EDITORIAL
Tough, fair bill offers street racing solution

Sporadic freeway deaths and near-misses attributable to street racing have been with us for decades.

But also last year we learned we had been naive in treating them as isolated occurrences.

Since a fatal collision last August that killed a teacher and seriously injured her husband and mother — innocent victims, police charged, of an illegal, high-speed car race on the H-1 Freeway — our innocence was punctured. We began hearing about frequent organized races, commonly held on public highways in brazen disregard for the safety of the pedestrians and drivers in their path.

Since then police have mounted a better response to racing, including the use of helicopters and quick reaction to citizen cell phone reports.

It remains the case that more effective enforcement of existing laws can change the minds of road-racing perpetrators, many of whom may continue to believe they can get away with it. But there's room for new, tougher sanctions for racing.

We've been wary of the rush to pass laws that would confiscate the vehicle of a driver stopped for racing. This relates to our repugnance at draconian property confiscation in drug cases, in which defendants eventually acquitted of crimes are still in many cases unable to recover their property. It appears, however, that the state Senate has crafted a bill that allays these fears.

Current penalties for racing include a $500 fine, six months in jail, or both. They have not sufficed.

The Senate bill would add suspension of the driver's license and increase the penalties for the second and third offense. Significantly, the third offense would mean a three-year license suspension, a $1,500 fine — and possible forfeiture of the car.

Forfeiture, obviously, is the kicker, because many of those involved in racing have invested thousands of dollars in speed-enhancing equipment for their cars. We think this bill would crack down on racing fairly, because forfeiture would be decided by a judge who could decide whether the vehicle was primarily a racing toy or, in fact, was needed by the racer's family for work or had been borrowed from an innocent owner.

But even this law isn't ultimately the best way to control racing. There is an obvious need for families to get involved. Exactly what are parents thinking when they allow their young teens to buy — or even purchase for them — sleek, expensive cars with supercharged engines, reinforced suspensions and mufflers that look like stainless steel stovepipes? Do they imagine they are countenancing no more than a means of getting to school or work and the movies on Saturday night?

It is only reasonable to assume that automobiles built for speed will be driven that way sooner or later.