Drag Racing

Why Do People Commit Illegal Drag Racing?

That is because people want the excitement of racing. It is the adrenaline that takes them there.

Street Racing is a form of unsanctioned Illegal Racing. These racings take place in suburban public roads. Street Racing can be separated into 2 races, spontaneous or coordinated. Spontaneous ones are when 2 vehicles meet at a stop light and start when the light turns green; these races are considered to be very dangerous because of the unpredicted cars that might pass your way. The other one, coordinated is a much safer race because it blocks out streets so no one will come past the race course. These kinds of races are well planned out before the race night, often the people around have a 2 way radio to communicate and they also have police scanners and GPS units to spot out the local police hot spots. Street Racing was reported to originate in the US in 1930's.

In the world of Street Racing, there are different types of racing.

Drag Race - Drag racing is considered the most common type of race around, this involves two or more vehicles to accelerate from zero until the given distance is reached. The start is usually started by a person dropping his arm or if at night they use flash lights.

Open Road - This is the simplest form of racing. These races consist of two or more vehicles to compete until one is a clear winner. This is very different from Drag Racing, which only has a set distance on a straight road.

Touge - Touge is currently the new race around. Touge is sometimes referred to as drifting. Touge racing is when one car chases the other down a mountain pass as seen on The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift. This race can only end when the chaser overtakes the runner or when the runner outruns the chaser.

These races are the most common ones in the streets today.

While I was searching for an article in The Age, I found an article concerning Illegal Drag Racing where the driver was found speeding on Princes Highway at Altona at 1.15 am on April 20. He was clocked at 150km/h which is 50km/h over the speed limit. At some stage where the man tried to turn, he took it too fast and hit a kerb, putting some damage on the car. The man is suspected to have been racing with another person but the police are still searching for them.

If the drivers know the risks of Illegal Drag Racing, why do they still do it? There are several reasons for that :

* A community generally springs up around the street racing "scene", providing social interaction among the participants therein.

* The opportunity to prove the worth of one's mechanical ability (or money