Illegal Street Racing at Ridiculous Levels

Nearly since cars were invented, owners have been racing them both on and off the track. It's the off track version, street racing, that is becoming an increasingly large problem for law enforcement. Although the underground nature of hopping up cars and racing them has always been popular, street racing was rejuvenated with the release of such movies as The Fast and the Furious along with the ability to post exploits readily to YouTube. Police indicate citations abound on the highways, although racing throughout inner-city streets is far more difficult.

The danger lies not only with the racers, whom firemen indicate are dead in 90% of the crashes they service, but with bystanders. "We caught one kid who was racing and his aunt was out there with him watching the races," indicates a sheriff's deputy from Florida. "I have had minivans out there with children in car seats in the back at one in the morning in an industrial park watching these races." Despite the families present, an increase in fights and weapons has also raised the danger when stakes range into the tens of thousands of dollars. As the deaths and casualties continue to escalate, Florida's highway patrol laments, "The last four years it's been out of control."