You might have seen people racing around your town. Do you think that they are actual street racers or just two people who decided to check who has the bigger engine and double clutches better. No granny shifting allowed.
All Fast and Furious jokes aside, street racing does exist, but it is highly illegal, unless it is coordinated with the city authorities, which means closed streets, added safety, police, ambulances on standby and media coverage. Since those are highly unlikely to happen, what remains are illegal street races. Are they as exciting as they seem or are they just accidents waiting to happen?
Street Racing – As Old As the Cars
Street racing dates back to a long time ago, when people had carriages and horses predominantly, when cars still weren’t even an idea, let alone on the roads. Whether for prestige or a girl or any form of challenge, people would race in the streets. Racing in the streets means racing in the limelight, another part of the street racing challenge and its attractiveness.
When cars were invented, it was only normal for racers and daredevils alike to turn to faster and more predictable modes of transportation or in this case, racing. Street racing really took off when people started souping up or hot rodding their muscle cars, which is around the 1960s. Cars with more horsepower and more acceleration were created, thus making every race a bit more interesting. In Japan, a couple thousand kilometers away, drifting or Toge racing was more popular, toge meaning mountain pass. Are street races still around?
Street Racing Today
Street racing has its own scene, still alive and kicking. People race when they get the opportunity to. For some people, the race itself is a challenge worth living for, others enjoy the cars, money and attention.
Depending on the type of street race, whether drift, circuit or sprint, they take place on different kinds of roads and some are more urban than others. Sprint street races used to be legal once upon a time, but due to many accidents involving pedestrians and unaware bystanders, they were banned. Today, street races take place in cities as well as mountainous roads. Drag races are still an important part of street racing, although those races can literally be held anywhere there there is a straight line.
Legal Street Racing?
Street racing can be legal, if you stretch the terms a bit. Some people may rent a large parking lot or parts of a road, involve the government by notifying everyone of what you are doing and then getting the required permits to hold a street race. Though, for some people, this would mean stretching the terms and definitions of street racing. It isn’t a street race if it is in a parking lot.
Street racing is an old and very entertaining way of testing the limits of your driving skills and vehicles. It is illegal most of the time, so have that in mind if you want to try your luck and skills.
