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 Getting
Caught in the
Fast
Lane
By: Margarett
Yuhico
For
those living within the street-racing culture, their world is filled
with the smell of exhaust and burnt rubber. Drag racing has been hyped
by the mainstream media with the popularity of movies like 2 Fast
2 Furious and its predecessor. No longer are street-racing and tricked
out cars part of underground garages and car clubs. Move over and
get out of the way, as drag racing recklessly tears up the streets
of Miami.
For 21-year-old Mark
Boyer, drag racing is more than just living dangerously; it's become
a way of life. The lack of a car does not stop this adrenaline-addict
from hopping on his go-cart and cutting through sharp street corners.
Boyer weaves in and out of the narrow roads inhabiting his quiet neighborhood.
He "blew the motor" in his car, the "most common mistake
in drag racing." Even though he was almost arrested for street
racing, it did not stop his need for speed.
Boyer says his passion
for cars began when he first worked on a car at the age of fifteen.
"I started going to races when I got my second car," said
Boyer. "It just started as a group of us and we would go out
every Thursday and Friday night…building up to where we [found]
out about [street] races."
But the fantasies
of drag racers portrayed in movies often turn into real-life nightmares.
Young adults are becoming more involved in high-speed drag races,
hitting the streets to feed their need for speed. For 17-year-old
William Lacasse Jr., a trip in his parents' Corvette to see 2 Fast
2 Furious proved fatal. Lacasse was killed while drag racing on a
late Thursday night. Police claim that Thursdays are more popular
days for racing because cops heavily patrol the streets Friday through
Sunday. The parents of Lacasse are blaming the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious
for its heavy influence on drivers and the rapidly growing street-racing
culture. Lacasse's death comes after another street-racing accident
off the Rickenbacker Causeway that sent six people, including two
children, to the hospital.
Dr. Christine Kennedy,
a health services researcher at the University of California does
not directly attribute the recent street-racing deaths to the movie.
"Do I think it is possible it influenced them? Absolutely. Do
I think the blockbuster movies influence children and young people
to take risks? Yes."
Despite recent media
coverage on the injuries and deaths caused by street-racing, young
adults are seemingly overwhelmed by the adrenaline rush. Local police
and the Florida Highway Patrol are increasing their efforts to combat
street racing. They are now armed with a new law, passed in October
2002, making drag-racing a misdemeanor, in which the violator could
be fined up to five-hundred dollars, and have his/her license revoked
for a year. There was no previous law that made street racing illegal.
Boyer sadly and defiantly
assures that the law would not curtail street racing. "It's scary.
You think about it twice when you're in a race, but once you start
racing you don't even think about the cops."
Denver Pereira, 20,
a former writer for a local high-school paper, has covered the local
street-racing culture. Pereira doesn't promote racing, but he confirms
the fact that teens will inevitably drag race, and suggests that if
kids race, they should race "on a track or on a controlled environment
away from traffic and residential areas, which put them at risk and
they risk hurting others."
Moroso Motor Sports
Park offers "Test & Tune" on Wednesday and Friday nights,
which allows racers to "Take It Off the Street and Get It On
the Strip." It's totally legal and the cost is $15 to race or
$10 to watch. The races involve time runs, grudge racing or races
for simple "bragging rights." It's open to any driver who
is at least 18-years-old and who possesses a valid Driver's License.
More information is available on www.morosomotorsportspark.com.
"[Racing is]
five seconds of thrills for you and it's a lifetime of tragedy for
your family," warned Pereira.
Now, Boyer spends most of his time fixing imported cars as a hobby.
He offers some decent advice, despite his reckless behavior. "It's
fun but you've got to watch what you're doing. If you're in a race,
wear a seatbelt. If you're going to drive, wear a seatbelt, period."
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