Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMadHatter99
I think there's a big difference between the stoplight races of American lore and what everyone here is referring to as street racing. A true stoplight race (so far as I'm concerned), it's nothing more than a test of acceleration to the approximate speed limit. You should never be blasting past other cars, weaving in and out of traffic, or more than 5-10mph over the speed limit. It is nothing but a quick burst of acceleration next to another high performance car that ends as quickly as it began. Frankly, as a muscle car enthusiast I'm a big fan of stoplight races. They're pretty safe, very limited and contained, and serve to put ricers in their proper place. In short, acceleration tests at a stoplight I am okay with and will be partaking in with great regularity. Legitimate street racing, on the other hand, is a big no-no.
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A mother (who has her kids with her in the car) is about a half block down the street from the stoplight you are at. She is preparing to turn right out of the parking lot of a fast food restaurant, which will put her ahead of you in the same lane. She glances left and sees that the roadway is clear and that the stoplight has just changed, so she looks right and starts to pull out onto the street. However, you have gunned it as soon as the stoplight changed, and are now accelerating rapidly while trying to best the Subaru WRX Sti in the lane next to you. You glance left to see you're slightly ahead of the WRX and when you look ahead you have a car full of kids finishing its turn into the roadway just in front of you, seemingly out of nowhere. You can brake hard, but you know there is no way to stop in time. You can't steer left without smashing into the WRX and maybe knocking it into the oncoming lanes. You can't steer right without going onto the sidewalk and into storefronts or worse. And right then you think to yourself "I'm glad I was just engaging in some harmless stoplight racing. I would be in a lot of trouble if I was actually involved in legitimate street racing!"