Why I don't street race... Options

[JonMarkos]

So I see a lot of posts up about people racing on the streets, and although they usually get locked pretty quick I still know that it's going on so I thought I would post up my little story about why I don't street race anymore. And I'm not looking for replies or to be bashed because of this, it was a hard lesson to learn but luckily I learned it, and I haven't forgotten it yet...

So I'm driving home one day at around 1 in the morning after eating at perkins with some friends of mine. I'm in my vehicle alone stopped at a stop light when another vehicle pulls up along side of me. I look over at the guy and he looks at me and we both rev our engines and know that it's on. When the light changes I floor it and get a pretty good distance ahead of him. We are in the middle of town and I'm doing about 85 or so in a 30mph zone and even though it's late and the town in relatively small (45,000 give or take) we begin to catch up to traffic that is ahead of us. I have a car right in front of me in my lane so I begin to slow down, he doesn't slow down until he is right on the car in front of him and it is too late. He tries to come into my lane but by then I was right next to him since I had already begun braking. He must have realized he was about to hit me because he swerves to the left to try to make a turn onto a side street. I knew it wasn't going to be good so I look in my rearview and don't see him, after I get a little bit farther up I look again and his vehicle is rolling into oncoming traffic. I freaked out and drove out of town as fast and inconspicuously as I could and tried to relax. About 20 minutes later I go back into town and drive down a side street near the accident so I could try to see what was going on. There were multiple police cars and emergency vehicles around the wreck. Over the next couple of days I start to put out feelers with people that I know to see if anyone could tell me what happened. When talking with a friend of mine about it he stops talking and just stares at me. It turned out that his girlfriend worked at a Taco Johns that was located right where the other driver wrecked. Everyone in the Taco Johns heard the accident and ran outside. The guy that was driving was ok, and so was his passenger in the front, but the man had a little kid in the back seat of his car that wasn't buckled in. The kid got thrown around the vehicle and was cut up pretty bad from the vehicle's glass shattering. I "thought" I did everything right in this race. The road directly in front of us was clear, I was buckled in and alone, it was night time so the chance of someone walking on the street was less, and I disengaged when other traffic presented itself, but I learned the lesson that no matter what I am doing either right or wrong I have no control over what the other vehicle is doing. For a long time I beat myself up over this because I thought it was my fault, I realized though that it wasn't, that I never forced that guy to race, but if this situation happened again and someone was killed I don't know if I'd be able to live with that. So there ya have it, that is why I don't street race anymore. Take from this what you will.

[Jen]

Good story.

[beastman]

Great story man. glad you learned from your mistake.

[jdg371]

Better now than never..

I mean theres other places to race your car.. I autocross. It doesnt just allow me to go fast and push my car.. but also allows me to learn it, learn how it would react different situations

[XS4lv1Truch0x]

woah crap.

and u didnt get caught????

the good thing about 6th gens, people dont know what kinda car it is

but that might scarr you a bit about racing, but dont take it to the head cause it wasnt your fault.

so i guess ur not gona tell us what kinda car was the other veicle huh

[bloodrain]

damn that sucks, so did anyone know it was you racing or no?

[daazndood]

the guy was racing with a little kid in the back seat? and the kid wasnt strapped?

why didnt the driver just fly outside instead

[ExSane]

That's why I don't street race in public/driving around. I only street race in race meets where it is organized. But I'm glad you learned from it. I had an experience like that as well but I went into the middle (turn) lane to dodge the car in front of me but then a cop was coming from the other direction came after us but we both got away. I stopped street racing publicly. I only street race in meets now which is every saturday. I've been doing so for the past year and nothing has went wrong so far.

[JonMarkos]

No, no one ever found out it was me that the guy was racing (atleast no one that does turned me in, and no one on the scene did), and no, I'm not going to say what the other vehicle was. And it wasn't in my Celica, it was in one of my previous vehicles.

[XS4lv1Truch0x]

No, no one ever found out it was me that the guy was racing (atleast no one that does turned me in, and no one on the scene did), and no, I'm not going to say what the other vehicle was. And it wasn't in my Celica, it was in one of my previous vehicles.

well goodluck, hopefully you dont get caught.

[snapshotgt]

Good post. Many people here need to see this.

[celicurr]

good to see that you realized your mistake and are man enough to admit it. another reason why racing should be taken to the track

[97sccelica]

That's why I don't street race in public/driving around. I only street race in race meets where it is organized. But I'm glad you learned from it. I had an experience like that as well but I went into the middle (turn) lane to dodge the car in front of me but then a cop was coming from the other direction came after us but we both got away. I stopped street racing publicly. I only street race in meets now which is every saturday. I've been doing so for the past year and nothing has went wrong so far.

the "organized" meets here are almost worse than just a random race on the streets

people are stupid, they like to stand right at the finish line a few feet away from where the cars will blow past at ~100mph. and a lot of the cars people race are pretty ****ty. all it takes is a blow out and 20-30 people will get mowed down.

some are safer, however. one i went to, it was only 2 cars running(those are the only ones that are "safe", small number of people and only 2 cars running), a fully built turbo civic hatch and my friends turbo mustang. the race was up in palmdale. long empty road with no one in sight for about 3 miles. everyone stood watch at the starting line and people had driven ahead to make sure the road was clear of dirt and debris.

[zachattack15]

What makes you go 85 in a 30 zone? Thats fcking crazy.

[ExSane]

That's why I don't street race in public/driving around. I only street race in race meets where it is organized. But I'm glad you learned from it. I had an experience like that as well but I went into the middle (turn) lane to dodge the car in front of me but then a cop was coming from the other direction came after us but we both got away. I stopped street racing publicly. I only street race in meets now which is every saturday. I've been doing so for the past year and nothing has went wrong so far.

the "organized" meets here are almost worse than just a random race on the streets

people are stupid, they like to stand right at the finish line a few feet away from where the cars will blow past at ~100mph. and a lot of the cars people race are pretty ****ty. all it takes is a blow out and 20-30 people will get mowed down.

some are safer, however. one i went to, it was only 2 cars running(those are the only ones that are "safe", small number of people and only 2 cars running), a fully built turbo civic hatch and my friends turbo mustang. the race was up in palmdale. long empty road with no one in sight for about 3 miles. everyone stood watch at the starting line and people had driven ahead to make sure the road was clear of dirt and debris.

I don't know about cali but in orlando, the meets are pretty safe. there was only one accident since i've been street racing and that's when some hatch back civic's tires popped and he sworved to the curve and that was it... Besides that, the gay ass wannabe racer kids always start fights with each other for some dumb reason while the mature ones tell them to stfu and take it to the road. And if they lose, then they better stfu or everyone will pretty much kick their asses out. I pretty much agree with you about the lesser the people the better of probability of anything bad happening. We average 50 people a meet and the cars that races are fairly hooked. None of them actually look stock. Mostly hatchy's, teggies, srt4's, evo's, s2000s, and mr2's races down here. Nothing big like supras and twin turbo 3000s and crap. We rarely see any stangs and sti's race.

What makes you go 85 in a 30 zone? Thats fcking crazy.

I've done 110 on a 35mph zone before. And yes... I was stupid at the time but hey, I stopped and no one got hurt. If you are going to race, race safe and smart.

This post has been edited by ExSane: Aug 1, 2006 - 1:40 AM

[97sccelica]

yea, fights can and do happen.

back in the 90's it got to a point where there would be drive by shootings. if you saw a car roll up with the lights off, you got down on the ground behind a car and stayed there.

the races out here are diversified, we get all kinds of awesome cars that look for races, but most of the races are between slow cars that have the crappiest parts and in my opinion are unsafe to drive around, let alone race.

[presure2]

this forum is NOT for discussing your street racing stories, or what the street racing scene is in your town.
closed.