Need Information on the philly Street Racing scene

[maximaserg]

Hey,

I m have to write a speech on a topic.

I chose Philly street racing scene.

The problem is, is that i can find a **** load of videos, and only a couple of
articles.


Does anyone know sites where i can find out info, statistics, and what the government and the cops are doing to try to stop it?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[TROLL]

Try to search for past news articles to find documentation of accidents, arrests, etc. You might also be able to contact the police department in that district and interview an officer who works the area, or get other info from them.

[Fastrick25]

Simply put, its an adrenaline rush, scared to death to get caught by cops, try to look gangsta so you you dont get jacked by the asian kid who's setting you up and thats for real.Pray you dont get rear ended by the kid in his poorly maintained Honda, with 6 year old brake pads.A few guys make rent money down there other than that the best source is to go down there and risk getting caught and you will have all the answers, just what ever you do never park in the gas station or behind the starting line.Good luck

[On Sale]

or you could watch the fast and furious... that movie pictures the philly races so perfect.

[maximaserg]

Nah, ive been down to the races.

I know the situation from a racers point of view.

I need statistics about deaths, accdients, what the city plans on doing about it.

[maximaserg]

bump!

[Buster]

Originally Posted by On Sale

or you could watch the fast and furious... that movie pictures the philly races so perfect.

Thanks for being an ignoramus.. haha I cant tell what kind of sarcasim that was but it sucked lol

[99SL2_Modder]

Originally Posted by Fastrick25

Simply put, its an adrenaline rush, scared to death to get caught by cops, try to look gangsta so you you dont get jacked by the asian kid who's setting you up and thats for real.Pray you dont get rear ended by the kid in his poorly maintained Honda, with 6 year old brake pads.A few guys make rent money down there other than that the best source is to go down there and risk getting caught and you will have all the answers, just what ever you do never park in the gas station or behind the starting line.Good luck

And this is called a bad answer.

I agree with Troll. Especially if you contact the PD, they would probably be more than glad to give an interview on their work for stopping the races.

[malloyboy1]

at the same time they may not be that helpfull at all. they could simply tel you to go on the internet and try to find the stats somewhere.

i would just look up past articles

[99SL2_Modder]

Originally Posted by malloyboy1

at the same time they may not be that helpfull at all. they could simply tel you to go on the internet and try to find the stats somewhere.

i would just look up past articles

Philly cops love to brag.

[den9]

if u do find out post it becuz im curious

[TROLL]

why are you bumping this thread? do you want us to do the work for you? put a little effort in and earn your grade man... we already gave you some suggestions there's nothing else really here for us...

[maximaserg]

Lol, nah im doing my work myself, just wanted to see if anyone else had any suggestions.

But thanks for the help.

[Bizee]

this was in the ne times, maybe it will help you some..




East Torresdale: Multitude
of grievances for police captain

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

The East Torresdale Civic Association is hoping to welcome a local police captain as guest speaker at one of its upcoming general community meetings.
Members of the civic group already have a stack of complaints that they hope the police commander will help them resolve.
During the latest ETCA meeting on Sept. 10, residents highlighted problems ranging from drag racing on State Road to unleashed dogs in a local park. Many of the issues have been long-standing concerns, they said. They think it’s time to put them to bed once and for all.
Street racing has returned to the neighborhood, they say, and is both a safety hazard and public nuisance.
Neighbors reported seeing dozens of souped-up cars gathering around State Road and Linden Avenue late on Sept. 2 and again on Sept. 9. The vehicles and operators congregate in a "staging area" near Delaware Avenue and Arendel Street, then proceed to State Road for the races, noted area resident Doris Bell.
Neighbors complained of similar racing earlier this year, then the problem seemed to die down for a while.
Another area resident, Alice Urbanski, said she called 911 during the most recent session, but no police car arrived until the participants had left the area. Later, Urbanski said, she contacted an officer in the 8th Police District, but she got no assurance that a directed effort would be made to address the recurring problem.
"I just want them to put in a roll-call complaint and, if (patrol units) aren’t doing anything, they should come by here," Urbanski said.
Bell noted that the high-speed driving is dangerous to the participants, as well as motorists who happen to be using the public street at the time.
"How many people have already been killed (drag racing)?" Bell said.

[ScoobyNubieToo!]

Originally Posted by TROLL

Try to search for past news articles to find documentation of accidents, arrests, etc. You might also be able to contact the police department in that district and interview an officer who works the area, or get other info from them.

I think that's a very good idea....probably make a pretty powerful impact.

[.brian.]

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_...ast_lanes.html

A racing death and life in Philly's fast lanes
By Dwight Ott and Michael Matza

Inquirer Staff Writers

It's not your granddad's street racer, but it's just as deadly.

Instead of the tricked-out muscle cars of old, the new breed of delinquent drag racers favor souped-up Hondas, sporty Audis, rebuilt Tercels - the whiny, fuel-efficient foreign jobs spurned by the Ford-and-Chevy set.

Nineteen-year-old Agustine Edmundo Rodriguez-Reyes of Camden lost his life on a notorious dragway in Southwest Philadelphia early Sunday.

Rodriguez-Reyes was to be a senior at Woodrow Wilson High School, where he was a member of the soccer team, his family said last night.

The teen's coach, Veurdgel Walter, said the youth was a natural leader and a motor enthusiast who hoped to be a mechanic. "He was very good with cars," Walter said last night.

"On the team, he was also very good, one of my best defenders. He had a very strong kick. I had him in the back as a sweeper, or last defense. He saved us many goals," Walter said, adding that the boy's family came here from Guatemala over seven years ago.

On the night he died, his family said, Rodriguez-Reyes and three friends got into his Honda Civic and ended up hanging out near 61st Street and Passyunk Avenue.

Police said Rodriguez-Reyes had been drag racing - he was behind the wheel with three friends aboard - about 2 a.m. when his car crashed with an Audi. The vehicles had been nose to nose when one nudged the other into a curb. The Honda hit a utility pole, and the Audi a chain-link fence.

Police said the Honda and the Audi were racing. From the damage both sustained, it appeared they were traveling well above the posted 35 m.p.h. limit, police said.

Rodriguez-Reyes was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he died. His three passengers, who were not identified, were treated there and released. The driver of the Audi, a 27-year-old Conshohocken man whose name was not released, was not injured.

Police said no citations were immediately issued, but the accident remained under investigation.

Witnesses said there have been a number of casualties near that spot in the past few years.

Police "put in new speed strips two years ago," said George Osada, 60, owner of the American Cafe at Harley Avenue and 61st Street, a block from the crash. "But it didn't do any good. Police know where it's happening. I don't know what they can do."

Police say racers do it for fun, for wagers, for bragging rights and, in rare instances, for the winner taking the loser's car. It happens with enough regularity that Traffic Court has a session it calls Drag Racing Court, which convenes from time to time as citations warrant.

Police and witnesses say the competitions pop up around the city, from Aramingo Avenue near Huntingdon in Kensington, where a 38-year-old woman was run down and killed by two cars racing last year, to Southwest Philly, where two months ago police broke up a race.

On that occasion, police arrested four people, impounded their cars, and issued tickets to more than 300 spectators, including 34 juveniles.

Convictions can bring monetary fines, forfeiture of the vehicles, license suspensions and revocations.

Witnesses say it is not uncommon for the races to pack in spectators three and four deep along the roadway, with some standing on parked cars for a better view.

The subculture has its own grapevine and sometimes uses Web sites to communicate.

"I was down at the Philly street races and just won my first race. I go to make a U-turn and there's a police van. Right in front of me," one racer wrote in a recent posting. "Dude comes up to my car. 'What the . . . are you doing? Get out of the car.' I do. Anyway, I get a ticket for Racing on Hwy 3367-a."

Illegal race organizers and spotters have been known to use walkie-talkies to clear the course and warn of police raids. If police stake out an area, the miscreants move, or simply send out a hot-rodding decoy to lure police away long enough to hold several races, residents said.

In Southwest Philadelphia, the dragway is located along a strip that is a graveyard for junked cars, with row upon row of amputated car doors and fenders racked up in the yards.

"It's like the Atco speedway," said an employee at AAAA Used Auto Parts along the strip, who refused to give his name. "We've had a few wrapped around poles. And we've lost a few utility poles."

Across the street at Steve's Auto Parts II, another employee who declined to be identified said the area was perceived as ideal for racing because it is as flat and isolated as the Utah salt flats.

"They keep the police off balance by switching from this strip to Holstein Street a few blocks away," said Richard Mitchell, one of the denizens of the American Cafe, where two American flags are draped over the doorway.

Thelma Causey, 83, of Southwest Philadelphia, was on the strip yesterday to obtain a rearview mirror for her car. She said she heard about the accident on the news and saw the driver lying on the ground with his head in the lap of a passerby who was rubbing his arm. "They go too fast along here," she said.


http://www.nbc10.com/news/13925851/detail.html

Philadelphia police stepped up efforts to curb danger on city streets with a drag racing crackdown this weekend.

The raid comes after a teenager was killed and four others injured in a street-racing crash on Aug. 12 in Southwest Philadelphia.

Officers said they arrested 10 suspected flagmen and charged one man with assaulting a police officer during overnight raids at 61st Street and Passyunk Avenue.

Neighbors in the area said they often hear cars racing, especially between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.

But police said they brought the events to a screeching halt Saturday night into Sunday morning.

Police said they got the flagmen early Sunday, but the two suspected drag racers got away. One, however, left behind his car, police said.


http://cbs3.com/topstories/local_story_167094254.html

Philadelphia Police Bust Drag Racing Event

Dick Standish
Reporting

(CBS 3) PHILADELPHIA Police busted an illegal drag racing event in Southwest Philadelphia early Saturday morning.

The bust at 61st and Passyunk led to four arrests and several cars were sent to the police impound lot.

Around 300 people received tickets and could be found liable for a 6-month driver’s license suspension and a $300 dollar fine.

34 juveniles were taken the to the curfew center where their parents were ordered to pick them up.

“There have been fatalities down here in the past and the summer months are the primary time that they are going to be out here. I wanted to set the tone for the rest of the summer. Right now it’s not going to be tolerated. If you come down here at your own peril bring your pocketbook because we are going to stop you. Right out here drag racing contributes to a lot of other crimes,” said police Captain Daniel McDonald.

Police contained the drag racing participants by closing off both ends of 61st street while arrests were made.

[enigma]

Its certainly not what it used to be down there.
Used to be a time when you didn't have to worry about people jacking your ****, people drinking, and running out in front of the cars, drugs, violence, the serious guys didn't tolerate it. You could go down there, after a night of running at the track, and get a few more runs in. The cars used to run until the sun came up. ****, you used to see tubbed, slicked, and sprayed badass cars down there all the time, now you have to know somebody who something about some race thats gonna go down.
IMO, the biggest problem is that people abused the leniency that the cops used to give, to the point where the cops had no choice but to act. People causing fights, drugs, and drinking and driving, and acting like jackasses all around is what caused the problems down there.
Hell, the cops used to come down there, turn on the fire hydrants, and tell everyone to go home, now they impound, ticket and arrest.

[99SL2_Modder]

Originally Posted by enigma

Its certainly not what it used to be down there.
Used to be a time when you didn't have to worry about people jacking your ****, people drinking, and running out in front of the cars, drugs, violence, the serious guys didn't tolerate it. You could go down there, after a night of running at the track, and get a few more runs in. The cars used to run until the sun came up. ****, you used to see tubbed, slicked, and sprayed badass cars down there all the time, now you have to know somebody who something about some race thats gonna go down.
IMO, the biggest problem is that people abused the leniency that the cops used to give, to the point where the cops had no choice but to act. People causing fights, drugs, and drinking and driving, and acting like jackasses all around is what caused the problems down there.
Hell, the cops used to come down there, turn on the fire hydrants, and tell everyone to go home, now they impound, ticket and arrest.

They should start crushing and raise the fines. It's retarded. Nuff said.

[Turbo s60R]

the races are great till you get robbed, beat up, or arrested

[SpendOne]

philly Street Racing scene = DEAD