Street Racing in Florida and the Uncharged Co-defendants

Recently much has been heard about street racing in Florida. I have been defending people accused of street racing since the law became criminal in 2002. It is a very serious situation because street racing, much like DUIs, threatens the lives of not only the drivers but also the passengers and people that happen to be out on or near the road at that time. Violate the street racing statute and you are looking at up to a year in jail – kill someone while racing and you are looking at a 10-20 years in prison. This offense is taken very seriously by the courts because everyone is confronted with drivers that speed, tailgate, change lanes haphazardly, or do something else that raises the risks. Everyone includes judges, prosecutors, clerks, legislators, and you and I.

The current law, however, is so convoluted and vague it is a disaster. Every time I read it I find myself again in disbelief that legislators would pass such vague and ambiguous nonsense. The problem is that this is a cookie-cutter law. It is a pre-designed statute that several states have adopted. It has also been rejected by several states because it is so vague. However, Florida’s legislators adopted this law without much thought and a lot of chest pounding and emotion. The result has been a detriment to us all as is usually the case when good ideas become bad laws.

Florida did not need this law or the numerous court battles and dismissals that have followed. We already had a reckless driving statute that could have been amended to address the reckless behavior we see in some drivers today. Alas, once passed it became the crime du jour for law enforcement and the willie-nillie way they passed these citations out doomed the law into submission. It is currently unconstitutional in one Florida district and completely restructured in another.

But the real problem that I have seen in the last seven years is the co-defendant to this crime. Every time we hear about a death due to street racing we see the surviving family as the victim of this senseless crime. However, it has been my experience that the parents or parent have, in their quest to give their child everything, enabled this behavior by providing a car for the son or daughter to drive that is over-powered and not appropriate for such an inexperienced driver to have. Look at the photos of the mangled cars, listen to the descriptions. These are not 1985 Chrysler K-Cars that are being raced.

A law restricting horsepower for drivers under a specific age would be more appropriate if parents are not going to be responsible for what they give their children. Requiring more in-depth driving classes prior to obtaining a license may also help curb the immaturity of younger drivers. Some auto manufacturers are coming out with technology that allows parents to restrict the maximum speed on their children’s cars and that may help (although reckless driving can occur at lower speeds).

The street racing statute currently allows for arbitrary enforcement causing people that are only engaged in innocent conduct or conduct that violates a civil statute to be charged with a criminal act. The focus should be on the problem – children obtaining cars that they have no skills to drive or understanding on what WILL happen should they decide to drive in a way that threatens all of us.

We have enough restrictive laws. The reckless driving statute has been around for a long time. Slight modifications can be made to stiffen penalties if the reckless driving occurs while racing another car. Why our legislators continue to come up with more ways to make us criminals is beyond me and the fact that no one is concerned about the proliferation of nonsense laws makes it even worse. But in the case of street racing – if legislators really cared about this situation they would have dealt with it in a more comprehensive and intelligent way. As for the parents – be parents. You don’t have to spoil your child to death. Limits placed on children by parents help to instill respect and responsibility – even if children don’t like them when they have to abide by them.

Eric J. Dirga is a criminal defense attorney practicing out of Orlando, Florida. http://www.ejdirga.com/traffic_crimes/Street_Racing/racing.htm