Bill targets illegal street race spectators
| Updated: 3/12/2009 8:43 am |
Published: 3/11/2009 4:49 pm |
The Arkansas legislature wants to crackdown on illegal drag racing and even spectators who watch them. Two people died just four days ago racing down a state highway in Fort Smith.Video of accidents show what can happen even during a sanctioned event. One example is a drag racer that lost control and killed six people in Tennessee in 2007. But it's not legal events like these that bother Representative Dan Greenberg, R-Little Rock."I don't mean something that's sanctioned or takes place in an arena,” Greenberg told the House Rules Committee Wednesday. “I'm talking about something that takes place at night on our highways that leads, and has led in Arkansas, to the loss of life."Greenberg's drag racing bill, HB1256, does two things. First it defines for the first time what racing is in Arkansas law."If my wife and I have two cars and we're at the bookstore and I say 'I bet I get home before you do', that's not the sort of thing that we're seeking to regulate," Greenberg explained.Secondly, those who knowingly watch an illegal race can be charged with a crime. That part drew the most questions from Representative Gregg Reep, D-Warren."Is there a particular reason why you feel strongly that needs to be in there? I can see some possible problems with that part of it," said Reep.Greenberg compares showing up to an illegal race with watching a dogfight."I think the reason for deterring spectators at dogfights and deterring spectators at drag racing is just the same,” says Greenberg. "These are places that are really dangerous where we just don't want people to be."The law does not target professional drag racers, like the ones FOX16 featured last year, or sanctioned racetracks. It's modeled after a Florida law, the state where two tourists died last month when a Porsche, illegally drag racing, lost control and hit them from behind."We all know this activity is extremely dangerous," Greenberg says.The committee agreed and moved the bill, which could cut down on spectator injuries, to the full House for a vote later this week.
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