On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 21:07:02 +0100, mike wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > So the kids racing each other on Saturday night all over the States > thought that up all by themselves? Actually, Mike, they did. Sanctioned drag racing started off as kids in the 40's and 50's racing their hotrods on backroads. The death toll was horrendous, so (for example) abandonned airports were used to stage properly officiated and regulated races. The "outlaw" element came first, then came legal drag racing. Same thing with American stock car racing (Nascar). Started off as moonshiners making deliveries in cars that were modified to outrun local cops. They started racing each other on back roads, and eventually, started organizing proper racing. > > No wonder America has some of the worst accident figures in the world. > There are a lot of reasons that North America and the USA have bad accident statistics, but I really don't think that street racing is a significant statistic with regard thereto. Poor driving habits, less-than-stringent licensing procedures, the lack of regular retesting, enforcement authorities whose resources are stretched to the limit by government cutbacks, enforcement authorities who would rather make the sure money radar traps provide rather than actually targetting dangerous drivers, use of cell phones while driving, overcrowded roadways, road rage, etc, etc, etc. cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
