Cars crushed in street racing crackdown

[jmortensen]

You guys are all nuts. RFOL I have my Z for racing, cruising, and having those young A$$ kids in there Hondas and such going "WOW nice car what is it". You can make a 10 second Z that does out perform many other American mussel. I cold also care less about the thousands of foreign cars that are brought, shipped or half built here each year. I worry about other things like why is the 90TT missing or where to get my suspension set up for the 76 280from. I worry more about our young Soldiers in IRAQ being killed every day over what? OIL, Gold, Revenge, just because we elected a stupid monkey for our president. If you get caught street racing you should be punished just for getting caught. Sorry you have to lose your car but go race at a track or in another county so they don't crush your car.

So you're worried about the "stupid monkey" in charge and what he does in other countries, but not worried about the executive branch of government which he directly controls coming and taking your property away and destroying it? Who is nuts again???

I guess as long as you're happy beating up on mussel cars that's all that counts. I prefer to pick on the clam cars myself, although every once in a while I'll pick a fight with a sponge car or an octopus car too.

[Mat M]

Oh, that was low. Damn funny, but low.

[ta240]

If you have house furnished entirely with stolen goods, I don't think the cops confiscate the house, nor do they destroy it.

what if they establish that 60% of the interior walls were stolen from a house down the street? An engine and/or transmission is a bit more of an integrated part of a car than a chair is part of a house.

Should the police have to remove the stolen engine and then return the rest of the car to them?

It would "protect" the public to get rid of our polluting gas guzzlers.

Actually my Z gets better gas milage than a lot of new cars, including my 2003 Tacoma. As far as polution goes it is probably worse but even my old beater 280 had pretty low numbers on its smog checks. And if you compare parts per mile for polutants rather than parts per million it should stand up much better to the much larger modern engines.

[ta240]

It would "protect" the public to get rid of our polluting gas guzzlers.

Granted they don't take them and crush them but if it is, poluting they will at least tell you that you can't drive it anymore here

[Mat M]

Here is where it gets fuzzy for me:

Police need a court order to destroy the cars. They must prove that the serial or identification numbers on a vehicle or its parts are removed, altered or destroyed.

This sounds like due process to me. Is it not?

[Rockr69]

Did everyone miss this?

"Nearly 1,000 people — drivers and spectators — have been arrested for investigation of street racing activities over the past two years in San Bernardino County alone. Police need a court order to destroy the cars. They must prove that the serial or identification numbers on a vehicle or its parts are removed, altered or destroyed."

Unfortunately, we all have had that import boy racer pull up next to us with his stereo pumping out thunderous offensive music, looking like he just walked off MTV (God I wish that was cool again) and started thinking about were in God's name did a kid that young get all the money that went into his ride? I can't even afford a molded carpet kit for my Z and this kid has more than that wrapped up in just his front left wheel and tire (well that's what I think, maybe not you)! Then you start letting the wheels in your mind start turning, Is he pushing dope, is he part of a gang or simply does he have stupid parents?

Now all of these things may be true or totally just part of my jealous fantasy, more likely the second choice, but if when the light turns green and this kid takes off faster than a brides nighty and you come across him and his car twisted around a pole further down the road I know a small part of me gets a really angry about all the wasted talent and money that went into that car no matter what make or model (just like the cherry 69 Camaro some dumbass totaled not too far from my house on Memorial Day Weekend from racing, STUPID PR*CK) and you start thinking serves him right, especially you find out later half of the parts were stolen or bought with drug money.

And if the kid worked at McDonald's since he was a freshman in high school it makes me angrier yet. Cause he aint making nowhere as much as me a year and to be that fortunate to be able to sink that much green into his ride and then jepordize it by racing on the street or just driving like the street is his personal track and we're all his opponets he deserves to have his car impounded and crushed. If he got caught picking up hookers in his ride they would take his car or if he was caught pushing dope in it they would take it. Maybe not crush it, but he don't have it anymore. So how is this any different?

Wow my mind hurts. Dan

[jmortensen]

Here is where it gets fuzzy for me:

This sounds like due process to me. Is it not?

Maybe, but I didn't read anything about the state issuing checks for the value of the property they're destroying...

Did everyone miss this?

"Nearly 1,000 people — drivers and spectators — have been arrested for investigation of street racing activities over the past two years in San Bernardino County alone. Police need a court order to destroy the cars. They must prove that the serial or identification numbers on a vehicle or its parts are removed, altered or destroyed."

Again, how far does this go??? If you've changed, say, your air filter or your spark plugs, have not parts been removed and altered? It's written so loosely as to become a potential excuse for a government agency to destroy just about any vehicle they want.

[Rockr69]

I do feel the same way Jon, but this isn't about air filters and spark plugs. The sad thing is no matter how many cars the gov'ment crushes there will still be street racers endangering the rest of us and tarnishing the good name us hot rodders, all of us have built over the years.

Besides I hate the man just as much as anyone but if my wife's Accord were stolen so that some punk could fix his illegal street racer I'd like the damn thing crushed and the state to reimburse my wife. Then make the criminal pay the state back with many years of hard manual labor!

[zbane]

So you're worried about the "stupid monkey" in charge and what he does in other countries, but not worried about the executive branch of government which he directly controls coming and taking your property away and destroying it? Who is nuts again???

I guess as long as you're happy beating up on mussel cars that's all that counts. I prefer to pick on the clam cars myself, although every once in a while I'll pick a fight with a sponge car or an octopus car too.

LMFAO!!

Two words on this subject come to mind- Eminent Domain

From Wikipedia

Eminent domain (U.S.), compulsory purchase (United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ireland), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Australia) or expropriation (Canada, South Africa) in common law legal systems is the inherent power of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate private property, or rights in private property, without the owner's consent. The property is taken either for government use or by delegation to third parties who will devote it to "public use." The most common uses of property taken by eminent domain are public utilities, highways, and railroads. Some states require that the government body offer to purchase the property before resorting to the use of eminent domain.

The term expropriation...should be differentiated from forfeiture which is an uncompensated seizure of contraband from criminals and its confiscation by the government.

The term condemnation is used to describe the act of a government exercising its power of eminent domain to transfer title to private property from its rightful owner to itself. ...

Condemnation via eminent domain indicates the government is taking the property or an interest in it, such as an easement. In most cases the only thing that remains to be decided when a condemnation action is filed is the amount of just compensation, although in some cases the right to take may be challenged by the property owner on the grounds that the attempted taking is not for a public use, or has not been authorized by the legislature, or because the condemnor has not followed the proper procedure required by law.

The exercise of eminent domain is not limited to real property. Governments may also condemn personal property, such as supplies for the military in wartime, franchises, as well as intangible property such as contracts, patents, trade secrets and copyrights.

But a few other thoughts come to mind.

While street racing is obviously dangerous, it is nowhere near as dangerous as drunk driving.

Here are some stats:

http://www.madd.org/stats/0,1056,1112,00.html

According to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2006, 17,941 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes - an average of one every half-hour. These deaths constituted approximately 41 percent of the 43,300 total traffic fatalities. Drunk (those at or above an illegal BAC of .08) drivers were involved in 13990 fatalities in 2006.

This is an increase from 2005, when 17,525 people were killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes and 13,613 people were killed in crashes involving drunk drivers.

And some stats about Street Racing

http://www.nhra.com/streetlegal/stats.html

In 2001, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that police listed street racing as a factor in 135 fatal crashes. The total was up from 72 street-racing-related fatalities reported in 2000.

Now which is worse? Both are incredibly stupid to do, but one of them is much more likely to affect YOU at some time or another.

Imagine what would happen if “they” were to confiscate and crush every car used for drunk driving.

[zguitar71]

Back to the issue of America loosing its economic power due to the importing of cars (and other goods). America has its hands in the profiteering off of other countries too. American mining companies have mines of many types in many different countries. The largest gold mine (and one of the profitable) in the world is located in the mountains of Irian Jaya and is owned by the Freeport Mining Company, an American company. So while the import car companies are selling cars here and making profits off of us we are making money (and lots of it) off other countries and peoples in other ways. No one or country is guitly or innocent in the global market.

[gogriz91]

This is hilarious! I can't help but wonder how many pages we would have gone through if they had been crushing Chevettes and Pacers instead of Civics!

[Z train]

The ignorance and total lack of understanding of how things work is mind blowing in this topic.READ THE ARTICLE AGAIN.One guy produced reciepts for the alledged stolen parts and his car was still crushed.People think it's funny because "it's the ricer crowd".How funny is it going to be when YOUR Z gets crushed because you put a header & wheels on it?The way laws are written, a 69 Camaro could be seized because the owner put air shocks & a set of Cragars on it.If you think this is O.K you're a f**king moron.And to say the "Z" isn't Japanese like the others is possibly the dumbest thing i've read this year.EVERY Japanese car imported to or made in this country owes a debt to the "Z".

Here's another ditty for you:

Attorney general says he can seize street-racing cars without laying charges

Michael Oliveira, Canadian Press

Published: Thursday, June 21, 2007 Article tools

TORONTO (CP) - The government has the power to seize and destroy cars that have been adapted for street racing, and can do so before a race takes place or any charges are laid, Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant said Wednesday.

Car junkies who pour thousands of dollars into their vehicles to make them as fast as possible are wasting their money, Bryant said. He warned potential racers that all it takes is a tip from police to seize and destroy their cars.

"If we can establish someone has parts and they're juicing up their car - obviously for the purpose of street racing - then we can seize those vehicles," Bryant said.

"We will seize it and you will never see it again. We will crush your car, we will crush the parts."

Bryant said cars built for street racing are as dangerous as explosives and can cause catastrophic damage.

On Monday, a truck driver was killed after a crash on Highway 400 that was blamed on speed and dangerous driving.

Prabhjit Multani, 20, and Nauman Nusrat, 19, face charges including dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing death by street racing.

Ravi Badhwar, 20, has been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

"This was a senseless act that cost a man his life and has left his family without a father, brother and grandfather," Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino said in a release.

"There is no excuse for street racing and aggressive driving, such as the high speeds and unsafe lane changes we have seen recently."

The crash was the third major accident in four days on the busy north-south highway, and the second fatal one.

Bryant said the government has had enough of street racers, and will have no qualms about destroying their cars.

"We don't need to wait until that car hits the road fully loaded," he said.

Bryant also said the Crown has not yet decided whether to appeal the sentences of two young Toronto men who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death after a taxi driver was killed in a crash.

Wang-Piao Dumani Ross and Alexander Ryazanov, both 20, were each handed two-year conditional sentences and two years of probation for their role in the January 2006 crash.

Their lawyers said they weren't racing, although their speeding did constitute dangerous driving.

© The Canadian Press 2007