So you think you’re a racer? James Dean thought he was a racer. He’s dead. Dale Earnhardt, Sr. actually was a racer – one of the best. The Intimidator. He’s dead too. As they say: speed is the thrill that kills. In fact the pantheon of racers, both professional racers and wannabe “street racer” pretenders, is filled with the names of people who died ugly, untimely deaths. That main hall of that pantheon is filled with the names of illegal street racers’ innocent victims. Street racing isn’t real racing. It isn’t drag racing. It’s illegal. And it’s just plain stupid, deadly, and dangerous.
Venues for illegal street racing in Houston, TX have become a mecca for the wannabe pretenders. The wannabes bring their modified cars all the way to our city from distant states just to engage in illegal street racing. The fact is that if a person wants to engage in a deadly stupid activity that’s likely to kill him, he can probably do that at home. Statistics conclusively show that you don’t need to go far from home to get yourself killed.
Statistics on street racing fatalities are sparse. It’s an underreported crime and police often attribute the wreck to more traditional factors. What statistics do exist present a sobering picture. A government study of fatal wrecks that found 315 of the wrecks attributed to illegal street racing also found a total of 399 fatalities attributable to those accidents. Learn about the human toll of fatal street racing accidents.
People from out of town tend to say that Houston traffic is dangerous and that people drive crazy here. In defense of the safe drivers among my fellow Houstonians, I have to mention that some of that dangerous craziness comes by way of the out of town street racers. And the Houston, TX police have been repeatedly taken to task for their lax enforcement of street racing laws. Some people think that their lax enforcement and hands off approach to the crime is the reason that Houston, TX has become a magnet for street racers all across the nation.
The epidemic in Houston, TX street racing and the consequent steep rise in fatalities has led Houston, TX police to indicate they might step up enforcement of the laws. If you do get caught for street racing the penalties can be stiff. They can include jail time, large fines, impoundment of your car, and loss of your driver’s license, among other things. But the stiffest penalty you’ll face for illegal street racing is the loss of your life.