Cars crushed in street racing crackdown

[geezer]

The police would not be seizing anyones vehicles and crushing them if they were not empowered by law. Who empowers them? Local, State and Federal legislation brought about by "our" elected officials. I say "our" because all democratic countries operate under similar principals, although structured differently and worded differently. Do you think the majority of these kids ever took part in an election that would have made a difference in a law of this type being passed? That's something that isn't even on their radar, till it's too late. They don't give a rats arse about the global economy either. We all probably have enough stories to tell, about the dumb stunts pulled off in our younger days, without any thought of the consequences. I could fill a few chapters in that book. I, like these kids, thought I was in complete control and indestructable. I don't like being infringed on by government any more than anyone else, but I only have one vote and a voice.

[jmortensen]

The police would not be seizing anyones vehicles and crushing them if they were not empowered by law. Who empowers them? Local, State and Federal legislation brought about by "our" elected officials.

Not so sure about this. I think there are many instances where a state or Congress might pass a law that is unconstitutional, and that doesn't make it right or justified. That just means that people have to push a case involving the law to whichever court has the power to say yea or nay. Like I said before, if I had my car impounded and crushed I'd push it as far as I could. This is one case where a group like the ACLU could actually do some good.

[daddz]

All I know is my Z keeps a fair amount of american parts counter guys working

I wish I could agree with you on this point but lately every g**damned part in the Nissan catalog is no longer available (NLA= death to the Nissan enthusiast) which is becoming ridiculous.

Last summer I had to replace the right rear caliper on my '81 280ZX and Nissan was "NLA" so off to NAPA. At NAPA the supplier in Ca. did not have any cores to rebuild! Off to Carquest. THey had two and one was crap so finally after four days a usable caliper.

More recently the water valve for a 280Z with A/C is NLA. The aftermarket does not have them either. I guess Z cars do not require working HVAC systems? Maybe it's time to start restoring old Mustangs?

Sorry to be sour and off topic but at one time the Z car owner had a similar reputation. I was at the tail end of that era in the late 1980's and early 1990's when I bought my first used Z car and the abuse from my American muscle owning friends was a pain in the a** at times. If you live long enough history will tend to repeat itself.

[geezer]

Not so sure about this. I think there are many instances where a state or Congress might pass a law that is unconstitutional, and that doesn't make it right or justified. That just means that people have to push a case involving the law to whichever court has the power to say yea or nay. Like I said before, if I had my car impounded and crushed I'd push it as far as I could. This is one case where a group like the ACLU could actually do some good.

Your absolutley right Jon, but until a case has run out of avenues and a decision isn't overturned, nothing changes. If the law is found to be unconstitutional, you have the right to take up a civil suit. Unfortunately, until a ruling is overturned or a law repealed, many will be caught up in the backwash. Like you mention, power is in the numbers. There have been attempts to repeal these laws, but not on a scale large enough. Before you could get enough support to repeal a law you need another to take it's place.

My personal opinion in this particular car crushing legislation is, it is not an effective deterent. It does nothing to keep the daredevils off the street. They can cause just as much death & destruction with a 5000 lb land yawht. It just ups the thrill/challenge level a notch. On the other hand, stiffer fines & licence suspensions have been argued to be uneffective. What is the alternative that will get the support of the masses?

[daddz]

One Vote for the "Greatest Understatement" so far in this thread.

America no longer has Journalists reporting the news, nor Editors demanding factual and complete accounts be presented to the public. We have Entertainers creating stories taken from daily life, for multiple channels of cable Info-tain-ment. Now more and more delivered by Movie Star Quality Female anchors.

You never get the whole story - and what you do get is mostly misleading or simply wrong.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Carl,

Amen!

Unfortunately that is the truth in regards to the media outlets. Apparently they have benchmarked and outsourced and rightsized themselves into a fairly useless industry. Nowadays the news travels very fast but you have read the same story from three outlets to get a complete view of the issue at hand and therefore it takes the same amount of time as in the old days before the Internet.

Funny thing is they are a bunch of plagiarizing fools as I have read the same phrase in multiple articles without a proper citation. At my current college (University of Maryland) the plagiarism issue has reached critical mass. In my two years at this college I have been required to complete three plagiarism self tests for various classes at the beginning of the semester as the classes got underway.

[sakijo]

I've done a lot of stupid things involving the driving of a car and I was pleased to see this piece on the local news. However, without knowing all the details and laws, it could very well be a case of EXTREME behavior by the government. If this makes you happy, fine. If it makes your blood boil, work to change the law. If all else fails, move to another State. I live in Hawaii, and I consider it to be a Communist State when it comes to government. And the sad part about it is that everyone complains, but still elect the same idiots.

Bottom line: Know the laws and have a good lawyer.

[Pir0San]

I agree with everyone else, I think the crushing of the cars was a little extreme. I did see the video on hybridz from the CHP on illegal modifications, and it did seem a little vague in the way that they would identify parts as illegal or not. From what I understand, all aftermarket modifications must come with a CARB sticker here in california, but I have been told by friends that some cops will still impound a car regardless if it is CARB legal or not.

I think it's a little strange that the police would go as far as to crush the hondas, regardless if they were racing or not. I'm sure that the article is leaving some explanation out as to why they were crushed. Maybe the police made a deal with them where if they gave their cars up to be crushed, they wouldn't be fined extensively, given jail time, etc..., who knows. I do know that back in high school, I was in a "You and the Law" class, where the school had a program with the juvenile court where students in the class could play as the jury and as the defense of the person on trial. A minor would commit a crime, and if they pled guilty, the court would give them a chance to skip juvenile hall if they let their case be seen by other students. The jurors would decide what kind of punishment they deserved: community service, counseling, etc, which would be less of a punishment than what they would have originally had.

Sorry if that didn't make sense, I just got off of work...

[bigoak]

Hey, who says I wouldn't ditch my Z for a nice SS Chevelle or early Camaro?

Blasphemy...not politically correct but isn't that like saying I'm going to ditch my supermodel girlfriend for an obese woman simply because she has bigger breasts...(BTW my stock 240Z took down a nice piggy Chevelle just the other day...)

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

...

© The Canadian Press 2007

1. This relates to Canada not the U.S. (we have a slightly more interventionist approach to government/citizen relations than you do...you guys have more guns mind you...).

2. A jack*ss politician can fire off his mouth and say that, but I'm not sure that would stand up to legal challenge (Liberals, his political party, are great for shooting off their mouths and then checking the facts afterwards, his leader promised to shut down all the coal-fired electricity plants until someone explained Toronto would go dark...Liberals, the party but not necessarily the penchant, are generally idiots...my political feathers might be showing a little).

3. For the record, they are going to throw the book at those two idiots and rightly so...racing at midday on a crowded highway (not an empty road in the dead of night)...they are such fools they should be locked away for the safety of society at large.

[Fun_in_my_z]

Well lets say we don't crush them. OK fine, sale them at auction two weeks later to a 16 year old kid who will do the same thing with it. Would you rather be paying taxes for it to sit in the impound? Atleast this way itgets their attention.

[Fun_in_my_z]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19306326/

[jmortensen]

Well lets say we don't crush them. OK fine, sale them at auction two weeks later to a 16 year old kid who will do the same thing with it. Would you rather be paying taxes for it to sit in the impound? Atleast this way itgets their attention.

Here in America we don't assume that people are going to misuse things. There is a relatively old argument for making cars that cannot exceed the speed limit, and you are basically restating that old argument. The point for me is that people should be able to own just about anything, and should only get in trouble when they MISUSE it. The gov't should not assume that it can only be misused. When it does all of our Z's will be on the chopping block.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19306326/

This kinda proves my point don't you think? Do you think the cops would have a new DARE car if he was driving a Hyundai at 135? What did he say when he booked the guy? "Thanks for the car".

Not good people. Not good. Again, I'm not saying the driver should go unpunished at all, but this is basically a license to take whatever car they want. Jail time (LOTS) would be a more appropriate punishment in my opinion.

[Hrududu]

Do you think the cops would have a new DARE car if he was driving a Hyundai at 135?

Can a Hyundai do 135??