Friday, 4 May 2012

The dangers of drag racing

This is just an example of a dice gone wrong


Illegal drag racing (dices) has been a worldwide craze for many years giving speed freaks an adrenalin rush. Its all fun and games until someone gets killed.

Drag racing, a growing "problem" in this country has claimed the lives of hundreds in the past few years with the death toll constantly rising as cars are getting faster, cops are getting lazier, and drivers are becoming more negligent than before. A perfect example of negligence is an accident that occurred last year in Gatesville, Athlone. An unlicensed golf 3 VR6, driven by an unlicensed driver collided head on with an Opel Kadett standing at the intersection waiting to take a right turn. It is alleged that the VR6 driver had lost control of his car while attempting to brake at the robot. The Opel was a right off and fortunately no one was injured. The VR6 driver was let off with nothing but a warning.

Many petrol heads feel that they are in complete control of their machines while dicing but they fail to realize that they aren't the only cars on the road. Yes they might be good drivers, but that doesn't mean that the civilian in front  is. At the sight of two speeding cars a in a rear view mirror is enough to make any driver panic.

In Gauteng a defenseless female cyclist was killed when she was struck by an Uno which was dicing a BMW. The car apparently knocked her down and then drove over her crushing her. The incident occurred in front of her husband and her father.

By dicing you not only increase your chances of death, but you increase the chances of damaging you beloved ride. Bearing knocks, snapped clutch cables, tire bursts, cracked flywheels and of course blown motors are all common end results of drag racing.

As petrol heads its each and everyone's dream to own the fastest and most powerful car on the road (despite the petrol increases), but this dream may never come true if you constantly climb in a car with the intention of dicing. It might be a fun activity but an extremely dangerous one at that. The thrill of doing something illegal and knowing that you'll get away (police cars are crap slow) gives you a feeling like no other. And the feeling of out-running a police car is out of this world, trust me i know. But ask yourself this, is it worth putting you life at risk just for a few minutes of fun? And how would your feel when she gets that call saying her son?daughter was killed in a drag race? Think about it.

Please drive responsibly, and take other drivers into consideration.
As Drake said "Yolo", you only live once, so live you life to the fullest.