Anyone can spin the wording of the law.
(d) "Spectator" means any person who is knowingly present at and views a drag race, when such presence is the result of an affirmative choice to attend or participate in the race. For purposes of determining whether or not an individual is a spectator, finders of fact shall consider the relationship between the racer and the individual, evidence of gambling or betting on the outcome of the race, and any other factor that would tend to show knowing attendance or participation.
I've already heard that a few have lawyers who are going to have fun with this. I don't condone street racing but sucks if your only intention is to stop and bullshit with a friend or two. I don't see the cops waiting for the drunks leaving Biff Burger on their Harleys every weekend, the tons of people leaving Clearwater beach at 3 am swerving all over the place(i see it 6 out of 7 nights a week at work), or the long list where people seem to just get away with murder.
http://www.flhsmv.gov/hsmvdocs/CS2007.pdf
In 2007 Florida had 1,244 alcohol related fatalities, I'm sure that number has grown.
In the same year we had 256,206 traffic crashes, 3,221 leading to traffic fatalities, sounds more like instead of a street racing problem we have a driving problem.
Current street racing laws allow you to get a ticket for street racing when you are the only driver. Isn't that speeding? Or reckless driving? So it's left up to some cop to individually interpret the law. I'd like to see some statistics that show how many of theses street racing citations have been dropped or lowered. Further more some real statistics on how many actual fatalities are from street racing, not the trumped up figures the media puts out.
Note that the Drag Racing penalties are far more severe than DUI penalties, despite the fact that DUI's kill roughly 1500 people a year here, whereas street racing claims about 1% of that figure. The fight against street racing is just sensationalism and an easy way to get laws passed for revenue bottom line. If it was to "save lives", why do we have 4 or 5 time repeat DUI offenders still on the street driving legally? The little blow machine that you have to pay the state to use(more revenue) installed on the vehicle is simply circumvented by having some one else in the car.
The simple answer is take it to the track, but what track is available? If the police, public and local government really wanted a solution they could surely find the time to speak with track owners (hey doesn't the State own Sunshine lol) and create times for a venue that would keep the kids off the street.