Illegal Street Racing Statistics Prove Detrimental To the Cause

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Current Illegal Street Racing Statistics Prove Detrimental To The Cause.

Source: Evo Street Racers Research Dept..
Release Date: August 1, 2008
Update / Revision: January 20, 2009

Often Evo Street Racers receives requests for illegal street racing statistics. It has been found that the current illegal street racing statistics are GROSSELY inaccurate. Not only are they inaccurate but they undermine the severity of the illegal street racing problem which makes pursuing and perpetuating current statistics all that more detrimental to the cause (of deterring the illegal activity).

Lack of Identifying the act of Illegal Street Racing on Citations.
One concern relating to statistics is that most law enforcement agencies in America do NOT specifically identify the act of illegal street racing rather note it on citations as “Speeding, Reckless Endangerment, Exhibition of Speed, Contest of Speed, ect.” Without having a universal specific term to identify the act of illegal street racing it becomes assimilated into larger speeding categories thereby making it near impossible for an agency to define statistics let alone compare states or formulate trend composite reports. Considering that over 70% of the populace speeds on the American highway system it is easy to understand why the statistics are easily skewed.

Disagreement in defining the act of Illegal Street Racing.
Further complicating the validity of statistics is defining the act of illegal street racing. Often the line between participating in the activity of illegal street racing and other traffic infractions is hard to define. Each state and country has different laws which define the parameters of illegal street racing. For example most states/countries consider street racing as an infraction involving 2 or more cars, yet the provence of Ontario Canada has implemented a new street racing law in Sept. 07 which believes otherwise (a law which many states in America are considering). It states that a driver caught speeding 50 km/hr above the posted speed limit can be considered as illegal street racing regardless of whether s/he is racing another vehicle or racing alone. The aforementioned type of law factors in many forms of illegal street racing which are often incorrectly categorized under other traffic infractions including "time trials," "canyon running," drifting, and high speed highway runs. Please note that time trials, drifting, and top speed runs are NOT an illegal activity should they be contained to the safe environment of a motorsports track.

Lack of Witnesses & Settling in Court.
Witnesses to illegal street racing are often hard to find do to the areas it takes place and in most situations the competitor leaves the crime scene; therefore, the end result an accident and crime scene, is often all the police and media have to define the situation. With such limited information it is often hard to determine whether a person simply lost control or was involved in an illegal street race. Also, as penalties to illegal street racing are often stricter than other traffic related crimes should there be another driver involved they will deny participating in the activity rather settle in court for driving recklessly.

With effective lobbying and educational programs it is a goal of Evo Street Racers to:

Adopt a common term on citations to categorize the activity of illegal street racing,
Define a universal definition for the act of illegal street racing,
Employ a standardized and comprehensive set of laws (Once alterative's to illegal street racing has been implemented), and
Educate the populace to identify and interpret illegal street racing.

Should this goal be achieved it may take up to three to five years of consistent laws/citations, enforcement techniques, and universal terminology for statistically significant information to be derived. Thereafter the data obtained will better assist policy makers in their decisions and develop a better understanding of this "societal disease."

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