Just because there is risk associated with many things, including unfortunately going to school, it doesn't mean we must therefore accept any and all risks simply because a few people think it's somehow their right to street race - because it isn't a right and because there's no offsetting value to society in what they do.

We accept the risks associated with normal driving because we all need to do it ... we minimize those risks by defining standards of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour while behind the wheel.

And as we have evolved as a society and as we have recognized certain traits and trends we have also evolved our standards of what is acceptable and unacceptable.

You don't have to explain to me what street racing is ... I've done plenty of it myself and in vehicles far more powerful than most of you have ever sat in - and undoubtedly with much poorer handling and brakes.

I now know exactly why I did it at the time, what the causal factors were and what I got out of it ... and it wouldn't have mattered if there was a freakin' track 10 minutes from there because it was usually at night, usually while cruisin', usually with my buddies in the car or in another car, usually on the spur of the moment. And there also came a point where I added a motorcycle to my fleet and I street raced that too.

I was obviously very young and very immature and I can remember very clearly a number of times where but for some stroke of luck I might have easily killed myself or someone else.

I grew up in the Jane and Wilson area, even before the Italians started moving into the area ... and right in front of the very original Harvey's (and yes there was a Harvey) is a bridge that crosses Black Creek. At the age of 9 (1961) I saw three people die in that creek after launching a 396 Nova off the rear bumper of a pickup while drag racing up Jane. I have no idea how fast they were going but he was still spinning the tires in third - probably 80 mph or more.

The driver was my friend's older brother and while all the adults at school shook their heads and were sad, it was all chalked up to youthful enthusiasm and bad luck and maybe something broke on the car. You might think -- ahh, I get it, ole ZTW had a bad experience as a child, I understand it all now, he was traumatized.

Well you'd be dead wrong because not only did I want a Nova just like that one, I grew up in love with cars and I went on to modify my cars and drive fast and race with others on the street and imagine myself to be invincible because, well because that's what we did and that's what our peers did. That incident made no impression on me whatsoever until much later in my life after dozens of close calls and a couple of nasty collissions.

I did some of the other kind of street racing too ... in a remote or industrial area, planned with lookouts for the cops etc, etc - straight out of American Graffitti and I won more than my fair share of those races; but while that was good, it wasn't the same kind of satisfaction as the random encounters on the road. So yeah, I get the difference and I also know the different kind of high you get.

This isn't about me not understanding the kind of satisfaction that comes from shutting someone down (sorry if that's old school) and it isn't about me not appreciating the workmanship and the pride that goes into modding your ride, and it isn't about me adopting some holier than though sanctimonious attitude. There's no one on this board more competitive than me.

So why do I think we need to shut street racing down? Because I'm smart enough and man enough to take the lesson's I've learned, many the hard way, and put them to good use.

It's about keeping my wife and kids, and all wives and kids, safer. It's about recognizing that what was at one time acceptable, is no longer acceptable because it comes with risks but no reward; and it's about understanding that street racing (and again, you know what I'm talking about) is not really racing - it's an outlet for aggression. It's about adopting a mature attitude about a responsibility we have to each other while on the road.

The risks associated with driving within the law are high enough as it is - we don't need to make driving more risky and there's no reason whatsoever to accept the behaviour of those who would do so, merely because there aren't enough race tracks around.

Flofocus,Apr 17 2007, 03:57 PM Wrote:

ZTWsquared,Apr 17 2007, 03:40 PM Wrote:

NOS2Go4Me,Apr 17 2007, 02:53 PM Wrote:There's always inherent risk in anything you do. There's risk at the dragstrip. There's risk in going to get groceries.

Perfect analogy – thanks for the setup. Here’s the thing – when my wife and kids go to get groceries I don’t want them to be put at the same risk as if they were at a drag strip – yes, there’s risk associated in doing both – but they are (or should be) inherently different risks with different ways of mitigating the risk. There’s no way my wife should be concerned on a public road about two people racing.

betcha thres no way those parents should have been worried about their kids going to University yesterday. People die everyday, because of others mistakes. There's risk in everything you do nowadays. Lets ban/throw laws everywhere!!!!!
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