Posted on: Sunday, September 2, 2001
Lee Cataluna
Before blaming street racers, we should talk to their parents
We've gone past the hypothetical: "Does somebody have to die before we do something about this?"
Somebody died. Several somebodies died.
Now, the fingers are pointing in every direction: The cops need to crack down on these street-racing fools. The Legislature needs to do something because there oughta be a law. The schools need to do something, maybe in drivers' ed, to teach these kids that speed kills. What about the auto parts dealers? Somebody has to do something!
The proposals that have surfaced in this week after the death of Elizabeth Kekoa are many and varied. Nobody wants this woman's death to have been in vain. No one wants this horrible thing to happen to their mom, their teacher, their friend.
Police are planning to step up patrols and roadblocks, use helicopter surveillance, even have an officer drive around in a seemingly speedy Honda, acting as a decoy to spot street racers.
Two legislators want to introduce a law that would allow police to seize or impound vehicles used in street racing.
Gov. Ben Cayetano is calling for better education, whatever that means (more work for the teachers?) Private citizens are taking it upon themselves to act as spotters, phoning in sightings and license plate numbers to police.
And that's all well and good.
But the big question is: What's up with these kids' parents? Sure, some of them are in their late teens, early twenties, but this is Hawai'i, where no one under 35 can afford to move out of their parents' home, let alone get their own auto insurance policy and fast fancy car. Mom and Dad have to be involved on some level.
What are the parents thinking? Where do they think Junior is all night in his souped-up Prelude? Eating Zip-mins and talking philosophy? Watching videos in some family's safe, cozy parlor? Studying in an all-night library?
Do they ever bother to glance at the odometer, look at the gas receipts and do the math? What do they tell themselves when they pay for the bump in insurance premiums because of the speeding tickets or buy their kid a new spoiler for Christmas?
Yeah, yeah, free will, young adults, mind of their own, kids will be kids and all that. But it sure seems the parents of these street racers are complicit in this.
My Dad, who's about as old-school strict as they come, would never let me drive a fast car. I was in a Ford Granada until I was 24. He would have grilled me about my friends' cars, and he did not let me go near anything that wasn't a slow-moving tank. And if I got a speeding ticket, I'd still be grounded.
This is probably one of those "it takes a village" problems. The police, the lawmakers, the legit racing organizations, all of us who have had the near-death experience of driving along on the freeway at night, minding our own business when a pair of racers blow past us like star troopers — we all play a part in making driving home from a canasta game safe for our families. But Mom and Dad, you're on the front line. Maybe your kid is too old for time-out, but if you're the one who's paying the car loan, subsidizing the gas and picking up the insurance fees, then you still hold the keys.
Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8172.
