RaceLegal

Thank you to all the email inquiring about them.  Friday night was great, thanks for the turn out.  I was soooooo tired Friday night from tear down/clean up after the race because we were short staff members.  Just a reminder we appreciate 2 volunteers every race night to help us put everything away.  It takes 2 hours  and you earn a race pass for an event of your choice.  Just report to the timing tower at midnight.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT, YOU KEEP THE PROGRAM ALIVE.  Lydi

Illegal street racing continues to advance in popularity, especially among young male adults. Nationally and internationally, illegal street racing is claiming hundreds of lives and injuring thousands annually.

Illegal street races are notorious for being poorly controlled and randomly organized. They also operate with a minimum of rules and safety measures. New communicative technology such as websites, cell phones and underground publications as well as a new generation with more free time, financial resources and a passion for speed has significantly heightened the risk for both participants and bystanders.

As recently as 2002 San Diego suffered the devastation of 16 deaths and 31 serious injuries as a direct result of illegal street racing activity. When these 2002 data were converted to a combined mortality/morbidity incidence rate, we were faced with the fact that for every 1,000 young people who choose to illegal street race in our community, 49 were either killed or seriously injured. A rate of that magnitude was properly defined as epidemic in nature.

The RaceLegal.com program was formed in 1998 by Dr. Stephen J. Bender, Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology/Biostatistics in San Diego State University’s Graduate School of Public Health. Via a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, a comprehensive grass root community based coalition entitled “Closing the Loop” was initiated. This coalition involved city/county government, local law enforcement , Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR), Superior Court, City Attorney, District Attorney, county probation as well as the safer and sanctioned RaceLegal.com track alternative to illegal street racing.

Turnaround of this magnitude in the appropriate direction is impressive and a direct result of a community joining shoulder-to-shoulder and simply saying “enough is enough.” The “Closing the Loop” approach to intervention quickly made San Diego a poor choice for illegal street racing activity, thus the stellar turn around in illegal street racing related death and injury over the six year reporting period.