racing
... activity. Even innocent bystanders have been killed or seriously injured just watching these races. This illegal street racing has to stop, and it must stop now. If we cannot make it stop, then we must do something to help enforce laws and keep people from racing on public streets. This will save lives. An illegal street race early Friday ended when one of the cars crashed into a tree, sending five people to the hospital and destroying two parked vehicles, police said. "The Honda driver lost control," Sgt. Greg Sloan said at his interview with San Diego’s Union Tribune. Sloan said. "The Honda crashed into a tree and then struck two parked cars, totaling them." The injured were riding in a Honda Prelude that was racing another car south in the northbound lanes of Collwood. At Qualcom Stadium, there is a drag racing program that has been put together by San Diego County and the police department that helps take the kids off the streets until curfew. It keeps them safe and in a controlled area. If we can keep this program running longer, and have it more frequently, it would receive more publicity and more people would attend. One night a week for kids to meet and race legally is not enough. They need to meet more often. This will help get the street racing kids off the public roads and keep them safe at the same time. It will also keep other drivers safe as well. Even though not all racers will attend these supervised drag races, it should reduce the number of races on the public roads. The fact that there is an admission fee will most likely keep some kids away. The reasoning being: Why should they pay to race when they can just go out with their friends, not have to wait in line, and do it for free? This race program is already under way. I think we should lower the admission fee until such time as more people attend and the event becomes more popular. Then we can slowly raise the cost of admission, offer prize money and other incentives for winners in each car class. If we make street racing illegal, and not even have a supervised program for the racers to race, it would just upset them and they would still continue to race. Something safe for kids to do is a Must!! It may not be the best hobby in the world, but it is what these people like to do, and if they can not live without it and we are against it we should both be working towards an acceptable alternative. We can not sit back and allow them to continue to break the law which is what they are doing each time they meet on the public streets, rev up their engines, and peel out at astounding speeds, which if in a public area can result in injury to innocent bystanders even death. We will need a group of volunteers to keep this program running. Regular people preferably parents and even police officers. Once people see how this managed activity is succeeding, I am sure other people would want to get involved, and would volunteer their time. It all boils down to the races being controlled, organized, and supervised. If this happens then the publicity would happen, more people would become aware of the happenings, more spectators would go to the events, more kids would want to race, better prizes, better safety, safer streets. At this program there would be many adult and authority figures standing by for enforcement and safety. There has always been a problem with teenagers on the streets at night with no adult figures around. It’s not like these illegal street races are all that is going on. There is also illegal gambling, and when race results do not turn out as expected people become angry and try to get revenge either through another street race or through fighting with knives, guns, and who knows what! Having a controlled drag race would keep the gambling and fighting out of the sport. The race is all that would matter. Maybe as time passes and the races gain in acceptance, a real drag strip could be built and legal betting allowed much the same way as race horses and greyhounds are raced and wagered on. This brings up yet another issue: How...