Government

Will Higher Fines And Stricter Regulations Be Enough To Control The Underground Street Racing And Car Modification Culture?

Will these new measures deter street racing, intersection-blocking sideshows, and loud mufflers at night? To some degree, yes. But others will stay defiant and roll the dice.

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When I was growing up, a group of people at my school had a passion for modified cars. Most did minor modifications such as tinting windows, replacing lights, or putting stickers of racing brands on their cars, hoping that they would scare off the Porsches and Corvettes. For those who were lucky enough to get jobs that paid $10 per hour (this was many years ago), they were able to afford more sophisticated mods such as racing wheels or an exhaust system that made their car sound cool. And there were a very privileged few who were lucky enough to get high-performance cars like a Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-7, or a BMW M3. Or they had the money to modify their cars so extensively that they were just as fast (and loud) as a high-performance car.

While most of them did it for fun, there were a few that took things too far. These people got a kick out of driving their loud cars in residential areas late at night. I recall some of them having exhausts so loud that they vibrated the ground to the point where they triggered the alarms of nearby cars.

And others engaged in illegal street racing. Sometimes they did it on an empty street in a remote area to avoid attracting attention from the police. But other times, they raced on the freeway or, worse, on surface streets. These people live one minute at a time and don’t think about the consequences when something goes wrong.

Fast forward to today and it seems like not much has changed. The car mod culture seems to have died down somewhat. This may be due to racing videos being available on the internet so there is less of a need to go to a street race. Also, modern cars are very difficult to tune and modify because almost every aspect of the car’s performance is computer controlled. Finally, fewer cars today have a manual transmission — the preferred transmission for aggressive drivers.

But some people still get a thrill by driving a car with a loud exhaust. Also, incidents of illegal street racing have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. As people were forced to stay home, it cleared up the streets, thus opening up opportunities to race.

Finally, in many cities, there are reports of people blocking intersections. Cars would then enter the intersection and do burnouts, donuts, and spinouts. Cars would crash into other cars, and sometimes into other people.

Lawmakers nationwide have tried to control the illegal, annoying, and dangerous activities by imposing harsher penalties than those already in the books. For example, just recently in New York, cars equipped with excessively loud aftermarket exhausts can face a $1,000 fine, which is the highest in the nation. Some cities have made it illegal (or are considering it) to promote or even watch an illegal street race.

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California is making it harder to modify cars. Effective last July, any vehicle with a modified Engine Control Unit (ECU) not approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) will fail the state’s biannual smog check test, making registration impossible. In other words, the car’s ECU must be unmodified from the manufacturer or the modifications must be approved by CARB in order to pass the smog check. While it is believed that this new rule will only affect a small number of cars, those who plan to modify their cars extensively could be at risk of failing the smog check.

But will these new measures deter street racing, intersection-blocking sideshows, and loud mufflers at night? To some degree, yes. But others will stay defiant and roll the dice. Why? Because it’s fun for them, just as it was for their elders back when they were young. They get attention and props for flexing their modded rides, which results in getting more YouTube subscribers and Instagram followers.

Is there anything that can be done other than harsher punishments? Police (or their social worker equivalents) will have to disperse intersection sideshows quickly before they get too big. Seizures of cars should be made public and posted on law enforcement social media accounts. This might get some laughter emojis which could deter future attention-seeking wannabes.

The clickbait appeal should also be neutralized. Legislators should ask tech companies to ban and delete any illegal street racing videos and terminate accounts that promote gatherings.

Finally, while racers should be encouraged to have their thrill at private race tracks, I am mindful that some people just want to have fun on their own terms. On that note, police should be discouraged from interfering with street races so long as they are done in remote areas and away from residences. While this is not a perfect solution, at least it provides a controlled environment where people can be monitored.

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I was a teenager once and so I can understand the temptation to speed and triggering car alarms can be funny. And I appreciate the sound of a finely tuned engine and still prefer it over the buzz of an electric car. But I’m older now and so I care more about a car’s fuel efficiency than its 0-60 time. And while I am wary of the government trying to control another aspect of my life, I want to sleep instead of hearing gunshots from a car’s straight-pipe exhaust. But harsher penalties for illegal mods and street races will only do so much. The cool factor needs to be neutralized by deplatforming the promoters and the attention-seekers.

Steven Chung is a tax attorney in Los Angeles, California. He helps people with basic tax planning and resolve tax disputes. He is also sympathetic to people with large student loans. He can be reached via email at sachimalbe@excite.com. Or you can connect with him on Twitter (@stevenchung) and connect with him on LinkedIn.

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