I don't know if anyone saw this story, but I found it interesting. It doesn't seem like they should be able to do this, but at least the world is rid of a few ricemobiles.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/crushed_h...eTOcLAf5RsaMYA

 

They started doing that in Canada a few months ago. If you are busted street racing say buh-bye to your car as it goes to the wrecker to get sqwashed! When I look at how many people are street racing and the lives they are putting in danger, I have no problems with the law taking that action and reducing their cars to 3x3 squares of metal and plastic. Racing at the track and risking your own life is one thing, doing it on streets where innocent bystanders get hurt is uncalled for. Recently there was 2 guys racing through city streets in my area. One lost control of the car while going around a corner. He went up on the sidewalk and ran over a woman and her child while they were in front of thier house. They lived but that is a perfect example of how stupid it is to street race.

 

Sounds like even more incentive for these punks to run from the police. One of my collegues had a guy run from him last night. He called it off after a short while due to the conditions being unsafe to continue and the initial stop was for nothing but a license plate violation. About 10 minutes later he got a call of a vehicle that had rolled about 5 miles down the road, nobody in the truck or in the surrounding area. Dumb***. Now the driver not only gets a pile of tickets, but he wrecked his truck, and his insurance won't pay a dime. Sometimes things just work themselves out like that.

 

A few of my friends are cops. being out in the country they deal with high speed pursuits all the time. The call most of them off depending on where the chase is taking place. Now they just get the guys plate number and then call for backup. It is easy to block most of the roads then line up a bunch of cruisers behind a guy in a high speed pursuit. I think anyone that tries to outrun the cops should have thier cars sqwashed as well.

 

Y'know, 4 of these mounted to a squad car would also quell all this running from the cops stuff, ammo storage might be a tad bit pesky.

 

I have no problem with punishing the guys for street racing. I just have a question the rational about someone getting a car crushed instead of huge fines and real jail time. I'm not a huge fan of street racing, and I know there are dangers involved.

That being said, at the risk of having stones thrown at me, let me give a few statistics from NHTSA:

http://www.nhra.com/streetlegal/stats.html

In 2001, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that police listed street racing as a factor in 135 fatal crashes. The total was up from 72 street-racing-related fatalities reported in 2000.
According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, more than 800 citations for illegal street racing were issued in 2001.
In San Diego, where the street racing problem has been termed "epidemic," 16 deaths and 31 injuries were directly related to illegal street racing in 2001. The city's attorney's office prosecuted 147 illegal street racing cases in 1999, 161 in 2000, and 290 in 2001.
In Florida in 2001, 7,216 citations were issued for racing on the highway.
In 1999, the Florida Department of Highway and Safety for Motor Vehicles reported 28 accidents related to illegal street racing, with 2 fatalities and 27 injuries. In 2000, the agency reported 39 racing accidents, with 1 fatality and 55 injuries. In 2002, there were 48 racing accidents, 1 fatality, and 60 injuries.
According to the NHTSA, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 16 and 20.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says 5,749 teens died in the United States from motor vehicle crash injuries in 1999.
Nationwide statistics show that 49 people are injured for every 1,000 who participate in illegal street racing.


Granted these numbers are a few years old, but still in 2001 there were a grand total of 135 deaths from street racing. To put that into context, there are 44757 deaths of Motor Vehicle Accidents per year. That works out to less half of 1% (at .00301628795%) of deaths from being in a car. If you factor in the total number of accidential deaths in the USA (166857) then it works out to about .00080907603%. They also show that the odds of death from a car accident of any kind in a person's lifetime are 1 in 84. Here is a quick chart for reference:

http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds.htm

Odds of Death Due to Injury, United States 2003

Motor-Vehicle Accidents 44757
One year odds 6498
Lifetime odds 84


In 2001, 17,448 people were killed in crashes involving alcohol, representing 41 percent of the 42,116 people killed in all traffic crashes.


To recap, I'm not saying anyone should street race. Just found it interesting that it was 135 deaths total in 2001 compared to 17448 from drunk drivers. There are bigger issues out there as far as traffic safety goes, and I personally know at least 20 people that have beaten a first charge of DUI, just to be caught again within 2-3 years. So it just doesn't seem equal in my mind. I dunno.

AGAIN, I DO NOT ENDORSE STREET RACING!!! I just wanted to put it into perspective.

 

100% agree, drunk drivers are a major problem over street racing, and the justice system is letting too many of them slip through the cracks. Just a week ago I arrested a guy on his 8th DWI, and he was only 35 years old. He calmly told me "I'm going to sell my truck and get a good lawyer and beat this one just like the other 7." He had no license, wasn't eligible for a license until 2017, and had been on probation for DWI for the last 10 years.

He told me he had done 30 days jail time total in his life. Made me sick.

 

I would endorse it as a 3rd offense punishment. Maybe raise other aspects like a death from street racing=2nd Degree murder rather then manslaughter or reckless endangerment. Seems like it doesn't quite jive to do it on the first time. Now with DUI/DWI 2nd offense, crush car and mandatory year in jail. It seems as dangerous in Las Angeles as the chances of getting beaten to death or shot by the LAPD, so something needs to be done.

 

Crush 'em! Crush 'em all, I say! Mwah-hah-ha-ha!

Just by reading that article, if those guys had to actually pay for their own stuff, IMO they'd be less willing to risk their rides since they demonstrate little regard for the lives they put at risk while racing on the street. Should also make owner/driver attendance mandatory during the crush-fest.

 

As I read the article, it seemed to indicate that they were squashing cars OF street racers BECAUSE the cars were ILLEGAL. The cars had stolen parts and altered VIN #s. That seems okay.
They don't seem to be wrecking perfectly good cars. They shouldn't do that (not the car's fault).
Maybe they could squish the drivers.

 

Werd, punative measures with some teeth, this may be the case already, but I think insurance shouldn't cover the offenders personal medical and property damage bills.

 

California has been doing this for years and I'm all in favor of it. When I lived in San Diego they confiscated and crushed all cars they bagged, not just the illegal ones. The racers got what they deserved and I don't feel one iota of sympathy for them. I think it's an appropriate punishment for a first time offense.

Just my $.02

 

I've got a better idea....



CRUSH THE DRIVERS!!!!

 

If you're going that route, why not crush them - in their cars? J/K. But if their actions caused serious injury or death to someone during a street racing incident - may have to leave that option to the affected family's discretion...

 

What were the parents of the Hoang kid quoted in the article thinking letting him put over $10,000 into an Acura Integra???? 18 years old with a car that can go 160mph. sheer studipity. Plus, he bought the stolen transmission from his dad's shop!!! I wonder if his dad's business practices are being look at.

 

Would be nice, but our justice system is blind.....and deaf.....and mentally handicapped!

 

Hoang said he was caught late last year racing his prized car, on which he spent at least $10,000 to get into top shape. The 350-horsepower engine topped out at 160 mph, Hoang said, swearing it could beat a Corvette or even a Ferrari.

 

that scares me. imagine your stang getting crushed. all the meticulous car washes, the money spent making it yours, all the good times...all gone.

but that kid is sofa king we todd did.

 

Just wait until you get popped for street racing when you're just driving home like happened to two of my friends driving old cars, if it had happened now they would have their cars crushed for doing absolutely nothing.

Maybe we can have a "war on street racing" like the war on drugs, that'll put an end to it!

What is with people thinking it's good to pass more laws and to give the police more power?

The idiots going out and killing people street racing will continue to do it, that's why they are idiots, kind of why even though drunk driving is illegal, people do it all the time.

And I'm sure nobody here on a Mustang website where everybody mods the crap out their cars to make them go really fast has ever, ever participated in a street race.. If you say you haven't you're a liar.

Maybe one day some kid in a rice burner will pull alongside you at a light and start revving you, and even if you don't race, a cop watching the whole thing will pull you both over for street racing and your Mustang will get crushed. don't think it can't happen.

 

If I got caught street racing and the crushed MY car...

Well, the local PD would be needed a lot of funds to replace the tires, windows and brake lines on their cars.