Fast cars, loud exhausts, and secret races, this is what you get at an illegal street race. Racers gather from all around to race their custom built cars against one another. Although, the police break up the races almost every night, the racers still race night after night. Illegal street racing is a dangerous way of life.
             "Bender said there were 16 deaths and 31 serious injuries due to illegal racing in 2002" (Filice). That is an astonishingly large number of deaths and injuries for just one city. Street racing just does not occur in one city there are races being held all over the world. Although this phenomenon occurs world wide, California seems to be a centralized racing area. There has been an alarming rise in street racing since the releases of the movies "The Fast and the Furious" and "2 Fast 2 Furious".
             The release of these movies has caused law enforcement and the government to implement stricter laws about cars and their after market modifications. "Corona passed an ordinance in May that allows police to seize the cars of street racers. In October, San Diego made watching a street race illegal, and Los Angeles passed a law the same month stiffening penalties for spectators. Two months ago, San Diego gave police the authority to sell the vehicles of repeat offenders" (Mehta B5). The cities are doing anything in their power to have control of the street-racing problem. One of the street racers was very outspoken about the laws that were set in place. "You can harass us, you can ticket us, you can cuff us, you can block off the street, you can pull us over for no reason at all. But one fact remains... WE AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE" (Quoted in Gathright). For the racers this is a way of life for them. But in the same respect they also are living a dangerous and sometimes fatal life.
             One of the ways that governments are trying to stop the racing is thro...