Crushing street racing

Here's a new way officials are trying to deal with street racers: Crush their beloved cars, in front of them. Leave it to the Inland Empire:

Charles Hoang winced when the whoosh went out of the tires. Daniel Maldonado took pictures with a digital camera as glass exploded and rained down to the ground. The two teens didn’t know each other but they shared a common grief standing near each other under the sweltering sun Wednesday. They both watched helplessly as the cars they had so meticulously souped up and tricked out were crushed and turned into metal pancakes as part of a crackdown on illegal street racing in Southern California. "That’s my heart, my dream," said a visibly upset Hoang, 18, of Chino, who was surrounded by friends as his 1998 Acura Integra was put into a compactor. "That’s my girlfriend, the love of my life. The cops can crush my car, but they can’t crush my memories." Six vehicles were destroyed at an auto graveyard as local law enforcement ramped up enforcement against illegal street racing, which is responsible for or suspected in 13 deaths in Southern California since March. The thrill-seeking, adrenaline-pumping activity is rampant in Riverside and San Bernardino counties east of Los Angeles where rows of tract homes line wide streets ideal for racing. Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested for investigation of street racing activities over the past two years in San Bernardino County alone. That includes spectators as well as drivers. (AP)

Comments

[Victoria]

Cars are whatever you want them to be used for. It's your property to do what you will with it. It's the racers choice to race. You should race legally though, in some parts of Cali it's free. It's Friday& Saturday night 7pm-2 am. You may think it's lame but it's better than getting your car totalld because your lame ass got caught.

[Che Griis]

whoever has their car destroyed the the fascist pig commies should do an equal or greater amount of damage to city/state property FUCK OFF COMMY NAZI PIGS!!!!!! This used to be a free country

[guillermo griis]

California Ubber Alles!!! In this American citystate there is more communism than there ever was in Russia

[jim merko]

hi there

being from nj i find this almost unreal, im curious do they crush the cars of drunk drivers that kill people on a daily basis ? one thing is for sure , im very glad that stupid politicians like you have stay in ca , they would not last 10 minutes here . i feel very bad for the kids who had there cars legally stolen by cops that have nothing better to do .

[Johannes]

there are many notable opinions expressed here, and i agree with most but definetly have to agree with the "who gives them the right to your car", as illigal as street racing is i dont think the cars should be just merely destroyed, and not offer any other alternative, wether the police agree or not, the cars were not free to those people and neither were their parts, if they must dispose of the parts or the car as a whole they should at least give some of that money to the owner to pay his or her fines and not just give it to some money sucking charity, as guilty as the person is you cannot deny the fact that they own the car to some extent, and should receive something in return. i dont think their drastic measures will help in anything, as a matter of fact they will most likely fuel their passion further.

[yours truly, johnny dollar]

The cities of Hawthorne, Compton, Chino, etc. have all accepted federal funding to operate these airports AS AIRPORTS..nothing else. To do so
would be in violation of federal law. So, unless you are Rocky Del Gadillo
(or his wife), best leave airports as airports. And, take it from a licensed
pilot, if you think you are heavily taxed at the gas pump, wait until you pull
your Baron 55 up to the pumps and ask for 200 gallons of 100LL. Plus,
have you applied for certification to set foot onto an airport runway...
since 9-11? You better be ready to hand over a pint of blood and your
first (and second) born.

[Pete McFerrin]

Lots of racetracks may be closing, but general aviation airports are not. How much nighttime business do airports like Chino, Compton-Woodley, Hawthorne, Fullerton, etc. actually do? Most of those have paved runways of well over a mile; why not open them up for drag racing on Friday and Saturday nights?

[Tim K]

This is what is disgusting about this practise. A few things need to be cleared up:

1. This does nothing to solve the problem of drag racing. How in the world does this set an example for the kids who are not caught?

2. The cars are not these kids property. The owners of these cars are not being properly contacted and reimbursed - often the lenders are not informed, yet sadly, this is LEGAL and should not be.

3. Crushing cars is an economic and environmental disaster. The police are trying to out-testosterone the kids and act all though, yet they are going to DUMP THESE CARS IN LANDFILLS. No, they are not spending the extra money to recycle any of the parts, or even DRAIN THE OIL. The toxic chemicals coming from these vehicles are being shipped off to Mexico and San Juan violating all sorts of environmental laws YET THIS IS LEGAL AND SHOULD NOT BE.

All of this for a stupid publicity stunt to make the cops look all bad-ass. Well you're bad alright. This is a classic example of law enforcement corruption and fakery - all show and no results.,

[Roger]

"Wow, Roger, that's just the type of attitude people look for when they're trying to solve a problem. Grow up, how is this any way related NASCAR racing? I am almost sure that these kids aren't racing around the neighborhood in their mom's old acura to give Jeff Gordon a run for his money."

It doesn't matter. Street racing puts a lot of people's lives unnecessarily in danger. I don't condone it and I certainly do not feel sorry for the people who knowingly get involved despite it being illegal. These kids are the reason insurance rates are high for teenagers.

[Chris]

you can have your race tracks, but what's the percentage of these kids willing to shell out the money so they can race on the track?

they'd rather be cruising on the street and look for more racers.

these kids don't learn, they will do it over again if they're given another chance.

they should strip the car, sell the performance parts, sell the car and give all proceeds to the people who were killed.

[Wil Noyes]

I am not going to condone street races, however I question the right of anyone to take these vehicles, property of citizens of this country, without payment of any kind to the owner and destroy them. It is wrong, wrong, WRONG.

This is one of the first steps to having a police state. Something I and many Americans fought to prevent from happening here.
I believe it may be time for the ACLU to enter into this, and I'd contribute to the fund.

[Jason Hoppe]

Having your dream car crushed in front of you is almost as nice as a public hanging.

[colin]

Wow, Roger, that's just the type of attitude people look for when they're trying to solve a problem. Grow up, how is this any way related NASCAR racing? I am almost sure that these kids aren't racing around the neighborhood in their mom's old acura to give Jeff Gordon a run for his money.

I'm not saying racing is legal, or even smart, but come on...that comment was the opposite of constructive.

by the way i love this quote:

"That’s my girlfriend, the love of my life. The cops can crush my car, but they can’t crush my memories."

[13dude13]

Should auction the car, and donate it the money to the family of the people who have been killed as part of these races.

[Tom A.]

Roger has reminded me that if there were more legal alternatives to street racing, it probably wouldn't be such a big problem. Of course, Southern California's perfect storm of sky-high land prices and vicious NIMBYism have combined to close scores of area racing venues over just the last 30 years or so: Brotherhood Dragway, Carlsbad Raceway, L.A. County International Raceway, Orange County International Raceway, Ontario Motor Speedway, Riverside International Raceway, Ascot Park, Saugus Speedway, Irwindale Raceway (the original 1/4 mile dragstrip located where the Miller Brewery is now, not the current 1/8 mile "demi-drags"), weekly street legal drags at Pomona (victim of NIMBY noise complaints)...I could go on, but it's just too depressing, really.
Most alpha males my age (early 20s) have an incurable need for speed, and the fact that there are hardly any safe and legal alternatives available within a reasonable distance from a large quantity of the population means that my peers will seek out more convenient alternatives to spending the better part of a day just driving to Willow Springs or California Speedway. Deterrents are of little use unless there are viable alternatives to go along with them.
Just my $0.02.

[whiskey Tango]

Problem #1...
There are not enough legal venues for these kids, and guys like myself to express our mechanical abilities.. Meaning where did all the leagal drag strips go?? My current count has up up to 2 in the greater Los Angles and San Berdino county.. An 8th mile strip at Irwindale barly has enough room to get real telemotry on your performance, and Fontana is so far away from anything, that is almost impractical.. I think city officials should push for mor controled legal drag strips in communities most affected by illegal street racing.. the revenue generated from attendence could help subsidise the venue, and the tax dollars spent chasing street racers could be used to create such venues... Its such a stupid cycle.. communites want to shut down drag strips, but that just causes the kids to turn to the streets to push the limits of their machines..
Face it people, there will always be the dynamic of Man vs. Machine..
it aint goin anywhere, especialy since there is a Billion dollar industry built around the use and creation of aftermarket speed parts for cars..

City council's please help by creating bills to build DRAG STRIPS...
it is common sense..

[Tom A.]

Call me crazy, but instead of crushing those cars, wouldn't it be more noble and productive if the seized cars were stripped of their speed parts, wild graphics, etc., the parts are sold and the money made from parts sales is taken out of the sale price of the cars when they are sold to low income families who otherwise couldn't afford a car? The increased mobility could mean more employment opportunities and thus, decreased reliance on welfare.
Yes, I'm sure a lot of other people would stand to lose some money/influence, and there are plenty of others who would scoff at the idea of practically giving "those people" their own wheels, but I think it'd be a win-win (or win-lose, if you're a street racer) for everyone else involved.

[Roger]

Gee, Charles, if you had used your car for what it's supposed to be used for, you wouldn't be in this "predicament." I have no sympathy for street racers, and if they want to race so badly, why don't they find a sponsor and race for NASCAR?