| What is Street Racing ? | Street racing is a form of auto racing or that takes place on public roads. Street racing can either be spontaneous or can be well planned and coordinated. Spontaneous races usually occur at intersections where 2 cars can stop at a red light before they start racing. Well coordinated races in comparison are chosen before the race night and at times even have a staff with walkie-talkies that keep the races safe and fair. The obvious drawbacks of street-racing are the lack of safety and in the event of a crash or death there would be serious consequences for anyone involved.
Drag Racing
"Drag racing" is the most common form of street racing in North America. There are two types of drag racing associated with street racers, "From a Dig" meaning that both cars line up bumper to bumper and the race occurs from a 0 Mph to the quarter mile point. These types of races can be initialized by both 3 honks or by a Flagger (a person that will act like a starting signal for both racers). The "From a Roll" technique is when 2 or more cars are generally lined up going down a road at a set speed such as 50 Mph. This is achieved with 3 honks usually, the 3rd being the initial point where the throttle is applied, these types of races are usually done on the highway because of the faster speeds involved. Most early street racers are influenced either by movies or video games; an example are the popular video game series "Midnight Club" and "Need for Speed".
Motivations
The motivations behind illegal street races are many: lack of a nearby drag strip (although street racing occurs even where drag strips are within a reasonable driving distance), the temptation of the illegality of such a race (which could be interrupted by a police squad any time), or just the similarity to day to day situations at a traffic light. Streetracing is also a growing business with streetracers being steady consumers of a billion dollar aftermarket tuning industry, as well as in the automotive industry. Some people also race to earn monetary rewards for various reasons, the most common excuse being that they can't a find a decent job.
Street Racing in Japan
Street racers, known natively as hashiriya (???), can also occur on expressways and highways, infamously in Japan, where they are known as kousoku battle or commonly known as Roulette-zoku as they drive round and round on circular expressways [citation needed] and frequently occur on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo. The most notorious group to be associated with it was the Mid Night Club who gave street racing worldwide attention with its 186 mph (300 km/h) antics and was known for its high standards and organisation until they were disbanded in 1999 following a fatal accident involving a group of motorcyclists. Nowadays, with heavier punishments, patrolling police cars, crackdowns in meeting areas and speed cameras, expressway racing in Japan is not as common as it was during the 80's and 90's but still occurs on a not so regular basis. However persistent racers simply install electric license-plate swiveling mechanisms or picture-proof screens over their plates. [citation needed] As a result of these crackdowns, in 2001, the amount of hashiriya have dropped to 4,365 last year from 9,624 in 1995 and police arrests in areas where hashiriya gather are common, where their cars are checked for illegal modification and if there is, the owners are fined and forced to remove the offending modifications. The expressway racing scene is portrayed in the manga Wangan Midnight and Shuto Kousoku Trial.
One of the cause of street racing in Japan is that, despite the sufficient amounts of race circuits, they are usually overcrowded and at around 20,000 yen per trip, are deemed "too expensive" by car drivers, in contrasts to a highway toll of less than 1,000 yen. Also as with Japan's high cost of living, many young drivers prefer to put their savings or take out loans into their vehicles where they would usually gather with like minded people at either the Shibaura parking area, the Tatsumi parking area or the best known of the lot, Yokohama's Daikoku Futo service area
Like in other countries, street races also occurs on long straights in industrial estates, which are used for drag races, known natively as Zero-Yon (????).
In rural Japan, racers slide around the corners of remote winding mountain passes, as portrayed in the manga/anime Initial D. This "sport" is called Touge, and is associated with drifting.
Street Racing in Hong Kong
Street racing in Hong Kong is very similar to that in other Asian countries and tends to consist mostly of modified Japanese cars and motorcycles. The Hong Kong Police Force, responsible for road safety, are in the practice of placing roadblocks in areas where it commonly occurs.
The Hong Kong street racing scene has spawned numerous movies that have sequences of street racing.
Street Racing in Malaysia
Street racing in Malaysia is illegal, as is watching a street race. This is enforced by the Malaysian police. Many streets, roads, highways and expressways in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and other cities have become sites for racing. Among them are teenagers either riding motorcycles or driving modified cars. The motorcycle street racers in Malaysia are famously known as Mat Rempit in Malay Language. These Mat Rempit are famous for their "Superman" stunts and other stunts performed on their motorcycles. They are also notorious for their "Cilok", a kind of racing in which racers weave in-between moving and stationary traffic at high-speed.
On 12 July 2006, the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link in Johor became a place of illegal racing. The Johor police and the Road Transport Department, with the highway operator PLUS Expressway, have launched big operations to crack down on illegal racing. More than 100,000 people have been arrested in these operations
Street Racing in the United States
Street races occur all over the United States; indeed, the argument could be made that it is almost inevitable that street races will occur anywhere there are public roads. Unsanctioned racing with unknown participants, on an unknown course, for an unknown duration is the most common type of road racing sport. A contest may last seconds or many hours. The informal events have the common characteristic that, the car in front at the finish wins, the leading car chooses the course, and the finish is when the stalking car quits.
This being said, some states have more active racing scenes than others. There is a strong racing culture in Southern California, which centers quite heavily around imports (i.e. Mitsubishi Eclipse, Mitsubishi Evolution, Mazda RX-7, Subaru Wrx Impreza etc.), as well as such American muscle cars as the Ford Mustang, Dodge Charger, and Chevrolet Camaro. There are also very active street racing cultures in New York, Florida, New Jersey, Nevada and Texas. In some cases, the popularity has led to tough anti-street racing laws which give more strict punishments than normal traffic citations and also often dedicated anti-racing task forces. In 2005 a law in Tennessee that was passed prohibited cars to have Nitrous Oxide hooked up or even present inside a car, among other performance enhancers. Penalties include impoundment, taking of drivers license for a period of time or permanently. There can be many sorts of street racing.
Blackraces
In some places there have been legal street races known as blackraces. This is not the same as road racing; it is strictly an amateur sport with road legal vehicles. Usually the races are done on a closed road and run on time and not against another vehicle, the most famous being the annual Silver State Classic.
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