“But these all pale in comparison to drunk driving. Nearly 144,000 people were killed by drunk drivers in the U.S., a staggering 44 per cent of all fatalities.”

From 2005 of course.

In comparison…

“Of these, a mere 353 (0.12 per cent) were from street racing.”

So why instant felony charges and jail time and loss of licenses and cars for street racers… and a slap on the wrist for drunk drivers and maybe a $500 fine and a name in a newspaper? Is it because people don’t want to face the reality that their BROTHER, or MOTHER, or SISTER, or FATHER could be a MURDERER because they made a poor decision one night after a dinner out, or a party? Is it because Big Alcohol have the lobbying powers to keep drunk driving offenses to a minimum because it’d hurt their wallets otherwise? Is it because someone driving drunk can run to a lawyer when the evil police officer catches them, but the typical car enthusiast might not be able to afford to do so?

The punishment is so far off for drunk drivers… and yet an import driver can be minding their own business but get thrown in jail for a crime they didn’t even commit. Punish the REAL CRIME, quit ignoring it.

“Nassau County [New York] Executive Thomas Suozzi and Police Commissioner Mulvey have released the names and communities of 109 DWI and DUI arrests from Memorial Day weekend. None of the defendents have been convicted of a crime at this time and are only charged. ”

And then follows are many many mugshots, and then a complete list of the drunks they arrested.

Good idea?

I think so. Public humiliation is always a good tactic. I am sure for some of these people it is a horribly embarrassing experience, so maybe that’ll make them think twice before they get behind the wheel again after drinking.

Many more pictures can be viewed by clicking the link up top.

All 109 arrests: names and location
SUBJECT ADDRESS
CANALES, EMANUEL, D Locust Valley
KELLY, JOHN, P Glen Cove
ROLIN, JORGE, E Lynbrook
BOONE,DARRYL Westbury
MOHER, MELISSA,L Amityville
COHEN, LISA,F Great Neck
OLIVEIRA, VICTOR, G Floral Park
LINDNER, CARLY, R Levittown
VARRICHIO, AUGUSTINE Amity Harbor
ONEIL, WILLIAM J Valley Stream
SAMOUHI, DAVID Roslyn Heights
KAPLAN, JANE I Westbury
MOREIRA, ELSA, Y Bohemia
SANGERMANO, ANDREA J Bellrose
LEONTAKIANAKOS, AGIS Dix Hills
MORALES, GONZALO Freeport
RIVERA, JESUS Ozone Park
NIEDZIELKA, PATRICIA Bayside
LEVITT, MICHAEL, L Island Park
VIGLIOTTI, GIANNA, R Glen Cove
GARCIA, FREDDIE Oceanside
CARDOZA, JUAN, F Baldwin
ALMENDAREZ, GERONIMO Amityville
PASECHNIK, ALLA Brooklyn
KERNAGHAN, SALVATORE Wantagh
POTAMOUSIS, MARY Grand Rapids, MI
KARCIC, TANYA, M New Hyde Park
GRAHAM, SHAMAR, A Brooklyn
JOHNSON, TIMOTHY Wilkes Barre, PA
CLARKE, PATRICIA, N Long Beach
BROWN, JEFFREY L Oyster Bay
SCALETTAR, ERIC M Melville
VLANTIS, MARIA Farmingville
MALHOTRA, AMARDEEP, S Glen Head
SALMERON, JOSE D Uniondale
GONIAS, MICHAEL J Bellmore
WINTER, BRANDON, D Oceanside
HUH, KRISTINA Albertson
HAKIMI, KEVIN Roslyn
GOLIA, CATHERINE, M Glen Cove
MULLANEY, STEPHEN, H Ridgewood
HEITMANN, JUSTIN, M Douglaston
BORELLI, VALERIE Hicksville
STEINGRUEBNER, KARL Freeport
BELIZAIRE, DEREK Bay Shore
KAZMIERCZAK, RAFAL Maspeth
OBRIEN, STEVEN J Huntington
DEVANY,ANNA,G East Meadow
MALDONADO,SERGIO,R Uniondale
VIVIANO,PATRICK,G Hicksville
PETERS,DAVID,M Shirley
MOYER,MARYANN Hicksville
ABREU,AVELINA,A Lindenhurst
VALENTIN,JASON,M Franklin Square
MATA, LUIS Westbury
HEBERT, TERRY,J Mineola
JOLLY,ROHAN,B Port Washington
LASUSA, LOUIS J Massapequa
PANICO,NICHOLAS,S Oceanside
HELFRICK, JOHN Glen Cove
ZIELINSKI, VICTOR J Lindenhurst
GUEVARO MARLON O Mineola
VELASQUEZ,INES,G Glen Cove
ARMATA, KAREN A East Meadow
MATHEWS, RUBY T Ridgewood
MARMO, JOHN R Massapequa
ASLAM, AFTAB Astoria
BERNSTEIN,JONATHAN,L Long Beach
TOON,CHRISTOPHER,L Forest Hills
JAIN, VIREN Somerset, NJ
CACACE,NICHOLAS,S Syosset
DAVIS,SEAN,P Whitestone
ELIZONDO,JOSE,L Gainesville, GA
VALERIO,ASHLEY,L Melville
BOERNER,KERRI,L South Farmingdale
BAREA,JULIO,H,3RD Levittown
JANSEN, BILLY,J Levittown
SOSSA, LUIS A Elmhurst
DENAUD, SEVERE Brooklyn
FLORES, ERIC J Kings Park
ALLOCCO, DOUGLAS P Garden City South
TSIKNAS, JOHN A Hicksville
CORPORAN, JENNY A Freeport
TRAPANI, RAYMOND W Atlantic Beach
HARRIS, MATTHEW T Hempstead
TORRES, BEVERLY Freeport
DELGADO, JUAN A Roosevelt
ALEGRE, JOSE L Glen Cove
NAYEE, SAMIR T Winter Park, FL
ZAGATA, VICTORIA Bethpage
FERNANDEZS, KEVIN Brooklyn
PAULINO, JUAN A Brentwood
FLORES-PAREJA, ALVARO Hempstead
DECURTIS, JOHN Island Park
ANDERSEN, SHIRLEY R Laurel Hollow
MENA, MATTHEW A Great Neck
PAIGE, GEORGE C Bellmore
HELTON, BENNY L Dandrige, TN
PARKER, OSCAR A White Plains
SOLEIMANI, DAVID S Jericho
AKAZI, UCHENNA H N Baldwin
TOBIA, DEREK S Oyster Bay
GRACE, LORRAINE M Oyster Bay
BONILLA, JOSE A Hempstead
MACKRODT, CHRISTOPHER Levittown
MASEL, STEPHEN J East Meadow
RICH, CHRISTOPHER C Massapequa
LULY, ERNST Hempstead
MARCOS, JOSE L Hempstead

BBC News video is found here, which cool footage of Lambos and even a Nissan Skyline participating. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7416571.stm

Using $503,000 in federal and state gas tax revenue to pay for overtime, nine police agencies in Riverside, California sent more than one hundred police officers to surround a gathering of automotive enthusiasts. Owners of imported sport compact cars had gathered at the Canyon Crossing shopping center on Friday night to swap stories, talk about their passion for cars and show off the latest enhancements to their rides. At around 11pm police surprised participants by blocking all exits with fifty police cruisers. Officers then began a warrantless search and interrogation operation of the 150 vehicles that were present.

“If you’re not into street racing, why would you need that?” Riverside Police Traffic Sergeant Skip Showalter asked an enthusiast during a similar crackdown last year. “Why would you want more power going to your car?”

Police issued a total of forty-eight tickets for “engine modifications” with police accusing the owners of the parked vehicles of being street racers. Another fifty tickets were issued for paperwork violations, dark window tinting and lack of a front license plate. The most revenue, however, will be generated from the fees imposed on twenty vehicles that were confiscated. Despite labeling the parking lot raid as taking place at a “street racing venue,” Riverside Police offered no evidence that any street racing actually took place.

Across the state, gas tax funds are regularly used to fund similar crackdowns that generate big revenue. In 2004, the California Highway Patrol issued a total of 101,553 “modified car” citations worth $10.5 million according to CHP data obtained by TheNewspaper.

Other law enforcement agencies participating in Friday night’s raid included the California Highway Patrol, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, and police from Baldwin Park, Fontana, Irwindale, Moreno Valley, Ontario and Mount San Jacinto Community College.

“McDivitt Law Firm will pay for Yellow Cab rides within Colorado Springs this New Year’s Eve.

Attorney Mike McDivitt said he came up with the idea after he was startled by a recent survey that ranked Colorado Springs as the nation’s third drunkest city.

“I love this town, and I just didn’t dream we’d have this type of drinking problem,” said McDivitt, who estimated that 30 percent of his personal injury clients were hurt in drunken driving accidents.

The free Yellow Cab rides will be given between 10 p.m. Dec. 31 and 4 a.m. Jan. 1 to anyone who has been drinking alcohol or who doesn’t feel they have a safe way home.

McDivitt was careful to note that cab rides will only be given to residential addresses and not from bar to bar.

He said he doesn’t know how much the cab rides will cost, but estimates he’ll pay for about 1,800 cab rides.

McDivitt hopes the free rides will raise drunk-driving awareness, but admitted that there’s a good deal of publicity and exposure that will come as a result of the free rides.

“There’s certainly no drawback there,” he said. ”

(found at http://csbjblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/law-firm-paying-for-new-year-eve-cab.html)

As a side note, this is probably one of Colorado’s strictest towns when it comes to street racing enforcement and they’re leading the fight for tougher racing laws, and have been known to ticket drivers for street racing because their tires spun on ice… and yet it’s the 3rd “drunkest” in the nation. Hmmm

1. A cop is saying how most of the time the cars are modified with poor quality parts and how we shouldn’t want to be driving next to a vehicle that is modified in such a way. Geez, thanks for telling me what I should be worried about, but guess what? I’ll take my chances any day driving next to a lowered or otherwise modified vehicle any day than someone leaving a bar, party, or restaurant that had been drinking.

2. When asked if there was anything better they could be doing besides picking on street racers, the cop answered “no.” Sorry, but WHAT THE HELL? Are you telling me that street racing is the ONLY illegal activity going on in San Diego County? No murders, rapes, burglaries, car thefts, child molestation, drunk drivers, vandalism, people speeding in their SUVs while on their cell phones, drug trafficking, NOTHING? That street racing was the only thing causing deaths? Yeah, people die from street racing, but a whole lot more die of a whole lot more things.

Ugh, the whole thing just PISSES ME OFF. Here they show a bunch of fine officers ticketing people for blue colored turn signals and cold air intakes, thinking their freaking heroes while someone is actually probably in harm’s way because of a drunk driver. DAMN THOSE BLUE HEADLIGHTS, DAMN THEM! When will the carnage caused by blue headlights ever end?!?!

I guess a good thing to come of this is that Drag Net of San Diego was disbanded in 2007, and assigned to auto theft detail. How wonderful, after 6 years they finally put the officers on REAL crime.

But… WAIT A MINUTE. I am not done with Drag Net. This is what they were assigned to do all those years:

“The team would comb Web sites that advertise last-minute locations for the clandestine races. Team members would swoop in on the thousands of onlookers and participants at the nighttime gatherings in places such as Kearny Mesa and Otay Mesa.

They went undercover to surreptitiously film racers at the illegal events, recording faces and license plates – many from the fleeing fans and racers. An arrest warrant would be compiled, and the dragsters would be arrested at home.”

Isn’t this ENTRAPMENT? You can’t go into a bar, secretly film an obviously drunk person, film them driving home… and then arrest them at home. That isn’t allowed. In most places, cops aren’t allowed to make drunk driving stops within a such and such distance of a drinking establishment. But yet the government paid cops to go to freaking In-N-Out Burger, film the faces and plates of car enthusiasts hanging out, and then use that against them? Because believe me, they weren’t just at the races filming these people.  There is a reason and good logic behind removing one’s license plates while at car shows and legal tracks, and covering up the VIN on the dash

Good riddance Drag Net. Just think of the lives they could’ve saved by assigning those officers to looking for drunks.

Enough for now.

“Sadly, Joe Public eats it all up since he/she really has no clue and no way or verifying if what the talking heads are saying is true. How do I know this? Well that’s because Canada doesn’t compile and keep statistics on the causes of accidents, which would include those by street racing.

“As an auto enthusiast and an engineer for an automotive manufacturing company, I take a keen interest in all things automotive. So I decided to do much research on the topic so that I could make my own decisions. With little info available here, I had to turn to the US. By all accounts, street racing is a much more serious problem in the US than it is here. Well after coming up emtpy for statistics from Transport Canada, I found a wealth of information from the National Highway Safety Administration FARS (Fatality Analysis Accident Reporting System) statistics. Street racing has been included in the FARS database since 1998.

“The statistics, to say the least, were eye opening. Far from being a scourge of the highways, street racing accounts for very few traffic deaths. From 1998-2005, there were 304,236 fatalities on U.S. roads. Of these, a mere 353 (0.12 per cent) were from street racing. For comparitive purposes, I also looked at other common causes. Talking on a cellphone, another dangerous driving habit much hyped by police and the media was only slightly less dangerous at 327 deaths (0.11 per cent).

“Bear in mind, millions of Canadians talk on cell phones daily; an act statistically as dangerous as street racing.

“Driving slower than the posted speed limit (429 deaths, 0.14 per cent) accounted for more deaths. Surprisingly, being distracted by something inside the vehicle, such as talking to a passenger, adjusting a mirror, fiddling with a radio or eating caused an eye-opening 38,914 deaths (12.79 per cent).

“Again, this is something plenty of people do every day while driving. Some of the highest trained street drivers in the world, police officers, caused nearly four times the fatalities (1,357, 0.44 per cent) of street racers!

“But these all pale in comparison to drunk driving. Nearly 144,000 people were killed by drunk drivers in the U.S., a staggering 44 per cent of all fatalities. Canada isn’t much better. Drunk driving here is responsible for at least 30 per cent of all fatalities, claiming sometimes over 1,000 victims per year.

“By contrast I’ve been only able to find less than a dozen deaths caused by street racing in Canada for the last two years combined.

“And now there’s been talk from the Attorney General about impounding and crushing cars of street racers. Why such a harsh punishment for something that is more or less insignificant statistically? Easy. These street racers are generally young people. And young people have no money to defend themselves in a court of law. So it’s easy for the agenda-driven police and politicians to “show” that they are cracking down and being tough on this “epidemic” of street racing.

“Now, let’s imagine for a second that the police and politicians changed the laws so that the cars of drunk drivers, the most dangerous group of killers on Canadian roads, were crushed. The outcry would be IMMENSE to say the least. Drunk drivers include people from every walk of life. Judges, teachers, politicians, police, journalists, engineers you name it. And more alarming, these people drive drunk multiple times! Even with suspended licenses.

“The fact is “street racers” are being centered out for political reasons but mainly because they are easy pickings. What a better group to target than a group of people perceived as dangerous drivers that can’t defend themselves.

“Don’t get me wrong here. Street racing is stupid, irresponsible and downright dangerous. But is it the threat to humanity we have been reading about? Certainly not.

“The average person doesn’t know the facts and has no idea where to look for them. They are being lied to and are being fed a plate full of bullshit. (Last month) the Commisioner of the OPP said that we need a fleet of airplanes to combat street racing! Are you kidding me? A fleet of airplanes? And he had the audacity to say that the cost would be “minimal” and that they would pay for themselves by saving tens of thousands of lives!!

“A fleet or airplanes that require engine overhauls every 1,500 hours at a cost of $15,000 each!! And we need these to get a very small number of nut jobs off the road?And guess who will buy into this and be the ones paying for this? Yes . . . the same poeple who have no idea that this isn’t really a problem . . .

Ron Durocher

Harrow