The Perils of Street Racing

In San Jose, a 19-year-old boy is killed after his car swerves off the road before hitting two trees. In Los Angeles, a 32-year-old woman is killed after an SUV slammed into her vehicle at over a 100 miles per hour. In North Carolina, a 6-year-old boy is killed because a car traveling at over 110 miles an hour crossed a median and crashed head-on into his vehicle. What do all these tragic deaths have in common? Street Racing.

Unfortunately, the body count has been rising across the United States at an unprecedented rate since 2020. As the COVID-19 lockdowns have forced millions of Americans into their homes, a growing number are taking the opportunity to race in order to combat boredom. The deadly results are another grisly side effect of the Corona Virus. A few numbers can help put the problem into perspective. In 2020, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were over 38,000 traffic-related fatalities in the United States, a 7% increase from 2019. The higher fatality numbers occurred despite the fact that there were historically fewer vehicles on our roads and highways.

Experts believe that social media prestige has encouraged certain people to create racing groups that emerge suddenly to close off local streets and take over residential neighborhoods in order to stage deadly races. The result for California residents has been appalling. According to NHTSA estimates, over 1,000 Californians have been killed and another 85,000 have been injured every year since 2015 due to speeding-related accidents. Speeding is now the cause of nearly 33% of all traffic fatalities in the state of California. At the local level, approximately 200 people have been killed in Los Angeles County due to street racing in the past twenty years.

Unfortunately, the dangers of street racing are not limited to the careless drivers themselves. Research indicates that 27% of those killed in street races were passengers, while 14% were uninvolved motorists. Another 11% of street racing deaths involved pedestrians and spectators near the scene of a street race. There are those who blame the spectacular rise in street racing fatalities to the “Fast & Furious” movie franchise glorifying the reckless drag race culture. Ironically, the “Fast & Furious” cast was itself not immune to the deadly statistics. Back in 2013, actor Paul Walker, one of the main stars of the series, was himself killed in the city of Santa Clarita as a friend (Roger Rodas) drove a Porsche at over 80 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone. The tragedy served as an important reminder that life is not a Hollywood movie and no one benefits from street racing.
enefits from street racing.