Street Racing Safe

[BNR32_Coupe]

Did anyone else realize that in comparison to DUI, which kills 1,500 people per year in Canada, street racing is actually relatively safe?

Racing on city streets has become a public menace in some parts of Canada. During the first five months of 2006, at least eight people were killed as a result of street racing. In response, the federal government wants to create a new criminal offence with mandatory penalties.

Source:http://www.safety-council.org/info/traffic/racing.html

In 2006, just eight lives were killed in 5 months, assuming those 5 months are the sunny "driving" months.

Yet in comparison:
118 people in B.C. ONLY, NOT ENTIRE CANADA died as a result of impaired driving last year.
100 people (IDIOTS) in B.C. die as a result of failing to wear a seatbelt in an average year.
Source:http://www.canada.com/theprovince/st...a-7827a4d5c4a5


In our province alone, not including the other dumbasses in other countries, one hundred eighteen lives ended because somebody thought it was a good idea to have one too many before he stepped out the door. And only 8 people died of street racing IN CANADA last year.

Because of the 8 deaths last year, we'll be plugging in thousands of $ into anti-street racing campaigns, tougher penalties, criminalizing street racing, etc. If you go at it with a buddy on the highway for a few km at night, no other cars near by, you can go to jail, lose your car, have a crim record, pay thousands of fee's, be labeled by the media, etc.

But I can stumble to my Escalade on robson street and swerve down the block, get caught drunk driving and get my license taken away for a couple months.

Does this make sense to anyone?

[pandalove]

nvm

[Nocardia]

Do you really want to get into this?

[jeffh]

it kills less people, because less people street race maybe?


nope that cant be it

[AzNightmare]

Not only that, you'll never be able to convince the public even if DUI killed more people in the same ratio.

[BNR32_Coupe]

Originally Posted by jeffh

it kills less people, because less people street race maybe?


nope that cant be it

REALLY?! It kills less people because less people street race.. I didn't see that coming at all, in fact, that justifies my point that our nation is concentrating a significant amount of resources and increasing punishment for a seemingly insignificant thing.

Surely it's better to raise awareness and prevention for street racing, but think about it, you can be criminalized for racing on closed off streets where people are far from danger. I could put in another 5 minutes on google's search engine and list 3 more preventable things that the public does on the streets that is easily more dangerous and kills more people per year.

[BNR32_Coupe]

Originally Posted by Biohazard

Do you really want to get into this?

bring it LOL i got my flame suit ready!!

[corollagtSr5]

have you ever concidered the people who've died drinking and driving, were street racing?

[syee]

Just because less people are killed, it doesn't make it SAFER. That's some pretty flawed logic there. It just means the actual death count is lower. Like others have mentioned, there's probably (very likely) less people doing it and if you took a percentage count of deaths vs actual number of people doing it, I would suspect the numbers would probably be equal for DUI vs street racing.

As for the penalties, yes, they have to be harsher. Any acts that put any innocent people at risk need to be dealt with harshly. Whether it be stepping behind the wheel when impaired, or racing on a public road. The act is illegal for a reason - because there is the POTENTIAL to harm the public. Whether or not you killed someone while you're in the act isn't the issue - it only takes one time - the innocent parent driving their kids home from soccer practice that gets hit by the drunk driver or the kid that runs out on the seemingly quiet road to retrieve his soccer ball that gets hit by a couple of people street racing on what seemed like a quiet street - you kill a person, and you drive a knife through the hearts of 20 other people that knew these people.

Losing one life to an illegal act is one too many. Just because the statistic is lower for one act, it doesn't make it any less safer or any more legal. I do however agree with your statement that the government needs to issue harsher penalties to those who drink and drive. It's so commonplace and the penalties so light that people don't care.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

if death count is less technically it is SAFER

hence living in west van is safer than surrey


same shit different pile




driving a Volvo is safer than driving a KIA



so who is gonna race me tonight


i live my life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters: not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullshit. For those ten seconds or less, I'm free

[syee]

Originally Posted by Mugen EvOlutioN

if death count is less technically it is SAFER

I know you're joking but I still think the logic is flawed.

By that logic, if 5 people die from jumping off a building, and 10 people drowned from swimming in a pool, is jumping off a building safer and swimming less safe?

None take into account the actual number of people partaking in the activity. If you did that, you'd see that:

5/5 people that jumped off the building died. 100% death rate
10/1000 people that went for a swim drowned and died which is a 1% death rate.

Now in comparison, which one is safer?

I'm pretty sure diggy was just trying to get some discussion going on the statistics but the statistics don't mention anything about percentages and are just raw numbers of how many incidents involved death.

[BNR32_Coupe]

im confused.. lets say 8/8 street races in canada ended in a fatality. so it's likely that if i street race, i will inevitably be killed.

let's not look at the % but at the total number. there's only a small figure of street races happening in canada. versus drunk driving, which may be likely to kill less people, perhaps 1 million people are driving drunk as we speak but only 110 die per year.

why does it make sense to allocate such a large quantity of resources into a border line phenomena that kills a measly 8 out of 8 people in canada?? why can't we have stricter penalties for people who don't wear seat belts, given that it KILLS MORE PEOPLE?? we know street racing is lethal and every one that does it dies, but only 8 people street race per year!! EXPLAIN THIS TO ME

[hk20000]

there is a good amount of force used on DUI though, look at all those Drunk Driving roadblocks in the summer.

yesterday there was this police officer who just hid behind the corner of an on ramp trying to eyeball on someone who has no seatbelts on.

I haven't seen a "street racing" roadblock for years. Those modified cars blocks are for modified cars, they are concerned that you have an unsafe vehicle on the road. As stupid as the rulebooks say they have to make sure everyone abides to those rules when you mod your car... If your car look out of place, chances are something on it is out of whack anyway.

[syee]

The only reason I look at the percentage was because of your statement that if less people are killed, then it's safer. I don't agree with that statement, hence my examples and my statements above.

As for the disproportionate funds going to combat street racing vs drunk driving or seat belts, do you have some actual figures on how much is spent on each one?

I don't know how much funding is pushed towards preventing street racing. Other than media campaigns, I don't know how much more they can do to prevent street racing. I'm not in the street racing scene so I don't know how things like these are organized, but I'd have have to guess a lot of it is spur of the moment "I rev my engine at the light and you go at it with them" type of stuff. Unless a cop happens to be there when it happens, it goes unnoticed.

As for drunk driving and seat belts, I'm sure the checkpoints they set up for this and the large police presence doesn't come cheap. If it comes down to dollars, there may be the possibility that street racing media campaigns come out cheaper than sending hundreds of cops out on the streets busting drunk drivers or drivers without seatbelts. If you take that into consideration, more money may be spent on drunk drivers and seat belts than street racing.

However, I do agree with your statement that drunk drivers get nothing really more than a slap on the wrist compared to other crimes. Something more definitely has to be done about that to prevent drunk driving.

[BNR32_Coupe]

Originally Posted by syee

However, I do agree with your statement... .

Well then, my work here is done.

Moderators, close thread!

[syee]

Originally Posted by BNR32_Coupe

Well then, my work here is done.

Moderators, close thread!

haha...you totally stripped out my quote and took it out of context.

Plus you're going to need to convince more than just me about drunk driving. Write to your local MP and have them do something about it. I've always agreed that drunk driving laws sucked.

However, street racing still isn't safer.

[Lomac]

It's the media sensationalizing street racing that tends to make it appear to be a bigger problem than it actually is.

I know I might be splitting hairs here but there's a difference between red light drag racing, closing off an industrial park for an actual full race, and carving the twisties up in the mountains. Does the media see it differently? Of course not.

[BNR32_Coupe]

Originally Posted by Lomac

It's the media sensationalizing street racing that tends to make it appear to be a bigger problem than it actually is.

I know I might be splitting hairs here but there's a difference between red light drag racing, closing off an industrial park for an actual full race, and carving the twisties up in the mountains. Does the media see it differently? Of course not.

I agree. But Drinking + driving possibly exempt from harshness of media scrutiny because of demographics? I think so:

People that drink and happen to be able to drive [majority]:
- Politicians
- Teachers
- Law enforcement
- Doctors, lawyers, engineers
- Basically everyone

People that street race [minority]:
- Car enthusiasts that can't afford the track
- Teenagers

Assuming that we switched the roles, the majority of people street racing and the minority drink and drive, would there be tougher penalties for street racing assuming it kills the same amount of people that drinking and driving does?

Before anyone flames, I'm not supporting street racing. It's just some liberal stuff to think about, just like legalizing and taxing marijuana, etcetc.

Because the politicians, voters, general public doesn't street race, they don't see that it potentially can be a safe recreational activity. However, the politicians, voters, general public all has had a few beers, therefore, our laws are somewhat more forgiving towards drinking and driving, versus the little guy, street racing.

[syee]

I don't think that any of the people that you listed were ever made exempt from the penalties (as weak as they are) of drunk driving. I've seen news stories criticizing each one of those occupations. They're all getting penalized although whether it's to the full extent of the law is another question.

Street racing isn't a "safe" recreational activity. Track racing with the proper precautions is. I think there needs to be a differentiation here. Racing itself if done in a controlled matter isn't as dangerous to the public. Racing on a public road where you don't have control of external factors such as other drivers, passengers, etc isn't safe. To kill yourself racing irresponsibly is one thing - killing someone innocent who didn't make the conscious decision to partake in your "racing" is a whole other thing.

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by syee

Street racing isn't a "safe" recreational activity. Track racing with the proper precautions is. I think there needs to be a differentiation here. Racing itself if done in a controlled matter isn't as dangerous to the public. Racing on a public road where you don't have control of external factors such as other drivers, passengers, etc isn't safe. To kill yourself racing irresponsibly is one thing - killing someone innocent who didn't make the conscious decision to partake in your "racing" is a whole other thing.

[MegaMx]

Originally Posted by BNR32_Coupe

we'll be plugging in thousands of $ into anti-street racing campaigns, tougher penalties, criminalizing street racing, etc.

millions not thousands

[BNR32_Coupe]

Originally Posted by syee

I don't think that any of the people that you listed were ever made exempt from the penalties (as weak as they are) of drunk driving. I've seen news stories criticizing each one of those occupations. They're all getting penalized although whether it's to the full extent of the law is another question.

Street racing isn't a "safe" recreational activity. Track racing with the proper precautions is. I think there needs to be a differentiation here. Racing itself if done in a controlled matter isn't as dangerous to the public. Racing on a public road where you don't have control of external factors such as other drivers, passengers, etc isn't safe. To kill yourself racing irresponsibly is one thing - killing someone innocent who didn't make the conscious decision to partake in your "racing" is a whole other thing.

I mean, of course racing down robson street during broad daylight is dangerous.

The type of racing I was using in my example was probably interpreted as a blanket term, including the dangerous kind where people are likely to be injured. But what if you take into account the type of racing that has probably killed few, if not any. Such as on the highway, abadoned roads, blocked off roads, anything that would other wise be a deserted piece of asphalt that becomes a host for street races. If everyone raced like this, like in the golden muscle car era of the '60s i guess, wouldn't our laws be a bit more forgiving to street racing, as DUI laws are forgiving to drunken drivers?

[syee]

Street racing has always been interpreted as some douche driving way too fast down Marine Dr with some other punk not too far behind.

Highway racing I still don't approve of though. There's other innocent people on the road and you don't take into account other things that can cause accidents like road debris, a stalled car right around the corner you can't see, wildlife crossing the road, etc. All of those have the potential to cause accidents. Abandoned roads that are blocked off I wouldn't have a problem with since there's no one else around to potentially get hurt. I'm sure in those cases, fatalities are close to zero because of the controlled environment. However, I highly doubt that those are the races cops crack down on either.

[Adsdeman]

I love driving like a fucking idiot!!! Street racing is safe, drink driving is not. Street racing is safe, not wearing a seatbelt is not.

[q0192837465]

YOU GUYS ARE A BUNCH OF IDIOTS...

Let's think about it for a moment. Why does the government want to place harsher penalties for drinking and driving in the first place? By doing so, the government risks upsetting alcohol companies. A significant portion of the government's income comes from taxes on alcohol and tobacco. If less people drink, the governemtn will lose money. Just as if less people smoke, they'll get less tax.

On the other hand, placing harsher penalties for street racing will upset a bunch of kids who wants to act all macho in fron of their girlfriends. Boo-fuking-hoo. Like the governement cares about these kids. They'r not a source of income and screwing them over has no repercussion. AND they'll score brownie points for "looking out for public safety". Why da hell not?

The biggest flaw in this argument is the assumption that the government is to act in the best interest of the public. This assumption is valid ONLY during election time. Other than that, Income is always more important than Public Interest. The government is nothing more than a For Profit Organization with political power.