Peterdroy66 said:
I wish all the hype would try to highlight the really stupid from the still illegal yet improved saftey type of racing ie
The crash of racing at Paliment and Adelaide; the 3km WOT race to the ramp on airport Rd, afternoon race on Woodbine These are totally stupid and really the problem vs still illegal yet reasonably responsible 1/4 miles on wide open vacant streets in the middle of the night. Or short drags up to the speed limit conditions permitting etc
IMHO the biggest problem is more money than brains, parents paying for inexperiened drivers to modify cars beyond ability of the driver. At least if the kid is slowly bulding it up as $ permits at $13/hr they will learn as they go.
All,
I respect Peter's opinion, but the way I look at it, whenever we get into a little race on the streets, we're taking unnecessary risks. Not only are we risking our cars, and more importantly our health and our lives, but we're putting other innocent drivers and/or pedestrians at risk. We can try to be careful all we want, and may even choose to do this stuff in the middle of the night to reduce risks, but ultimately we cannot control the environment when we race on the street.
For example, on the way out of the GTAMC meet on Sunday, Wayne and I 'fooled around a bit' between the light on Ford Dr. and the exit I took up to the 403 Westbound. We both happened to stop first at the light, and accelerated quickly to a little above the speed limit before I got to the ramp. It seemed like harmless fun, and in this case it was truly harmless, but any of a number of things could have gone wrong to change that. Even something so stupid as a failure in one of mine or Wayne's suspension components could have made our cars a tangled mess, or worse, we could have collided with other vehicles on the road which happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The point is, what we did was pretty tame in comparison to the stories featured in that article, but there was still the real potential for a bad situation. Both of our cars were under complete control during that stint, but it wouldn't have taken much to change that.
BTW, you wouldn't believe how loud the sucking noise is from Wayne's car unless you happened to be positioned right near where his intake is situated when that turbo spools up!!! ...And I hope that Wayne is cool with me bringing this story up.
Anyway, IMO the one quote in that article from the speed shop guy who suggests to all his customers that they leave racing to the drag strip is good advice. That way, you're likely to only be putting yourself and your property at risk, and maybe that of the racer in the next lane who has accepted the risks willingly. Additionally, there is the benefit of an ambulance and fire crew to mitigate the hazards should an unfortunate wreck happen.
The problem then becomes a lack of accessibility to appropriate race tracks. How many enthusiasts are there in the Toronto area, and they've all gotta drive to Shannonville or Cayuga or St. Thomas if they want to hit a drag strip. Furthermore, these facilities are only open certain days of the week, and rarely late. Maybe part of the effort by programs like ERASER should be to work towards providing sanctioned places for this kind of activity to occur legally and safely.
...My $0.02 worth.
Best regards,
Sean