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It is a fact of life: many motorists, if not most, drive faster than the law allows. Yet, what we saw the other night on the Eyewitness News exceeds typical speeding and enters the realm of extreme public endangerment.
Take a look (listen) again - a street racer propelling his vehicle to a speed of 130 mph along a heavily used urban street. This didn’t happen on an isolated highway miles out of town, but on 7th East between 33rd and 47th South in Salt Lake County. And apparently, it wasn’t a random event, but something that occurs quite regularly among those who call themselves street racers. We can only contemplate with horror the potential outcome of such utter recklessness.
Unfortunately, the current penalty in Utah for street racing is a fine – a few hundred dollars at most. If caught, the participants willingly pay it as the cost of a perverse, death defying thrill.
KSL encourages legislative and law enforcement action on this escalating practice. In Texas, it’s a $2,000 fine. Throughout California, cars can be seized and racers taken to jail. And in Nevada, as reported, “Even spectators can wind up behind bars.” Enacting similar enhanced penalties in Utah would send a discouraging message to those who do it, while helping to curb such an insidiously stupid and frightening pastime.
