Joey D
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- 47,510
- Lakes of the North, MI
- GTP_Joey
- GTP Joey
Being Safe while Still having Fun
God, if you could get me out of this place and time, give me back those 10 seconds in my life, those 10 seconds that was the difference between what I could have done, and what I did do, I would give anything. ANYTHING. Just please God, dont let me go like this. Deep words. Words no person should ever have the say or think about, especially the youth of the import race scene. Yet, words like this may be continually running through your head for the rest of your life if you ever get into the situation where a race goes bad. Real bad.
You never hear any of us say it, but in the back of ever draggers mind is the question of What If?. What if this is my last time going down this straightaway? What if this time, something goes wrong, and I cant avoid it? What if this is it? Questions that may be in our minds, but we never ponder too long on them. We shouldnt have to ponder long on them either. If we did, we wouldnt leave our homes in fear of what may or may not happen today. As bad as having too much fear, is not having any fear whatsoever. You have to take an honest evaluation of the situation that you are entering in to, and ask yourself, Is this safe? or Is this worth it?
Dont get me wrong. I love watching the drag races in Kearny Mesa. (What? I know you didnt think I was talking about the Q races. Theyre cool, but not exactly what Im looking for if you know what I mean.) It is always amazing for me to see how many Diegans come out, and what mods they put on their car. Its almost like having a car show every Saturday night without having to pay for it. There is just one problem I have with it (and no, my problem is not about it being illegal, although that should play a part in my theme here, it doesnt). It is the safety factor. Any of you that attend these races should have a duty in trying to make it as safe as you can. No one wants to participate in something that is going to get them injured.
It seems that a few things need to be worked on for us as a community, and some attitudes need to change. For instance, if your doing the flagging for the race, please do us all a favor, and be sure that the strip is cleared completely before making the next flag. Flagging before checking what happened on the previous run is dangerous, and can create more harm than good. Those that are keeping a lookout for the cops, should also keep an eye out for other motorists that may end up on the strip by accident. Being able to stop a drag quickly before an oncoming car starts heading in the opposite direction can help deter some serious crashes. When your picking a place to drag (not to say you can really be picky, with the brass steady mobbin) try to find a place that gives the racers a route to bail out if it gets to much. It isnt too smart to pick a small enclosed two lane road. Anything goes to ****, and somebody is going to be getting screwed royally. Even if your not looking out for the safety issue, dont pick a 2 lane road anyways. Your just providing a point where the cops can close us in, and walk up and down the lanes handing out the tickets. Also, when your on your way to the drag, and your on the freeway, I know it feels good to open up and tear up the highway while getting to the next race point, but no one wants to get involved in a highway accident because you were going to fast, or driving erratically.
I guess that main thing Im trying to get across is that these races are not organized. (Well maybe I should take that back, they are organized, but not really thought out. More along the lines of, Were going be here, move your ass kinda organizing.) Since there really isnt any rhyme or reason to the races except, make sure your butt is there, and if youre the one getting pulled over by Mr. Officer, that was your dumbass fault for not running quick enough, its really up to everyone that attends to try and make it a safer environment. Its really everyones responsibility to try and make sure we arent doing anything too dangerous that could get us hurt. Im not going to be your mamma, and tell you that youre a evil person because you attend illegal races, and that you should cease and desist. You do what the hell you want to do. The only thing I want to emphasize is that I dont want to see any of us end up having to say what was at the beginning of this article. No one should end up injured, disabled, or dead over this. Nobody. Keep safe.
Now don't flame me for this. I'm sharing an article with you.
God, if you could get me out of this place and time, give me back those 10 seconds in my life, those 10 seconds that was the difference between what I could have done, and what I did do, I would give anything. ANYTHING. Just please God, dont let me go like this. Deep words. Words no person should ever have the say or think about, especially the youth of the import race scene. Yet, words like this may be continually running through your head for the rest of your life if you ever get into the situation where a race goes bad. Real bad.
You never hear any of us say it, but in the back of ever draggers mind is the question of What If?. What if this is my last time going down this straightaway? What if this time, something goes wrong, and I cant avoid it? What if this is it? Questions that may be in our minds, but we never ponder too long on them. We shouldnt have to ponder long on them either. If we did, we wouldnt leave our homes in fear of what may or may not happen today. As bad as having too much fear, is not having any fear whatsoever. You have to take an honest evaluation of the situation that you are entering in to, and ask yourself, Is this safe? or Is this worth it?
Dont get me wrong. I love watching the drag races in Kearny Mesa. (What? I know you didnt think I was talking about the Q races. Theyre cool, but not exactly what Im looking for if you know what I mean.) It is always amazing for me to see how many Diegans come out, and what mods they put on their car. Its almost like having a car show every Saturday night without having to pay for it. There is just one problem I have with it (and no, my problem is not about it being illegal, although that should play a part in my theme here, it doesnt). It is the safety factor. Any of you that attend these races should have a duty in trying to make it as safe as you can. No one wants to participate in something that is going to get them injured.
It seems that a few things need to be worked on for us as a community, and some attitudes need to change. For instance, if your doing the flagging for the race, please do us all a favor, and be sure that the strip is cleared completely before making the next flag. Flagging before checking what happened on the previous run is dangerous, and can create more harm than good. Those that are keeping a lookout for the cops, should also keep an eye out for other motorists that may end up on the strip by accident. Being able to stop a drag quickly before an oncoming car starts heading in the opposite direction can help deter some serious crashes. When your picking a place to drag (not to say you can really be picky, with the brass steady mobbin) try to find a place that gives the racers a route to bail out if it gets to much. It isnt too smart to pick a small enclosed two lane road. Anything goes to ****, and somebody is going to be getting screwed royally. Even if your not looking out for the safety issue, dont pick a 2 lane road anyways. Your just providing a point where the cops can close us in, and walk up and down the lanes handing out the tickets. Also, when your on your way to the drag, and your on the freeway, I know it feels good to open up and tear up the highway while getting to the next race point, but no one wants to get involved in a highway accident because you were going to fast, or driving erratically.
I guess that main thing Im trying to get across is that these races are not organized. (Well maybe I should take that back, they are organized, but not really thought out. More along the lines of, Were going be here, move your ass kinda organizing.) Since there really isnt any rhyme or reason to the races except, make sure your butt is there, and if youre the one getting pulled over by Mr. Officer, that was your dumbass fault for not running quick enough, its really up to everyone that attends to try and make it a safer environment. Its really everyones responsibility to try and make sure we arent doing anything too dangerous that could get us hurt. Im not going to be your mamma, and tell you that youre a evil person because you attend illegal races, and that you should cease and desist. You do what the hell you want to do. The only thing I want to emphasize is that I dont want to see any of us end up having to say what was at the beginning of this article. No one should end up injured, disabled, or dead over this. Nobody. Keep safe.
Now don't flame me for this. I'm sharing an article with you.
