Street+Racer+-+An+Automotive+Enthusiast+Stereotype

Each day there are stereotypes that we are exposed to and this is in part from propaganda being used to convince society that a problem exists. Since a large amount of citizens in society do not understand that they were manipulated by propaganda, eliminating these stereotypes is a difficult task. In order for one to identify propaganda and stereotypes, one must first know what they are. According to the American Heritage Dictionary 2006 propaganda is “the information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.” On the other hand, stereotypes are “the making of generalizations about a group of people on the basis of limited information.” It has come to my attention in recent years that car enthusiast communities have come under heavy scrutiny for the actions of a few members. The most heavily scrutinized group within the car enthusiast community is the import tuners. As a result from a public outcry, tough and unjust laws have been imposed by the federal government that is targeted at import tuners in an attempt crack down on street racing. I will identify the groups within the car enthusiast culture, who the main stakeholders are and possible solutions to minimize racing on public streets in our community.
 * __Street Racer – An Automobile Enthusiast Stereotype__**


 * __How it All Began..__**

There are various car enthusiasts for every type of car created. They range from muscle cars, supercars to imports and vary in price, performance, and luxury. Each of these automobiles appeal to enthusiasts from various different demographics: such as age, background and maturity. [|Muscle cars], by definition, were meant to be spacious, durable, non-sophisticated, and powerful; which eventually leads to bigger and heavier cars. That can be considered a disadvantage, as weight is inversely proportional to handling. [|Muscle cars] come with powerful engines with linear torque and horsepower curves, resulting the better acceleration and top speed. Supercar is a term generally used for high-end [|sports cars], whose performance is superior to that of its contemporaries. Supercars are usually very expensive, fast and powerful. Lastly, tuner cars are often from a Japanese or European manufacturer, a car that combines comfort, practicality and decent gas mileage with the potential of becoming a high performance vehicle. Everything on any car is customizable. Tuners generally try to replace as much of the car as possible with parts superior to the manufacturer.

Car modifying became a hobby as early as the '50s and '60s when powerful and fast muscle ruled the streets of North America. The modern import scene, however, first developed in the late '80s among Asian-American youths in Southern California. Front-wheel drive imports, like Datsuns or Hondas, were the platform of choice. They were cheap, light weight, and widely available. The car modifiers would hack, bolt, weld, and borrow parts from other cars, and even trucks, to make their cars as fast as possible. These early "tuners" established an underground street racing culture that wouldn't gain mainstream attention for another decade. In fact, it wasn't until 2001, when movies such as The Fast and the Furious ostensibly explored this subculture, that the hobby swept America and caught the eye of large aftermarket parts manufacturers. Today, import tuning captivates a much greater proportion of America. The term "import" has even evolved to include small, domestic cars - i.e., Chevrolet Cobalt, Cavaliers, Dodge Neons, and so on.

Reasons may vary for what a car is modified for include different types of adjustments for competitive racing such as drifting and circuit racing, where suspension, tires, and performance mods are all necessary to have your vehicle perform well on the race track. Drag racing solely focuses on engine performance and tires, looks, handling and audio are the last thing on any drag racers list. Last, show cars tend to focus more on looks and sound rather than performance, body kits, rims and audio upgrades are areas of the tuners car that receive the most attention.


 * __The Issue__**

Since modified cars attract attention, it is easy for anyone to point fingers when a member of the car enthusiast community decides to use poor judgment. The poor judgment being displayed usually comes from the younger members in the car enthusiast community. Since a large amount of import tuners comprise of a younger age group, they have been stereotyped as street racers because they own and drive modified vehicles. This is a flawed argument since not everyone who is young and owns a modified vehicle displays poor judgment on public roads. As a result, a profile has been created. This occurred in response to a supposed street racing epidemic. The Ontario Provincial government introduced Ontario Bill 203. New market MP Frank Klees worked on Bill 203 and introduced the bill to combat street racing on Ontario roads. This Bill was implemented after an alleged street racing incident in May 2006 where Rob and Lisa Manchester were killed when they turned into the path of two supposed street racers doing approximately 150km/h leaving their child and orphan. Rob and Lisa Manchester were in Klees riding and this incident received enormous media attention. Furthermore, OPP commissioner Julian Fantino added a piece of his own and requested aerial support to help catch more street racers. According to the piece Fantino added, “If spotted driving 50km/h over the suggested speed limit, you receive a street racing ticket, then your car is impounded on the spot, and finally you could face $10,000 in fines.” The bill was passed after a public outcry. After the bill was introduced, it was discovered the two supposed street racers who killed Rob and Lisa Manchester were actually doing 112km/h and Rob Manchester, the driver who was killed; was driving under the influence of alcohol twice above the legal alcohol limit and caused the accident. Had Rob Manchester lived, he would have faced driving under the influence charges.

The general consensus in the car enthusiast community is to keep dangerous driving off the streets and in a secured and controlled environment, such as a race track. Furthermore, aftermarket parts manufacturers design some of their products for off-road use and not to be tested on public streets. When purchasing aftermarket products from manufacturers such as GReddy, HKS, TEIN etc. A disclaimer is included with the product outlining their stance on the use of their products. This is difficult to control since most of these aftermarket parts are being used on cars that are daily driven.

Now let’s examine the statistics of street racing, only 33 people have died as a result of alleged street racing in Ontario. In the United States of America, according to the Fatality Analysis Accident reporting system: from 1998-2005 there has been a total of 304,236 total highway fatalities. Among these deaths, 353 (0.12 percent) were from alleged street racing. In fact, driving slower than the legal limit caused 429 deaths (0.14 percent). These statistics do not prove that street racing is a non-existent problem, but proves that there is no epidemic and it allows room for reasonable solutions.


 * __Possible Solutions__**

Toronto is Canada’s most populated city, therefore it contains one of the largest and diverse car enthusiast populations. The three closest race tracks to Toronto are Toronto Motorsports Park (Cayuga), Dunville Autodrome, and Shannonville Motorsports Park. From Mississauga, Shannonville Motorsport Park is an approximate two and a half hour drive, Toronto Motorsports Park is approximately one hour and fifteen minutes away, and lastly Dunville Autodrome is approximately a one hour and ten minute drive. A reason why street racing exists and will continue to exist is the long distances away from a race track. The long distances discourage car enthusiasts and therefore engage in dangerous driving. One possible solution that will help decrease the amount of street racing in Toronto is to build a race track much closer to Toronto. It would give car enthusiasts an opportunity to get out to the racetrack more often and decrease the temptation to perform dangerous driving on our public roads. This would also leave the door open justify the heavy fines outlined in Bill 203 to those who continue to street race and still act as a deterrent.


 * __Conclusion__**

Since the passing of Bill 203, there has been no effort to create any reasonable solutions to the supposed street racing epidemic. Instead, stereotypes created generalizations of automotive enthusiasts as street racers through the media. A street racer is being profiled as a person who drives a modified vehicle, and furthermore as a driver caught speed 50 km/h over the speed limit according to Bill 203. A reasonable approach to decreasing this problem is to build a motorsports park closer to Toronto. It will decrease the temptation for those who display poor judgment when driving on public roads. However, building a motorsports park will not eliminate street racing in our communities, it is only a start.


 * __Works Cited__**

"Car Tuning." __Wikipedia__. 17 Oct. 2008. 3 Feb. 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/car_tuner.

Chisholm, Tim. "A Hard Look At the `Street Racing' Law." The Toronto Star 17 Nov. 2007. 3 Feb. 2009 <[|http://www.wheels.ca]>.

"Disclaimer." __Greddy - Founded and Driven by Racers__. < [|http://www.greddy.com/] >.

Kalinowski, Tess. "Street Racers Face $10,000 Fines." __The Toronto Star__ 15 Aug. 2007. 3 Feb. 2009 .

"propaganda." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 02 Feb. 2009. 

Symansky, Paul. "Hot Import Nights reveals tuner culture." __Boston College Heights__. 3 May 2007. 2 Feb. 2009 http://media.www.bcheights.com/.

"Stereotypes in the Media." __123HelpMe.com__. 01 Apr 2008 <[|http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=21979]>.

"Supercar." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 25 Jan 2009, 14:15 UTC. 5 Feb 2009 .

"Tuner (car)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 20 Jan 2009, 22:39 UTC. 5 Feb 2009 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tuner_(car)&oldid=265371597]>.

Vander Doelen, Chris. "Street Racing Nonexistent Problem, Stats Show." __The Windsor Star__ 4 July 2007. 2 Feb. 2009 .