I have blogged about a lot of things in the past.  I have talked about hunting accidents and the causes of being injured while hunting.  Hunter safety is the key.  Take a hunter safety class if possible.  I have talked about Penny’s and things that do not even have to do with the law or being a lawyer.

Today the discussion is about street racing.  It is dangerous and illegal to street race on the road.  It does not matter if you are in a car, motorcycle or trike, it is still not a good idea to street race.  A few statistics will help one understand how dangerous street racing has become.  Some interesting older statistics.  In 2001, the California Office of Traffic Safety wrote more than 800 citations for illegal street racing.  In the late 1990′s San Diego street racing was a real problem causing congested traffic and accidents.  Some might call the street racing in San Diego as an epidemic as 16 deaths and 31 injuries were directly related to illegal street racing in 2001.  That does not include the street racing that caused accidents where those that were racing got away.  In 1999 the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety noted that over 5000 teenagers died in auto related accidents, a number of which were probably caused by street racing.  For the most up to date accident statistics in California or throughout the United States, see the NHTSA website.

There are actual websites now that are geared toward street racing.  I thought of mentioning these sites but decided not to give them the publicity.  They claim that the car and motorcycle statistics on street racing are exaggerated and to some degree incorrect.  They mention a few of their arguments.  First they claim that many of the tickets do not discuss the street racing.  Second there may be some argument over what determines if one is street racing.  And finally, they claim many of the street racing witnesses are not around to testify whether or not someone was indeed street racing.

Some of the aforementioned may be true, but the truth of the matter is, one death caused by street racing is too many.  In Sacramento, CA two teen’s died in a motorcycle accident in July 2010.  KCRA.com noted that a teenager was killed when he collided with another street bike while racing in Rancho Cordova.  Apparently the Sacramento County Sheriff’s office noted that about 20 motorcyclists gathered for an illegal street race on Sunday night when the incident occurred.  A short time later after the above accident, another teen died when their motorcycles collided.  However one witness said that the motorcycle accidents may have been caused by motorcycle stunts instead of racing.

Just go on the Internet and type in street racing accident and you will see why it is so dangerous to street race.  Innocent people can be killed or injured by street racing, causing surviving family members to live with the consequences.  Some cities like Sacramento and Chula Vista have really worked hard to stop street racing.  Many believe that injuries or deaths due to street racing are from spectators that are urging the racing on.  In April 2005, the Sacramento City Counsel passed an ordinance that allowed police officers to ticket people watching street racing.  An interesting note.  How are they going to know who is watching and who is just walking or driving by?  In April 2009, the Chula Vista the police launched “operation crackdown” on street racing to curb the deaths and injuries.  Apparently it worked, as for a time street racing deaths and injuries dropped.

It all comes down to common sense, it is dangerous out on the road and if you want to improve everyone’s odds of not being injured while driving a car or motorcycle, then don’t street race.