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You will notice that the police, on the one hand say that street racing is incredibly dangerous and puts innocent lives at risk (not just the racers), and at th

You will notice that the police, on the one hand say that street racing is incredibly dangerous and puts innocent lives at risk (not just the racers), and at the same time, justify high speed chases, risking pedestrians lives for the sake of catching petty criminals. Young people don't make the best decisions. But televised high speed chases (fictional and real) sure look cool and exciting to me. Finally, San Diego has reduced street racing by providing a cheap, legal outlet for it. [1] But we used to have more drag strips and tracks. They get closed down as real-estate needs expand. If I want to road race, the nearest tracks require driving through LA. To be clear, I'm not making excuses for kids. I'm not saying "well they should be allowed to race because they can't elsewhere" or "we should be lenient on them". I'm absolutely against street racing. So, in conclusion, give racers more legal opportunities on the one hand, and stop glorifying/titilating/excusing car chases on the other. [1] https://www.sandiego.gov/stadium/event/tenants/racelegal https://www.sandiego.gov/stadium/event/tenants/racelegal

dragonwriter 9y ago
> You will notice that the police, on the one hand say that street racing is incredibly dangerous and puts innocent lives at risk (not just the racers), and at the same time, justify high speed chases, risking pedestrians lives for the sake of catching petty criminals. Well, except that over the last few decades, high speed chases have fallen out of favor, and most police agencies have adopted very restrictive pursuit policies.
- djrogers 9y ago
  Doesn't appear to be the case in Southern California - I see one on TV pretty much every time I'm down there...
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    > Doesn't appear to be the case in Southern California It definitely is for every non-federal LE agency in Southern California. > I see one on TV pretty much every time I'm down there... Yes, SoCal is a region with close to 25 million people; things that are done on extremely limited circumstances with tight controls still do happen somewhere in that region with some frequency, and are note worthy enoguh that they get covered by TV news.
  - brewdad 9y ago
    Isn't the high speed nature of those chases tied to a helicopter in the air with police on the ground maintaining more reasonable chase speeds? That's generally what I've seen in LA police chases.
- lowbloodsugar 9y ago
  Data says no. First link has historic data, showing no reduction in the last three decades. The data shows that restrictive policies do reduce death, but that hasn't translated into measurable difference across the nation. Indeed, they found some police departments moving to more permissive chase policies. https://priceonomics.com/the-case-for-banning-high-speed-police-chases/ https://priceonomics.com/the-case-for-banning-high-speed-pol... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/07/25/why-police-shouldnt-chase-criminals/?utm_term=.b0a61a5ee58d https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/07/25/why-p...
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    > First link has historic data, showing no reduction in the last three decades. The movement (including within the LE community) mostly was one of concern without concrete action till the early 2000s, and the wave of new restrictive policies came in the 2000s. Even ignoring that, the chart in the link you provides shows much less growth over it's 30 year period than would be expected if the practice remained equal in danger over a period where population increased by ~40%.
    - lowbloodsugar 9y ago
      "The chances of dying in a crash in a late-model vehicle have fallen by more than a third in three years ... Improved vehicle designs and safety technology have a lot to do with the continuing decline in fatality risk." [1] So, no, there are other factors reducing fatalities. [1] http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/50/1/1

dragonwriter 9y ago

> You will notice that the police, on the one hand say that street racing is incredibly dangerous and puts innocent lives at risk (not just the racers), and at the same time, justify high speed chases, risking pedestrians lives for the sake of catching petty criminals. Well, except that over the last few decades, high speed chases have fallen out of favor, and most police agencies have adopted very restrictive pursuit policies.

djrogers 9y ago
Doesn't appear to be the case in Southern California - I see one on TV pretty much every time I'm down there...
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > Doesn't appear to be the case in Southern California It definitely is for every non-federal LE agency in Southern California. > I see one on TV pretty much every time I'm down there... Yes, SoCal is a region with close to 25 million people; things that are done on extremely limited circumstances with tight controls still do happen somewhere in that region with some frequency, and are note worthy enoguh that they get covered by TV news.
- brewdad 9y ago
  Isn't the high speed nature of those chases tied to a helicopter in the air with police on the ground maintaining more reasonable chase speeds? That's generally what I've seen in LA police chases.
lowbloodsugar 9y ago
Data says no. First link has historic data, showing no reduction in the last three decades. The data shows that restrictive policies do reduce death, but that hasn't translated into measurable difference across the nation. Indeed, they found some police departments moving to more permissive chase policies. https://priceonomics.com/the-case-for-banning-high-speed-police-chases/ https://priceonomics.com/the-case-for-banning-high-speed-pol... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/07/25/why-police-shouldnt-chase-criminals/?utm_term=.b0a61a5ee58d https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/07/25/why-p...
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > First link has historic data, showing no reduction in the last three decades. The movement (including within the LE community) mostly was one of concern without concrete action till the early 2000s, and the wave of new restrictive policies came in the 2000s. Even ignoring that, the chart in the link you provides shows much less growth over it's 30 year period than would be expected if the practice remained equal in danger over a period where population increased by ~40%.
  - lowbloodsugar 9y ago
    "The chances of dying in a crash in a late-model vehicle have fallen by more than a third in three years ... Improved vehicle designs and safety technology have a lot to do with the continuing decline in fatality risk." [1] So, no, there are other factors reducing fatalities. [1] http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/50/1/1