New Street Racing law casulty

Interesting read. My how times have changed since I got pulled over for going 145 in 50 on I-35 in North Ft. Worth.

http://www.dfwstangs.net/forums/show...hreadid=120796

I'm glad they're on top of it. I was an idiot and didn't worry about it - now I have a grandson and I worry about it.
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I'm facing a somewhat less severe situation tomorrow morning in court.

I was pulled over for 80 MPH in a 35 zone.
It's reckless driving here in WA.

Any advice / experience?

I am pretty sure that is wreckless driving wherever you are....My suggestion, I hope that you got a good lawyer going with you tomorrow. Best of luck, and keep us updated.
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Got a wife and kid? Take 'em with you. They're less inclined to pull your license if you have a family to feed. Ask Me How I Know...[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

I had no repercussions on my little 145MPH run. I was in my old 79 T/A and just ran down a couple of Camaros that were racing. They passed me on N 35 way above NE 28th heading south. I ran 'em down and passed them (uh - blew by them to their amazement) under the 28th street bridge. On the other side of the bridge, facing south, having a snake and running radar was Ft. Worth PD. When I saw the cop lights, I pulled over RIGHT NOW and waited. The Camaro's ran off. The chopper caught up with them and those guys went to jail. The cop did me a favor and wrote me a 100 in a 50 ticket. Said I freaked him and his partner out - first time they had seen their radar pegged. $80 fine, good to go. Never get that lucky again.
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Well, I don't want to sound like a wet blanket, escpecially on this forum, but I kind of need to preach and rant here for a minute because this one is pretty close to home. I love old cars, I love fast cars, and I love the feeling of getting glued to the back seat while you check out the latest thing you've done to the car. God knows I've chased down more than my share of traffic lights and had way more than my share of short little tests off the line around town. I spent most of my 20s paying out the nose for insurance for a dozen speeding tickets - 10 and 20 over, excessive acceleration, etc. And I think organized drag racing is one of the coolest hobbies a guy could have -it's engineering, art, and sport kinda all rolled into one! I'm no saint . . .

But I gotta say, guys, stop and think about what you're doing when you take that 450 HP car out and full out RACE IT on the roads. That is literally no better in my mind than taking a .45 auto to a crowded park on a sunday with your target and easel set up, telling yourself you'll be sure to be careful not to hit anybody because, after all you're a "sportsman." It's just absolutely criminal, and to me, f*ck anybody that full out races on the streets anywhere NEAR other cars. It's honestly one of the most stupid things you can possibly do with yourself. And with a fast car, it's just too easy to let yourself do if you don't stop to think about it while you're working on your car. Just stop to think about it . . . ok?


CKelly, I liked your first post, and I can tell that, while you remember that story with a smile, deep down you just go "****, what was I thinking", and you know the feeling of being so glad you are able to look back in hindsight. We've all got stories like that don't we? And we're lucky we're able to tell them.

When I was a kid in Idaho we used to race on Friday nights out on this isolated stretch of road called Painted Road where the county used to test road painting equipment. Dumb enough for sure, (all that paint made for a nice slick surface!), but there were no entry points on the road, no risk of other cars entering the roadway, and we weren't risking KILLING people other than ourselves. If you've ever seen what happens when Johnny NOS LS1 hits a family in a minivan at a 130 MPH like I have you kinda just get angry inside that there are such stupid people in the world. But, I can also remember one night, late late late, probably 4 in the morning, driving with a car load of my friends down a residential street going easily 110 in my old '56 Chevy because they wanted to see how fast it was, and when I think of that I just cringe - I'm so, so, so lucky no one was killed that night. And I'm sure there were other nights.

I'm 35 years old, and I have literally got a laundry list of names I can give you of young friends who have died in car accidents, always because they were speeding or someone else was. (granted, usually drunk, which is a whole other tirade, but a fair number just thinking they were Mario Andretti and always speed was the big factor). Now that I have two little boys of my own, I can't even tell you how angry I get at the thought of people glamorizing the whole "outlaw" road racing thing, with these new "Fast and the Furious" line nitrous kits for sale at every Pep Boys, etc.

I almost got hit the other night on the Turnpike when I went to change lanes and 300GT blew by me on my right going easily 120mph - I swerved left, and of course, there was another douche-bag on a crotch-rocket racing him in the lane to my left. They just kept on going, and have no idea how close we all came to dying on a Sunday night because they were too f*cking stupid to take the responsibility of owning a high-performance machine responsibibly.

I know, I sound like a stick in the mud, and probably like a hypocrite, but the truth is, go ahead and wreck your tires lighting em up and dust the kid in the car next to you over a traffic light or two, but when it's time to really find out what your car can do, and you want to really, really race it, GO TO THE TRACK. Or at least find some lonely road where there is truly NO RISK of any other cars entering the roadway. There is absolutely no reason you should ever be going 50MPH or more over a posted speed limit. And I don't mean to be grim, but the truth is, if you do, eventually, the least of your worries is going to be a lost license or car . . . someone is going to die - and you probably ought to hope it's you so that you don't have to look any parents or children in the eye and try to get them to see that you were a decent person and that you're sorry their loved ones are gone. I know this probably sounds extreme to some of you, but yes, it does happen, all the time . . . I've been watching it happen my whole life.

I'm just asking all of us, for ourselves, and for everyone, to just stop and think.

Okay, off my soap box, and apologies if that sounded too preachy. I'm going to go order those new tires now . . .



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 69convert on 9/9/03 11:32pm ]</font>

You said it 69Convert. We've got to be responsible out there. If not for ourselves for innocent bystanders. Also, driving like a maniac is very bad for our hobby (obsession). It makes it easier for politicians to beat up on old cars.

Iowa law says you coulkd lose your license if you drive 29 or more over the posted limit-subject to the judges whims and desires-pray you get a judge that's having a good day!

The SCCoIA and the Cedar Valley Thunderbirds both advocate taking the races and the grudges to the dragstrip-any member of CVT who is busted for street racing is automatically barred from membership for 2 years.
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I'm the last person to say it... without a large dose of hypocrisy - do as I say not as I "did"...but, speeding on Urban or suburban streets, through neighborhoods and in rush hour traffic, obviously endangering innocent civilians is deranged. That Biter in the other lane can be dealt with way below 100 mph +, usually by ignoring him. An overdose of testosterone can wait for an appropriate time and venue.

In the bad old days, we at least had the sense to know we were doing something wrong. As you mentioned, our small town had a "3" mile road or "dump" road...different names...different cities...where the cops gave a nod and a wink, as long as we kept it clean and policed ourselves. It's not so "friendly" anymore, the sakes are higher, the traffic is denser, the potential in even the lamer cars are MUCH faster. A kid, working at Burger king, can buy a Fox-body mustang and using bolt-ons...doesn’t need to know anything about motors or mechanics ...and buy his way to a 12 second or better, car without cutting back on his beer money.

The first muscle car era (the 60's)died out because of public outcry, reaction speeding, factory horsepower wars and too many young people turning cars into pretzels. There was a long drought from Detroit until the V-8 mustangs brought it back in the early 80's. By that time the kids had gotten into "suspension" improvements, mainly because the cars were too slow for real racing. Now we have cars that can do both, accelerate and cut an apex, drift through a turn. So the story starts all over again...expect the regulations to increase, until all the fun is drained back out of most cars.

Maybe that’s why so many mature guys are moving away from the pony cars and pocket rockets... getting into the Big 60’s Cars; Galaxies, Marauders or the newer 4-dr SS Impala's...kinda' keeps you from being too stupid. It self-educational when you try to cut a corner in a 4000+ lb. barge. You don't do it too many times before you realize it ain't happening.

Just an opinion.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Blowing smoke or is there some truth in here some where?


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Beoweolf on 9/10/03 4:32am ]</font>

Here's something my friend emailed me about a week ago.

"With over 4 million miles of highways in the United States it is obvious that there is a lot of driving going on. The U.S. is number one in the world in traffic fatalities(that is ahead of Germany and the famous Auttobahn). In 2002, 42,815 Americans died on U.S. highways. That number is four times the gun deaths in the U.S. 42,815 is also the approximate student population at U.T. Austin. In a society that packages fear and scape-goats, we have both to blame. You hear all these reports on SUV's rolling over, so watch out a SUV might roll on you. I don't buy that, but don't get me wrong I will not purchase a gas guzzler in the future.When was the last time a car parked in your drive way killed somebody? Well can you blame road rage? Sure why not, road rage accounts for only 1,500 of those deaths. Well then I need to blame somebody right, well it is just driver error that causes all these deaths. Oh yes, I also blame law enforcement too, because for some reason cops pull everyone over on the third weekend of the month. With so many fast and furious want to be's on the road the national highway system is not your personal race track. Its not just young punks behind the wheel, you have old people who think they own the road; with illegal lane changes and no turn signal, refuse to check bind spots they drive all over the road (and I do mean that literally). Yes don't forget middle age and middle American driver too, the soccer mon or the dad in a business suit. Just because you are not young enough to get harassed by cops, or not old enough to die the road is not yours for the taking. Think about this, how many middle aged drivers do you see on the side of the road after an accident? Quite a few, maybe a few too many. So think about this how good are your driving habits? Are you the best driver on the road, or are you the only driver."

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I agree with most of the replies. Hell, we are all guilty of street racing or just plain hauling ass with a carload of our buddies but now we are "older and wiser"[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_bs.gif[/img] We were like some of you guys, we had a long stretch of road out in the midddle of nowhere that we used to drag at, but now it seems every "Fast and Furious" ricer will blast 120mph right through your neighborhood streets! I'm not trying to pick on the ricers but almost every car I see behaving badly is a ricer lately. Just the facts. But I have to say that Road Rage is pretty bad, seems to be getting worse. I actually had to pepper spray a guy last week!! No kidding, this guy cut me off then brake checked me and harrased me for over 12 miles! He even kept throwing stuff out his window and hitting my car!! So when we both ended up in the same gas station I asked him why he did that and he started cussing at me and tried to open my door so I blasted him!!! That stuff works man!![img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] Anyway, of course he tried to tell the police that it was all my fault, blah blah blah .........but they knew the truth. Anyway, I think our highways have gotten much more dangerous since I was a kid. But I do have to admit, it sure is hard to behave myself when some Honda civic with flourescent lights and a coffee can exhaust pulls up next to me at a stop light and revs his motor at me.............easy big fella. LOL.
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