toddk911

"To crack down on what he calls a growing problem, state Rep. John Quiñones is sponsoring a bill that would make illegal racing a first-degree misdemeanor, which carries a maximum jail term of up to one year and would force drivers to relinquish their cars upon their second offense. Currently, unlawful racing is considered a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $250 to $500.

"Hopefully, this will send out a message to the people who spend thousands of dollars to soup up their cars," said Quiñones, R-Kissimmee.

"If you hit 'em where it hurts, which is that vehicle, it could send a strong deterrent."

The bill is waiting to be heard by the Justice Council, a legislative panel of which Quiñones is a member that considers criminal-justice, judiciary and related matters. He is hopeful the bill could be heard as early as this week, which would then allow it to be moved to the House floor, he said."

Helstrm

Take our cars!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Thems fightin words. I could understand if they take your license but for love of GOD not our cars!!!!!!!!!!!

rhesus

Representative sounds like an idiot, can't say I disagree with the bill though.

josephsc

Definitely the right direction -- a $250-$500 fine seems too lax. I guess it depends on what they mean by 'relinquish', but around here, you can get your car impounded on lesser grounds.

pcarphanatik

Great so they take the cars and increase cost to taxpayers because they will need more space/resources/manpower.

Tough-love/hard-line policies are always extremely expensive, and the gains usually end up being very small.

They should just make the fines astronomical, make it more difficult to obtain a drivers license in the first place, and encourage everyone who wants to race to take it to the track. I am willing to bet they would see a drastic reduction in street-racing if it wasn't so "cool", and if track-time was viewed as a better option.

emwporsche

god forbid they have two cops every saterday night close off an abondoned road in the industrial district and just let them race.

oh the horror.........................

don't worry guys I'm working on a solution!

TRWright

Although I have been known to slam through the gears and play with other cars here and there, I am against racing in the street. There is a place for racing, and it is called a track. With that said, I also think that the laws now are more than strict enough. We are getting out of control with our punishment for breaking the law. One thing that needs MAJOR reform is our drug laws. For trafficing a large amount of Marijuana, one can receive a charge equivalent to manslaughter. That is just out of control.......

superloaf

"That government which governs least is best." --Henry David Thoreau

This is ALWAYS true.

Eyal 951

let them have the street! or the drags, but PLEASE don't tell them about the track! Lats thing I need are a bunch of complete morons on the same track with me! They'll be spinning, going off, hitting other cars... It would be mahem... Yep, let em have the street! (Or the drag strip, preffereably the drag strip!)
~Eyal

Red1

It's not without precedent. Get caught illegaly fishing, and they can seize your boat.

I'm not advocating street racing, but in theory taking someone's $25000 car (or more) for getting caught racing on a back road seems extreme. Where's the "let the punishment fit the crime" in that? Oh yeah, in our justice system guys with a reefer habit rot in jail, and celebrity pedophiles with deep pockets sleep in their own beds at night.

It won't cost the taxpayers much. They'll sell the cars at auction, and unless the auction is rigged (happens here a lot - ask me about the guy that bought an $85K+ home for $5K) the county coffers will get a nice little boo$t.

I think it's BS. This coming from a guy that has never street raced. I just don't like the gov't getting in the habit of seizing private property, for any reason.

My answer? More cops to enforce the laws we have already. JMO

Helstrm

My problem is, Who decides if you are racing.. I have a friend that was just reving his engine and playing with a girl in a mustang. They might have gone 5mph over the limit. Not racing just playing around and they both got tickets for street racing. So what you are saying is that if a cop says I was racing when in fact I was just speeding a little they can take my car.... ???

BBailey

No, what he's saying is that if you get caught doing it TWICE they can take your car. IMHO thats a perfectly reasonable way to control the problem.

Make a mistake once, you're being young. Make it again, you're simply stupid and deserve whatever punishment is forthcoming.

Don't like it, hire an attorney. Can't afford a good one? Don't break the law.

Helstrm

I don't street race anyway, But I don't like the gov. Taking property from people. Fine them, Lock them up, Spank them but stop taking things from people.

Porsche-O-Phile

Latest Kalifornia money-making scheme:

I believe the law in CA right now is that your car can be siezed if you fail an "on-the-spot" inspection for illegal modifications (basically anything without a CA Air Resources Board or C.A.R.B. sticker and approval number on it that's not factory is illegal). I have heard reports of on-the-spot or "checkpoint" style checks for things like catylitic converters as well but they're just rumors - I haven't seen any personally.

I probably wouldn't lose sleep over it - yet - but I imagine it's one of those things that if a cop is pissed off enough he/she can spot-check you just to bust your *****. Probably racing, very aggressive driving, weaving in and out of lanes, and generally being a ******** would almost certainly illicit this response (and deservedly so), so I guess a word to the wise should suffice: if you have anything "illegal" (and who doesn't?) hide it well, make the car look as stock as possible, and don't drive like an a-hole drawing unwanted attention to yourself.

If your car at least LOOKS stock on the outside, I imagine it's a lot less likely to be singled out for harassment in this manner.

Interesting side-note on CARB: the part that cracks me up is that technically stuff that HELPS emissions levels is still illegal. I got a world of crap on a visual inspection on my old pickup because I had put a set of Dynomax headers on it (perish the thought!) I actually pointed out to them that the headers I bought were the 50-state-legal ones with hookups for a smog (air) pump and actually LOWERED emissions versus the original (non-California model) factory manifolds - and I had the emissions reports going back to 1988 when it was built to validate my claim. They didn't care. I finally got around it by "rolling the dice" on the visual inspection at a shop and they either didn't notice or didn't care. Turns out subsequently Dynomax DID obtain CARB approval (I don't even WANT to know how much the payoff (a.k.a. "fee") for that is).

I'll eventually have to check with them (CARB) about the Callaway conversion. I've checked - Callaway did not obtain a CARB certification (I didn't figure they did) so my options are either (1) chance it, (2) B.S. it (just pull the turbo and stuff off every two years and then re-install it once you pass), (3) pay off a sketchy less-than-scrupulous shop "under the table" to look the other way, (4) register the car in another state or county not requiring the visual (I could register it in MA at my parent's place or get a P.O. Box in San Bernadino - I've checked, yes this can be done), (5) De-street the car (track only) or (6) pay C.A.R.B. to do an engineering impact analysis on the conversion (the "fees" are whatever the rates are for their engineers to review the impact of what you're doing - probably quite exorbitant).

CA bureaucracy is so convoluted and stupid sometimes. . .

pcarphanatik

Ah, I was under the impression that this would be temporary seizure!

Start taking cars away and you'll probably have people organizing in the streets.