Too fast, too dangerous

It’s a Sunday night on the streets of a large Pakistani city. Sitting behind the wheel of small imported cars with engines revving are two young men staring each other down. Their feet poised over the gas pedal, they anxiously await the thumbs up. When given, the car is dropped into gear, the pedal is slammed to the floor and the two cars glide quickly off, screeching their tyres and diffusing clouds of dust. Sounds like a plot from a summer blockbuster movie. It is, and it isn’t. With the release of movies like Gone In 6o Seconds, Need for Speed and the mammoth franchise the Fast & the Furious, our generation has gone wild with the notions regarding illegal street racing. It’s illegal because they do not have access to proper tracks or the required safety gear, are increasingly becoming a danger to not only themselves but for others around them. Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar are the main hubs of this sport.

And surprisingly, this sport apparently has no age limit. There have been sightings of old racers and underage boys. Internationally, people have a standard of tuning their rides, and surprisingly, people in Pakistan have begun to do the same. Cars that reach up to 500Bhp-600Bhp, or even higher, roaring down the streets with complete disregard for road safety. Recently, I witnessed a race between a Honda Civic and a Mazda RX8. What caught my attention was the performance of the Honda Civic, this car had clearly been modified to put out its very best performance, however I very much doubt that the owner had any safety precautions in mind, and a car that has been modified to such a large degree and lacking the luxury of even a seat belt is nothing more than a steel death trap weighing half a tonne.

I also believe that the negligence of the authorities involved have had a huge impact in promoting the illegal street racing culture as their deliberate ignorance have given a rather visible boost to the drivers’ nonchalant attitudes —causing even the most unskilled drivers to push their cars past the 100mph mark. This alone is a cause for worry as pedestrians and other motorists are now even more in danger than they were before.

The reason I went on a rant regarding illegal street racing is because of the lack of safety equipment and proper race tracks or drag strips available to the drivers and their complete disrespect for traffic regulations. In my opinion, a possible solution for this could be to provide drivers with an interest in racing, a legitimate area where they can let themselves loose without upsetting the peace of the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2016.