Wanna Street Race? No thanks, I’ll pass!

Have you ever considered yourself a fast driver just because you drive a fast car that can be launched for a quarter of a mile? I am sure that you have thought of this and even got tempted to prove it on the streets. Does it ring a bell? Did you got challenged while driving on the way back home? We know the answer, because we’ve been there, done that and got the T-shirt. But what if? What if you put yourself and others lives into danger? Who is to blame if something goes wrong? Is it safe to race on the streets or is it better on a safety racing circuit on track?

For the past ten years you’ve been on S2KI and you have read about numerous incidents, crashes and in worst cases fatalities. You may think that you take all safety precautions when you street race, but how much trust will you put on your car, how much faith can you rest upon your abilities and how much can you rely on your challenger? So you already got three variables. How about road conditions, traffic or even obstacles that can come up during the challenge? Some things cannot be controlled on the streets. Do you remember the race in the slippery roads of Bensenville which caused the death of two 16 year-olds driving an S2000? They got tempted by another driver who challenged them, and lost control of the car crashing it and splitting in half.

Many things were wrong and one of them was their age. I am very much surprised that they were driving a fast car on a freezing cold night with snow and ice. Perhaps an experienced driver could have avoided the challenge. But the worst thing is that those boys were abandoned on the spot without any help. Talk about responsibility, don’t you agree?

So why not forget about street racing? Why not race on track? You get yourself a nice track with safety measures taken by organizers and, trust me, its more fun to do whatever you want on track. However, even there you will not be able to be completely safe, there is no silver bullet to avoid this. But you have the opportunity to drive fast on a closed and wide circuit that will protect you in case you run off the track. The worst thing that could happen is hit the tire-walls and save yourself. Here is an example of a fellow member of S2KI who pushed his S2000, run off the track at almost 100 mph and was saved by the tire-wall.

Had this occurred on the streets, the driver would have probably ended up injured or in the worst case, dead as those two poor boys in Bensenville! Plus, on track there are Track Marshals who work at the flagging stations so you are situationally aware of what is ahead of you.You will feel much better if there are no pedestrians walking around and no traffic involved, except the competitors which will give a good reason to go faster than you would drive on the streets. From personal experience, driving on a race track or even a kart track will improve the way you drive and you will adopt a different perspective.

During my two-year ownership of my second S2000 I’ve been quite a regular fan of the track. What I did in my first S2000 on the streets a few years ago, now belongs to the past. Am I feeling more responsible about my actions just because I am a bit older now or just because I do not use my S2000 as a daily drive? Perhaps each driver has a different viewpoint over this. Do you think that there are different reasons for this or do you continue your street-racing in the old-fashioned childish way?

To sum up, the real challenge is to be responsible to put your brain were it belongs and stick to it. Street racing is a crime when you put everyone’s life in danger, don’t you think?

NOTE: S2KI welcomes the opinions of its members on the S2000 and on all topics related to the S. Should you feel the creative urge to pen a few words then by all means do so and PM Energetic, Aashish2 or Onehots2k OR send us links to what you would like us to write about and we will feature you (or your community) on the S2KI Home Page.