So, this Friday I got all excited to venture around to meet up with the local ricers and such. After some small talk, I was surprised to see that street racing here is non-existent.
[ Yes, we can debate about the moral and legal issues concerning street racing, but that will be for a future entry.]
There’s no drama between racing factions, no he says/she says crap, and no stolen parts conundrums. It’s kind of interesting. Also, the collection of cars, the American Muscle and foreign cars park next to each other and just hang out. People meet up to hang out and not cause trouble.
Being more curious, I asked what happens when the 5-0 comes around? Simply put, the cops don’t do anything unusual. They simply drive by to make sure no one is fighting or causing a public disturbance. Wow.
A few other reasons why street racing is rare, is the the aggressive enforcement from the police when you are caught, aggressive judgment (biased in the police’s favor), and excessive fines on top of it. I can totally understand. If you didn’t know, street racing in Virginia carries hefty penalties:
- Seizure of all vehicles who participated in illegal street racing. [Ref.]
- License suspension 6Mo. to 2 Years, at discretion of the court. [Ref.]
- License shall be assigned 6 demerit points. [Ref.]
- $350.00 Civil Remedial Fee. [Ref.]
Yeah, so let it be known that I do not engage, participate, promote, or encourage any illegal street racing in the state of Virginia.
So I asked about the local drag strip, Old Dominion. It’s a 1/8 mile strip! Not even a full quarter-mile. It’s about 20 minutes from me, it’s not worth it to go. I find it so hard to fathom how they couldn’t lay out another 1/8 mile of asphalt!
In conclusion, drag racing and street racing is a pretty dead scene. Call it good for the safety of others, call it good cause another scene hits the dust thanks to legislation. I miss drag racing. 