[yelostang]

Last Tues or Wed nite, the FloridaHP raided an organized street race scene on Rt. 27, West of Miami, in Dade County. All spectators,About a 100!) ranging in age from 12 to 40 were arrested. Some cars were confiscated, under a new Fl law. They showed one, a blue/puke green Eclipse that is supposed to be a clone of a Fast And Furious car. Can hardly wait for the FHP to sport around in that! Those with cars, besides losing car, get a $500 fine and a year suspension. Imagine, if the car is financed, a racer will still have to pay off the note, which is a contract. Same with a lease! They do it in drug busts, so now street racing!

 

[Lemondrop]

Wish everytime I saw a FHP or local/county/city cop blast by me on the way to the doughnut shop I could take thier cruiser away ....
I always notice when a cop gets into a accident it makes the paper but they never caused it .....

 

[sidewinder]

I'm not a big fan of street racing especially in crowded areas. It is still wrong for governments to take possesions as a penality. I thought that the supreme court ruled that the rico laws were unconstitutional.

 

[TheShagg]

Ah yes, america, land of the free... no damn yankee gunna make me do this or take this away from me, no sireeeeee.

Im beginning to think that my generation, and those that follow, will have no faith in their leaders to make good decisions, and will not consider this the land of the free. But i wont stand too high on my soapbox YET...

 

[sharkmouth]

I hate ricers.....but confiscation for racing is wrong.

Fine the con several thou..maybe he/she will have to sell the car....but just taking it is wrong.

 

[Gene_J]

It really sounds like something Stalin would do. Confiscating property with out a trial or a finding of guilty.

The Minneapolis St. Paul Airport used to confiscate any large sums of cash found during security checks. The claim was always it was drug money. It would cost a fortune to sue to get it back so few persons bothered. They did this a lot until they confiscated 5,000 in cash from a congressman's mom who was going to Las Vegas. You don't hear much about it any more.

They confiscate cars and homes where around here when they find a single marajuana joint.

A local town here once proposed to confiscate autos for cruising. Cruising was defined as passing the same point twice in half an hour.

Any policemen and lawyers want to chime in and explain the issues?

 

[Mach1Pilot]

Just a point of interest... Florida isn't exactly run by Yankees. Except for the pinstriped types in New York, the land of Yankees is up here in the upper right corner of the country otherwise known as New England.

And if the Floridians hear you refer to them as "yankees" you might just find a few good ole boys and their Dixie flag-decorated trucks on your doorstep. Seems they don't take too kindly to bein' called "yankees"! ::

 

[stangfever]

When I was growing up cruising and street racing was a weekly event.the parents always knew where thier Kids were then.seems like they could do more good building local drag strips and organizing these activities.Confiscating cars is only going to make them run and have a higher risk of accidents and injury.

 

[TheShagg]

yes i used to live in georgia, i know a little bit about yankees and such. I was just saying that like i picture someone saying back in the REALLY old days.

 

[nylhtak]

Actually, a Raleigh NC city cop ran a red light (no blues flashing) recently and killed someone. He is working desk duty till they finish the investigation. I figure we'll never hear about it again...but it was in the news while the "victim" was holding on in critical condition.

 

[maddhatteroo7]

UGH dollars to those cop's donuts, that its the LIBERAL's fault....god i DESPISE those perverse liberals that twist america to benefit themselves and the ACLU-loving perverts, it seriously disgusts me....i dont hate my country...but we're going to hell in a hand basket if little johnny is thought to be a national threat for playing w\a cap gun and all we worry about is if we hurt someone's feelings...man...if only a SERIOUS right wing repub. would run this country...bush is too soft IMO....he's great, but soft in some areas....if only Micheal Savage would run lol...but he is running for the Gov. of CA...which i HOPE HE WINS! ::

 

[egnorant]

We are lucky enough to have a local dragstrip that is 15 miles from our 2 large towns. It helps but the
folks are still out and showing off in town.
Tonight I witnessed a crash with a fatality in front of our local Sonic (not a regular hangout for these guys)
2 cars racing at about 70 in a 45 zone when one of them flinched at a car pulling into the oncoming turn lane.
I had to stop and lend aid, but the passenger was clearly dead. Driver was O.K. with a cut scalp and the 2 girls in the back were
a mass of cut and bruises. As we all know from our being teenagers, they will find a way to do stupid things.
I got to talk with a group of the kids that knew the guys in the wreck and I was rough on them.
One young girl was very upset when I told her that the driver was stupid and must live with killing his friend for the rest of his life.
20 seconds of glory and at least 2 young people ruined. I told her that by this time next year (she is 17)
she will be more upset about a chipped fingernail than the fact that her friend is dead! All the people driving by don't care,
He will be a page in the annual that is packed in a box for the rest of their lives. For 20 seconds of cheap glory
that would be forgotten by many. I knew most of these kids as many hang out in my parking lot while cruising.
I must admit I was brutal but it felt like the correct rant at the correct time. One girl pointed out that if they had not hit a telephone pole
he might not have dies, I pointed out that if he had not hit the pole he would have crashed into a crowded
laundomat with whole families being ruined. When I asked if she would trade her friends life for those 3 ladies and the 5 kids standing next to
them, I think she understood. Sorry to rant like this but I was upset. If only one fails to do something stupid
I will be happy. One fellow stepped up and said to the group..and I quote! "Grow up,.... or don't"
Stong words when you are standing in front of a dead friend,
Bruce (TX)

 

[abn]

It's the battle of the fashion slaves...The first slave is a new iteration of youthful (and not so youthful) s well) have become infatuated with street racing, not just racing, but STREET RACING in particular. It's sort of a new musclecar renaissance...but rather than the lifted rear fats and skinnies emulation of 60's era drag racers...it's imported cars and domestic compacts emulating the touring car style of sports car racing. Another marked departure from the 60's/70's era is urban sprawl...you used to be able (even in the '80's when I became a teenager) to go 20 or 30 minutes away and find sparsely populated areas to meet and race. Now all these areas are developed. You can't go a day around here without another "street racing" fatality in the paper, and worse is when an innocent bystander gets hurt or killed. Politicians and law enforcement are under increasing pressure to "solve" the problem (which is a tall order...I actually think it will be the AQMD that puts an end to it here in California).

The second fashion slave is Govt and law enforcement...and property seizure legislation is all the rage right now. As jurisdictions adopt seizure legislation survive without getting sued into the ground...other's will jump in when they feel it's legally safe. They can then show their constituents how tough they are getting on street racing and create some lucrative asset flow for the department. I understand how this stuff comes about. And I can even see confiscation in lieu of jail time as a legitimate penalty...But I am patently against confiscation without a jury trial and a guilty finding. It's just to crazy to allow a "fine" with the potential to exceed the monetary penalty for some felonies with no due process and with the glaring conflict of interest that the asset goes to the seizing agency rather than to charity or at least a general fund. The lefties will blame a "Gestapo like right wing law enforcement" and the righties will blame "big government interfering in everything you do leftists"...what are we going to do?

We as auto enthusiasts better start policing our own and coming up with our own smart solutions to the problems that plague our hobby...as we know all too well it takes only one Dean Flores type to potentially screw it up for all of us...and as California falls so falls the Nation.

I think...

 

[yelostang]

When posting this did not think about politics. To Mad Hat, get your facts straight. Taking property would be an ACLU consideration. To the contrary, this law, in Fl, was spearheaded by hardball conservatives and dems alike, reacting to an out of control situation. The Republican State Senator who spoke out on the news would go ballistic if he was called liberal. George's bro Jeb Bush is a backer! As a long ago teenage monster with a 55 Chev, can have some understanding of the prob. but the cars today, are so fast that it has become a problem. The group that was arrested were blocking off a highway at 2 AM and getting it on. It is a well organized rogue event and, frankly, if confiscation of cars is the answer, so be it. And before anyone uses the "rice card" in describing the participants, there is a Mustang club called the "Outlaws"! They visted another club meeting and wanted to race. For titles is OK! There was a serious one last week involving a Taurus and whatever hauled a$le teenagers in the hospital and Mom gets on the news saying that her son was just coming from a movie!

 

[Ray_Hillebrand]

Unfortunately, kids squeal tires, so do I. Sounds like if I do it in Florida a cop can call that drag racing and confiscate my car. The fact is there are government agencies that function from the proceeds of seized property and it is encouraged. Although I do not condone drag racing I do recall as a kid a similar circumstance. We blocked the highway and ran the race. No cars could get in the way and no one got hurt. We did get raided and I had to pay a $50.00 fine for being a spectator. The real problem as I see it is there is no place to go for these kids. We want them to have a interest other than drugs but we disapprove everything they seem to do. Chaperoned teen clubs are not the answer. Cruising the town square used to be a right of passage as a teenager and now its illegal. One of these days no one will have any right to do anything. BTW, if this Florida law was passed by the legislature and Geo's brother didn't approve it, he could have exercised his veto power couldn't he???