http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...1/MN176138.DTL
With gearheads speeding to see the film "2 Fast 2 Furious" and street- racing season shifting into high gear, Bay Area police vow to put the brakes on speed demons before someone else gets killed.
Few cops expect a return of the huge clandestine races that drew hundreds of thrill-seekers in summers past, but they worry the Hollywood blockbuster could spur a resurgence in the illegal sport.
There is reason for concern. A 78-year-old man was killed Sunday in Los Angeles by a speeding driver who had just seen "2 Fast 2 Furious," an implausible action movie featuring fast cars, pretty women and the thinnest of plots.
And in Redwood City, in the wee hours of Saturday, California Highway Patrol officers arrested six men caught racing down Interstate 280 at more more than 120 mph. Each reportedly had a ticket stub from the film in his pocket.
IMITATING MOVIE CHARACTERS
No one who wears a badge says Hollywood is to blame if someone with more horsepower than brainpower races down I-280 at nearly twice the speed limit. But they believe some who see the movie are inevitably going to think they can drive like the characters in it.
"Anytime a movie like that glorifies some unsafe behavior, you're going to have people who want to imitate it," said San Jose CHP officer Les Bishop.
Some who study Hollywood's influence on behavior agree.
"Did this movie kill someone? I can't say that," said Dr. Christine Kennedy,
a health services researcher at UCSF. "Do I think it is possible it influenced them? Absolutely. Do I think the blockbuster movies influence children and young people to take risks? Yes."
STIFF FINES AND PENALTIES
To steer people away from taking such risks, CHP officers will roam the pits at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma tonight during the weekly "Wednesday Night Drags." They'll warn drivers about the dangers of street racing and the penalties that come when the cops catch them.
"We want them to know they'll be facing some high-dollar fines, not to mention the added criminal charges should someone happen to be killed," said CHP Sgt. Wayne Ziess.
For example, the six men arrested Saturday face misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and engaging in a speed contest. Both are punishable by up to 90 days in jail. What's more, their cars -- an assortment of Hondas, Toyotas and other Japanese vehicles -- have been impounded, and their owners could have to shell out $1,000 or more to get them back.
HISTORY OF REVVING
Street racing is nothing new in the Bay Area, and authorities believe they have a firm handle on a problem that reached its zenith two years ago when four people were killed in eight weeks, and darkened streets and empty office parks regularly echoed with the sounds of squealing tires and high-revving engines.
As the carnage mounted, authorities responded forcefully. Fremont, for example, banned all traffic between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on 10 roads popular with street racers and allowed police to impound the vehicles of street racing participants and spectators. The problem all but vanished almost immediately, said police spokesman Det. Bill Veteran.
Police in the South Bay, where street racing is pervasive, created a unified task force to target popular racing spots.
"It'll start picking up again, and the task force is gearing up for it," said San Jose police spokesman Sgt. Steve Dixon. "We know the areas they like to use."
UNIFIED APPROACH
More recently, Oakland Police have stemmed a rising tide of sideshows -- where huge crowds gather to rev their engines, race and engage in dangerous, and occasionally deadly, stunts -- by embracing a state law that allows police to confiscate sideshow vehicles.
Local authorities say these tools, and their unified approach to tackling the problem, give them the upper hand against street racers.
Young people with fast cars have been racing each other since the first Model T rolled off the assembly line, and Hollywood always has been eager to capitalize on it.
"It's been going on since the '20s," said Rick Prelinger, a film archivist who describes himself as a "media archaeologist."
In that vein, "2 Fast 2 Furious" is nothing more than an old story wrapped up in a slick package with a throbbing hip-hop beat, he said.
"It's really an old-fashioned movie," he said. "It's telling adults what they want to hear -- kids are out of control. And it tells kids that they can rebel. It's a formula that works, and it has worked for generations."
2003.5 G35 A5 Sedan
2003 Z06 Corvette
2003 S10 Extended cab
1991 Honda CRXsi
2 Fast, 2 Stupid
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