That is funny. I hadn’t noticed.
Also: the three major cities in Canada are often referred to as “MTV.”
Yep, we like naming our cities after American pop culture references up here.
Except that the fuckwit teens never claimed the game was their excuse for their behavior. It’s a working theory of the cops.
Still fed up?
This is Canada. If they spend more than 5 years in jail I’d be surprised.
Boy, do I want to jump in here to defend street racing? Not really. Have I ever done it? Welll…not racing per se. I have definitely briskly accellerated away from lights. I have definitely been revved at and blown-off at. I’ve been challenged some. If I was sitting at a light facing a wide open road with no traffic, and a Ferarri F360 pulled up next to me and started talking shit would I consider taking him down? Yeah, probably, if my wife wasn’t in the car. 
But what I WOULD like to address is the info in the quote above. The problem is that the authorities try to swat a fly with a sledgehammer in a lot of these situations. They profile, they break up innocent car gatherings, they hand out exhaust tickets like they werre candy to modified imports but leave Harleys alone, I could go on and on. Plus, any time someone starts to start up a track where people can race legally, the community gets up in arms and has it shut down. There are a lot of factors surrounding this issue, and not all of them are the direct responsibility of stupid kids who can’t drive.
That’s a totally insensitive, not to mention nonsensical, posting. You’re blaming the police because they try and do their job within the boundaries defined by the courts? Kids screaming down public roads with a total disregard for public safety isn’t the real issue? Come on.
I don’t know much about shutting down legal race tracks, but I’m betting that there’s a good deal of red-tape associated with even getting a legal race track established in the first place; proper zoning, noise bylaws, insurance, fire and safety regulations, security, etc. I think jumping these hurdles would be the hard part, not shutting down legally established facilities.
Wow, nonsensical, even. I thought I was writing pretty clearly, but I guess not.
All I’m saying is that, just like with anything else, the issue here is more complicated than just “kids jumped in cars, raced, killed someone.”
As an analogy, let’s say there is an outbreak of theft in a certain area. Now certainly those who steal are in the wrong, and should be punished appropriately. We can’t tolerate that.
But suppose you look a little deeper into the issue, and find out that the thefts are happening in a community with an over 50 percent unemployment rate. There are no jobs, and people have to steal to survive. Now, suppose, as a mode of enforcement, police wander around harassing anyone they see outside on the streets during the day? Is that an effective solution?
I’m not arguing that street racing and killing people is A Good Thing. I AM saying that there may be underlying causes which influence someone’s decision to street race, and that those underlying causes are not only often ignored, but indirectly encouraged to thrive.
As far as tracks go, the problem is both shutting down of legal tracks and of starting new ones. And in both cases, the problems usually are not the read tape involved with insurance and fire regulations. The biggest hurdle track developers have is local opposition from homeowners who are opposed to increased noise and traffic.
That is NIMBYism, pure and simple, IMHO. If you refuse to allow a power plant to be built anywhere near you, you have less footing to complain when power prices increase. And if you refuse to allow any track to be buiolt anywhere to allow people a legal outlet for racing, you cannot be entirely surprised when street racing increases.
That’s like saying, “If you set up enough target shooting places then kids won’t have to shoot each other.”
These “kids” were 18 years old, had graduated from a private school, and were driving their parents’ Mercedes at the time. We’re not talking about Jean Val Jean here.
I fail to see the parallel here. Electricity is a commodity. Residents may complain and engage in feisty rows of NIMBYism at the prospect of a new power plant being built near them, but at the end of the day if it means more sustainable electricty at cheaper rates, they would be more inclined to swallow their bile and dead.
Racing is not a commodity. Nobody needs it. Its presence won’t particularly enrich lives nor is loss impoverish them. It is a diversion, one among many, many other diversions. If there is no legal place to engage in it nearby then – well, tough. Find a place and go there or try your hand at something else. Taking it to the streets is illegal. I realize you are not using it as an excuse to even partially mitigate what these brainless fucktards did, but I also find it hard to believe that it’s reason to spend some time and effort looking for a good place to build a race track under the impression that it will help eliminate street racing. It won’t. Street races are either impromptu events that usually get started at stoplights, or planned back-alley events. They’re participated in usually by kids who’ve riced out their Hondas and want to show off to everyone else. You really think these same kids are gonna start some one-upmanship only to suddenly decide to “take it to the track?” Not gonna happen.
Necros: You’re writing ability wasn’t in question. Rather it was your premise, which, btw, is still nonsense.
Of course, “dead” should read “deal.”
Preview was on lunch.
Speaking of writing ability…
You’re in post #29 should be your.
My premise that easy availability of santioned track racing events reduces and/or prevents street racing is nonsense? That does seem to be the consensus of the last few posts.
Being that this is the Pit, I wonder ask for your qualifications to make such a judgment, or citations that this is true. After all, the point is definitely debateable.
What is NOT debateable is that various people and groups, better qualified to judge than you and I, have made the determination that it DOES make a difference.
http://www.racelegal.com/
http://www.maddsandiego.org/programspub-code4.htm
http://www.popcenter.org/Problems/problem-street_racing_p3.htm
From the last link:
So…are you really sure my argument is nonsense? :dubious:
Yep. In the case at hand, it’s pretty simple: two selfish jerks decided to illegally race their vehicles on the public roadways and killed someone.
Well, your example is one of 13 possible ways that the article in question uses to discourage street racing. I still think that’s like my target shooting analogy though. Anyway these “kids” were priviliged, intelligent kids who (perhaps momentarily) selfishly, exhibited a total disregard for public safety. Actions can have implications.
Yep, you’re both right: These two kids should be put to death immediately. They did what they did in a vacuum, no outside influences ever colored their decisions, and nothing could have stopped them from street racing. Well, except is they hadn’t bought a video game or seen TFATF.
I think you’re exaggerating.
Exaggerating the harshness of our justice system, that is. I would re-word it as:
I stand corrected 
Where did I suggest those two criminals should be put to death?
?
They should be punished according to the law. And as some have stated, in Canada, that quite possibly will amount to a slap on the wrist.
I never said anything about them not being influenced by anything else. But ultimately what they did is their responsibility: not the cop’s, not the public’s, not the video game, nothing. They are responsible for acting in an extremely callous manner. End of story. Bye.
Og HOP!
Someone had to say it