Street Racing and Policing of Street Racing

Street racing and policing of street racing are two activities that are extremely risky. There various reasons why street racing poses a significant risk to participants and law enforcement personnel. To start with, street racing cars are usually driven at extremely high speeds, most of which top and exceed 100 miles per hour (Leal and Watson, 2011, p. 1547).  Cars driven at these kinds of speeds can cause significant damage and loss of life if they crash into other vehicles, people or objects.

            Illegal street racing is done by young people in an underground way to avoid the attention of law enforcers. It is usually associated with criminals and street gangs. The involvement of gangs in such an activity may pose a danger to the members of the public and police officers who might intervene to ensure there is law and order.

            Most of the drivers who participate in street racing do it under the influence of alcohol and other intoxicants. Alcohol impairs the judgment capacity of the drivers making the street racing cars prone to crash accidents. In some instances, drivers might have a false sense of safety due to the inspiration they get from movies and television shows such as The Fast and Furious and The Transporter. Moreover, street racing competitions attract large crowds of onlookers who may get injured or killed by flying debris and fire (Leal and Watson, 2011, p. 1547).

             My views about how behaviors are assigned legal and illegal status have greatly been shaped by learning about cultural anthropology. I now understand that as cultures shift and the political environment change certain activities or behaviors are criminalized or decriminalized depending on how they affect people. For instance, if an activity goes against certain cultural standards it might be criminalized.

            Street racing is normally considered a very risk activity due to the dangers it causes not only to drivers, but also onlookers, pedestrians, motorists and police officers. The danger mostly results from the high speeds at which these cars are driven.  

Reference

Leal, N.L. and Watson, B.C., 2011. The road safety implications of Illegal Street racing and associated risky driving behaviours: An analysis of offences and offenders. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43(4), pp.1547-1554.