Nick Ut / AP Posted on 06/20/2007 8:31:15 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy
Nick Ut / AP
Manuel Hernandez reacts after his car
and other impounded vehicles were crushed
at Ecology Auto Parts in Rialto, Calif., on Wednesday.
Southern California authorities crack down on illegal hot rods, street racing
RIALTO, Calif. - Charles Hoang winced when the whoosh went out of the tires. Daniel Maldonado took pictures with a digital camera as glass exploded and rained down to the ground.
The cars the teens had so meticulously souped up and tricked out were crushed Wednesday as part of a crackdown on illegal street racing in Southern California.
"That's my heart, my dream," said Hoang, 18, of Chino, who was surrounded by friends as his 1998 Acura Integra was put into a compactor. "That's my girlfriend, the love of my life. The cops can crush my car, but they can't crush my memories."
Authorities destroyed six vehicles Wednesday at an auto graveyard, hoping would-be racers think again after looking at the mashed machines. Illegal street racing is responsible for or suspected in 13 deaths in Southern California since March.
The thrill-seeking, adrenaline-pumping activity is rampant in Riverside and San Bernardino counties east of Los Angeles where rows of tract homes line wide streets that attract racers.
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.
Police said they have managed to reduce illegal racing and related fatal collisions, but know the underground hobby still thrives.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
“Did you make it to Bonneville in 1954?”
Sure did, that’s when we gave it up with the flathead.
The blue 32 with the one foot white stripe down the middle sponsored by Sparks and Bonnie Sutomotive and with #1 on it since we were the high point car in SCTA.
We had it at 254 until the last day when Voight & Colb showed up with their hemi DeSoto, made 2 runs for an average of 176, put it on the trailer and went home.
After 54 we sold the roadster and quit.
DAmn! I hope those golf clubs are okay!
So, if that is the case, does that justify crushing a vehicle instead of seeking the onwers (where possible) of the stolen property?
If they are sure of the theft of the vehicles, why were the drag racers standing by watching, not in jail for Grand Theft Auto?
That's dealing with criminal activity, not eminent domain. People engaging in this "sport" are also endangering the lives of innocent people: no one would give much of a damn if they only killed themselves. These same microcephalics also "race" on traffic-clogged freeways, putting everyone at risk.
Nice dodges.
But, let's say you had stolen furniture or fixtures in your home, knowingly or not, would you approve of the government razing your home because you couldn't prove they items weren't stolen?
As for killing others, what about speeders, DUI's, red light and stop sign runners, cell phone users and such? Do we start by taking their cars and eventually finding a reason to crush them to “teach them a lesson?”
Street racers have always been a problem and must be dealt with, but others cause far many more highway deaths and are allowed to keep their vehicles (unless totaled).
“The fastest car on the track is right here...”
I posted my time at the track. What’s your’s?
While my SVT Cobra is hardly the fastest car at Englishtown Raceway, I’d be willing to run your BMW for a few bucks.
(btw, my top end is 165.)
It is if you are going to steal the parts to do so. These cars were full of ripped off parts from chop shops.
Excessive fine? For forcing everyone on the freeways into being unwilling participants in their dangerous toying with others lives?
They’ve no one to blame but themselves.
I guess you not getting what these “street racers” are truly about.
Do you live in SoCal?
The flat and the furious...
Bad analogy. Suppose the house was built from the foundation up with a variety of stolen goods. What if the siding, the furnace, the roofing, and the windows were all acquired at "midnite contractors"? On top of that, suppose the house in question was mainly used for illegal purposes that endangered the neighbors, such as bomb manufacturing.
In the article, one of the "victims" had a stolen transmission, another a stolen engine, and a third had his VIN tags "fall off" his car. Ever known a riveted on tag to "fall off"? All of them?
Should the receiver of stolen goods be allowed to benefit by retaining possession of them if the cops cannot prove direct personal theft? There's two parts to every burglary and robbery: those who steal and those who make the theft profitable by purchasing the loot.
And by the way,
these “street racers” TOOK from me something I loved.
That street scene is GONE.
THEY destroyed it. It will NEVER be back.
Ok?
So when their precious vehicles are taken from them for *risking others lives* and these selfish CRIMINAL punks are doing this DAILY, I am in no mood to be lectured it is some kind of constitional crisis.
They are no smashing Mustang owners for going 20 over here.
These new scene is bad dude.
It is really bad.
This really breaks my heart . . . . . NOT
Reckless driving is already a violation in the laws of every state. This is going beyond the uniform traffic code to stick it to some people that the bureaucrats think that are sufficiently unpopular that they can get away with it. Look for this kind of mini tyranny to expand in the future. Just because your ox isn't getting gored with this one doesn't mean that the bureaucrats won't stick it to you in the future.
Ricers annoy everyone who isn't a ricer. So what? Does that mean that they should lose their constitutional protections and fundamental rights?
Actually, I like the M3 BMW's best. They have a low profile and they're nice cars. The new one is supposed to have a v8 and it doesn't look like they let Chris Bangle anywhere near it style wise! The new hard top roadsters rock too.
I'm looking for an R230 SL600 but the prices are still in the stratosphere, I'll let someone else eat the depreciation.
My biggest beef with BMW's (and Porsche's) is that they attract the kind of jealous looser who'll key your car while people think Mercedes are old people's cars and tend to leave them alone.
Only if it’s a 914-6. They made those version in Stuttgart on the same line as the 911.
They were marketed as Volkswagen Porches in Europe.
They lose their property by DUE PROCESS... isn’t land and isn’t an emminent domain issue. Driving is not a right.
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