What do you say to street racers?

In the grocery store two guys were talking about a street racing event going on a couple nights back. I wanted to say something but bit my tongue. What do you say to street racers to encourage them to find a healthier outlet?

The place is a bit isolated and I do not know what strips are around or how far away they are.

Wear your seat belt?

I can't tell 'em nuttin'

Wanna race?

I don't really know; they keep it quiet around here.

Ask them where they run their event.

If they want to know why you're interested, tell them it's because you don't want to be anywhere close by.

Maybe "roll your windows down so you are thrown safely clear of the wreckage when you crash"?

They're generally too far behind me for myself to overhear.....I don't really care, if I felt like hanging around still prepubescent teenagers in Honda's, I'd only have to drive down to pretty much any parking lot in Indy.......I've only been there twice, and that was to only meet up with 3 other redline owners. Oddly enough, nobody wanted to race the supercharged saturns

I sure don't want to hang around with them. I just really really do not want them to kill anyone else, and would strongly prefer to not have them kill themselves either.

They give "real racers" a bad name. Good luck getting them to an autocross or trackday. Some regular drag strips try to run programs to get them off the street, but I don't think it does much good.

I feel that 1/2 the attraction of street racing is the danger aspect. Also betting is more difficult at a legit event. And you certainly can't drink and smoke weed there. Most of these guys probably couldn't pass a tech inspection anyway.

Die safely

I was a big time street racer back in the day and many people would point out the danagers but we never listerned.....and i wrecked a few cars i was lucky never hurt anyone. Its stupid and dumb but try to explain that to a 20 year old. I am over 50 now but i still fight the feeling when at a redlight and a youngster pulls up beside me in his honda

I had no idea that when I bought a 1996 Honda civic hatchback I would be enduring kids in fart can civics pulling up on the freeway and honking three times, guys in 400hp mustangs as old as me vroom vrooming next to me at stoplights, and guys in m3s wanting to race on onramps. I ignore them all. I didn't listen to anyone when I was a kid, and I don't need any trouble now, so I would ignore people taking about street racing too.

"Build or buy a ~real~ race car, get your SCCA novice license, and come to so Summit Point. You'll have you ass handed to you by a guy twice your age, and he'll give you a beer afterwards"

Beer Baron wrote: . What do you say to street racers to encourage them to find a healthier outlet?

I can't imagine many positive things one could say to discourage people from activities you hear about while eavesdropping on them.

I'm sure negative attention won't work.

Just recently a honda wanted to show me his car was faster than my challenger at a stop light, unfortunately for him there was an unmarked brown charger behind me. Officer wasn't impressed, I felt bad for the kid.

daytonaer wrote: I can't imagine many positive things one could say to discourage people from activities you hear about while eavesdropping on them.

Was hard to not eavesdrop. They were both store employees talking across the deli counter where I was looking at panini sandwiches to buy for tomorrow's lunch.

Ask em if they can make a sammich faster than their car can run the 1/4..... kids love competition.

I know that the street racing scene really died down around here once we started putting together accessible track days. Word got out that lap times cut through the bull, especially when a few "fast" cars got their butts handed to them by a Miata Or when the slow street racer schooled the fast guys.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

I wonder if the local cops would help me organize an auto-x to help cut down on street racing.

Nothing. Most of them are stupid and full of excuses as to why they can't get to a track.

If you're in Cali, don't count on it......I hear they prefer to have fun crushing things.

I usually resort to "Wanna race?"

Particularly good when I am driving a Yugo, and beat them!

Beer Baron wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: I wonder if the local cops would help me organize an auto-x to help cut down on street racing.

Never hurts to ask. You just might get some help. There are precedents.

Heck, do one of those "beat a cop" races. Have a cop put down a time, and see who can beat him. Naturally, put a ringer in the cop car and even better, run sticky tires.

What do i say to a street racer? Nothing.. I dont talk to anyone i race. Dialogue is where it all starts to go wrong. If someone cant figure out what is going on without me rolling down my window, i will wait for someone who can. I never stop and talk to anybody afterward, and if people follow me i do my best to run away which has always worked so far.

IMO, street racing goes to E36 M3 when you have people yelling at each other across open windows while driving, or hyping the race beforehand, or putting money on things, or making excuses afterward, or knowing where each other live, or using urban areas, or having witnesses, or returning to the same spot after the race, etc, etc, etc.

I only like to race people i dont know and will never meet again, from speeds where driver skill is fairly irrelevant, on roads that are mostly straight with long visibility distances and no cross traffic at all ever (highways).

Even with all those rules, i still get plenty of races. People on my facebook hear about them all the time. And im still 100% no issues after 13 years or so. See car u want race on highway. Is coast clear? Get next to car. Acceleration may or may not ensue. Afterwards, cease all contact and resume normal driving behaviour. Life goes on with no drama.

What do you say to street racers? Maybe you say "i have extremely little to go on in assessing the risk of your behavior other than vast over-generalizations about 'racing' being dangerous relative to some unspecified constant of driving safety that all non-racing magically adheres to, and since i have no wish to join you and learn more about your antics, my ability to accurately judge the situation will likely never improve". Although, im not sure what kind of response that will get you.

If you don't know the kids that well start a conversation about their mods on whatever car they have. Even if they just have rims and fart can. Relate to them through commonalities, be positive even if you aren't impressed with what they say or their mods. Next invite them to an event you go to, and keep inviting them until they show up and try it out.

I think people missed that:

These were not people I saw while driving.
They were not trying to race me.
I have not interest in street racing or racing against them.
They were talking about street racing while in a public place and I couldn't help but overhear.
The conversation I heard involved a planned event with a group of people all gathered in one location at the same time, and something about the cops being on their way "but it takes the cops 20 minutes to show up, so we should have been able to run all the turbo cars." And the other guy talking about how all the guys from next-town-over stuck around and all the guys from town-we're-in bailed and they were waiting for them. So I figure it's safe to assume this was more than just 2 guys on a deserted stretch of strait freeway (strait stretches of freeway do not exist here).

I believe very adamantly that street racing is the wrong way of going about things, and if there is a way of guiding them towards a more controlled and safer way of getting their rocks off (something I completely understand), what would be a way to help guide them in that direction?

I figure there is probably nothing I can actually say, and that it's really all hypothetical, but I'm open to entertaining the idea that someone on here might have some valuable wisdom.

What did Kermit say at Jim Henson's funeral?