[speedchess]

> Or we could build our roads so that people can't comfortably drive 100MPH with zero feeling of danger.

What about emergencies? If cops, firefighters or ambulances need to get somewhere quick?

> I've seen people drag racing on residential streets because they are 50 feet wide with clear zones on each side.

People drag race in residential areas because they feel they can do so with impunity. If politicians decided to take on this problem head on, we can solve it easily. Make drag racing and noise pollution with cars/motorcycles/etc in residential areas a serious crime ( that includes prison time ). Problem solved.

[LinuxBender]

When I was stationed in Sacramento I saw a few neighborhoods that tackled this physically and it worked more effectively than I had assumed. They installed double and sometimes triple undulations think smooth short speed bumps that exponentially amplify lift when traveling over them over the speed limit. If traveling over them at the speed limit they are barely noticeable. Speed in a vehicle low to the ground most of the modded street race cars and it will wreck the under carriage, suspension, other things. I've seen it rip the exhaust system, undercarriage lights, spoilers / diffusers right off. Emergency vehicles did not appear to be affected.

[obscuretone]

With the exception of assholes, people drive for conditions. Period.

The flow of traffic is always the safest speed. NHTSA and German authorites have papers on this.

It is possible to physically slow cars down with narrower roads, speed bumps, one lane chicanes, etc. It works. Very well.

Four lane split highway with a 30mph sign next to a police station? That's a speed trap and everyone knows it.

[speedchess]

> They installed double and sometimes triple undulations think smooth short speed bumps that exponentially amplify lift when traveling over them over the speed limit.

You must have dumb drag racers where you live but then again, most drag racers are dumb to begin with. Our drag racers remember where these speed bumps are and just adjust to them. You literally hear these morons slow down and rev up again in the middle of the night.

Frankly, it's the noise that's the biggest issue with me. I wouldn't care that much if they raced quietly. I'd prefer extremely heavy fines, loss of license and even prison for anyone causing excessive noise pollution in residential neighborhoods. Especially at night.

[foxyv]

Multi-use paths, bus lanes, and bike lanes are excellent for emergency vehicles. Also, generally speaking, emergency vehicles aren't supposed to speed. A lot of ambulances have speed governors to prevent going too fast. Also, a lot of the streets where you would use traffic calming are your destination. By the time you hit the traffic calming you are already there pretty much.

[mgraczyk]

Ambulances do not go 100mph, and cops almost never do that unless they are chasing somebody who is also going very fast

Drag racing is unfortunately impossible to stop with force because we lack the political will to do anything like that in California. Narrowing streets and making it difficult to race or do donuts is more politically realistic

[radley]

Or perhaps we could figure out a way to provide an accessible, legal venue for those activities. Like how skateboarding was a crime for a while (or still is??).

[obscuretone]

I used to volunteer at a race track. The amount of bureaucratic shit to even get your car on the track makes it not worth it to most people, myself included.

Used to find back corners of industrial parks to have fun. Cops were cool with it. More than a few were there off duty doing the same.

[Zak]

I've gone to drag strips and autocross events in more than one US state and the extent of "bureaucratic shit" was roughly "Do you have a driver's license and a helmet? Is the car leaking fluids? Sign here that you won't sue us." I have the impression things are a bit tighter for road courses.

[obscuretone]

very much so.

I dealt with tech inspections and people would try to go on the track with worn out brakes and suspension all the time. Which is dumb but. So are people.

Even getting to that point means you've gone through the local amateur licence process, shown up to training days, etc.

You have to prove to a bunch of gatekeeping boomers you deserve to race.

[Zak]

A quick look around the web suggests you can do high performance driving events on serious race tracks with no experience at all. You may be required to do some laps with an instructor in the car and they have tight restrictions on passing. They'll probably want to check that your car isn't falling apart for obvious reasons.

If you want to do wheel to wheel racing with other drivers, then there's a license requirement involving a couple days of training with a four digit price tag.

Maybe we have different thresholds for what counts as "bureaucratic shit", but there seem to be some good options to drive fast under controlled conditions and compare your results to others. The most exciting and dangerous versions of it have some gatekeeping and I imagine most of the participants prefer it that way.

[mgraczyk]

There are plenty of legal venues, and they are popular and widely used. The problem is that the value participants get comes from doing it in the city. It's not the same if they aren't rebelling

[foxyv]

The residential street that comes to mind is within 20 miles of two drag strips. People just did it to be turds and because they could.

[macintux]

Unfortunately prohibition in other contexts hasn’t proved all that effective, and most police forces have much higher priorities.