Street Racing: A Neglected Research Area?

Abstract

Objective: To review: (1) the extent and frequency of street racing and its consequences; (2) the characteristics of street racers; (3) explanatory theories for street racing; (4) the legal issues; and (5) the best methods of preventing street racing.

Methods: Review of academic and other literature.

Results: Very limited official statistics are available on street racing offenses and related collisions, in part because of the different jurisdictional operational definitions of street racing and the ability of police to determine whether street racing was a contributing factor. Some data on prevalence of street racing have been captured through social surveys and they found that between 18.8 and 69.0 percent of young male drivers from various international jurisdictions have reported street racing. Moreover, street racing is found to be associated with other risky behaviors, substance abuse, and delinquent activities. The limited evidence available on street racing suggests that it has increased in the last decade.

Conclusions: Street racing is a neglected research area and the time has come to examine the prevalence and causes of street racing and the effectiveness of various street racing countermeasures.

Keywords:

• Accidents
• Traffic
• Automobile driving/psychology
• Risk-taking
• Incidence
• Law enforcement
• Canada

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was supported by a grant from AUTO21, a member of the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program, which is administered and funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), in partnership with Industry Canada. The authors thank Kobina Quansah, Sheila Lacroix, and Jane Seeley for their contributions and Sgt. David Mitchell and P. O. (ret.) Al Ward for their insights.