General

Street racing is an illegal auto racing sport in which two or more drivers race on public roads amongst other vehicles. Be cause of the risks involved it is illegal in almost every country worldwide, with punishments ranging from high fines to jail time. The inherent risk is that a vehicle in the race will be exceeding the speed limit and endangering other drivers who are following the law. Additionally a car pulling out onto the street during a legal turn may become victim to the Street Racer if he or she is unable to avoid swerving in time to miss the car. The controversial aspects of street racing involve the excessive use of speed, the risks, and the overall disadvantage of vehicle control on roads not meant for high speed travel – in the case of some local roads speeds could be more than three times the legal speed limit.The history of car tuning and street racing can both be traced back to Prohibition.

In 1919 the nineteenth amendment was passed in the United States making intoxicating substances (alcohol mainly) illegal, and the possession of it liable to jail time. For a period of fourteen years this would be in effect, and from it the largest boom in bootlegging and organized crime would rise. From this came those willing to break the law, and to facilitate this they needed better vehicles to out run the law. So they would take normal cars, and then modify them, and thus car tuning in mass was born, as was the street race. Commonly what would happen is someone with liquor from Canada would make it across the border on a delivery run or someone who had finished distilling and fermenting liquor would be on the delivery run, and then the police and the other law enforcement agencies of the time would begin a chase.

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In a standard vehicle at the time, power wasn’t as efficient unless it had been tuned right, thus these tuned cars easily out-performed the stock police vehicles, and raced away on the streets. This started around 1920, and grew until 1933, when it was at its peak. In 1933 the nineteenth amendment was repealed, and the need for the cars was diminished… however many people became addicted to the racing itself, and thus the sport of it was born.