as i stated in the thread ss vs slim i am doing a study on street racing in the tampa area. i'm interested in the effect it has on the area itself, how the police deal with what takes place on saturday nights, how people street racing perceive the police, and the groups of people driving similar cars...

aka the "ricers"

the v8 guys...

etc

etc

so without telling people what the officer i interviewed told me...(i will be glad to share the entire study once its completed)

so some initial questions i have for you guys is...

how do you perceive the police and what kind of problems/interaction have you specifically had with them?

do you feel like you are engaging in dangerous activity...to the point where you are sometimes endangering others...including innocent drivers who are just passing through the area?

how do you perceive the people driving mustangs/camaros, honda's with wings and loud exhaust, supra owners, exotic car owners, rx-7/rotary owners, etc...etc..

and any other thoughts or comments would be appreciated...

thanks, and i think this is the appropriate forum seeing as though all of you posting war stories (including myself) are very familiar with what goes on in southern tampa in and around the gandy area.

thanks again for your responses...i'm trying to get this study published in a qualitative research journal...as nobody in the sociology field has ever conducted a comprehensive study on the mentality of street racing, why and where it exists, how it is controlled, the consequences of street racing, etc...etc...

i think you all get the point, thanks for reading.

 

First things first. I do not street race...

1. how do you perceive the police and what kind of problems/interaction have you specifically had with them?

I have much love for the police and they are just doing their jobs.. Sometimes by asking people to leave the fishing pier or the boat ramp violates peoples civil rights.. No signs stating we cannot park at either location. If they are going to tell us to leave they need to tell all the fishers to leave as well. That is a public place we pay taxes to maintain. If we are standing around there then we are obviously not street racing..


2. do you feel like you are engaging in dangerous activity...to the point where you are sometimes endangering others...including innocent drivers who are just passing through the area?

Like I said. I do not street race.. If I did decide too I would not engage in such activity unless the street was ABSOLUTELY CLEAR OF ALL TRAFFIC. I would not want to hurt anyone other than myself and the other participant.

3. how do you perceive the people driving mustangs/camaros, honda's with wings and loud exhaust, supra owners, exotic car owners, rx-7/rotary owners, etc...etc..

Personally I think all cars are great.. I do think some people do not know what the difference between a good exhaust note and a bunch of bees sound like.. We all have our favorites, but fast is fast.. Whether its a beater or a Supra.. I have never been able to understand why some people form mini groups when we all share the same passion for cars.. I guess it is just human nature.. To me RICE is a dirty word and kind of sounds prejudice.. I would prefer to call them the SLOW ONES....

Thats all from me..

 

thanks for your response vince...

the thing is...the police call the people with cars that have loud mufflers and wings "ricers" so i'm going to continue labeling them that way.

would you be able to further categorize the drivers of the different types of vehicles i described...

how v8 owners differ from honda owners...

etc

 

Rice is not dirty. It's part of my diet! I need rice at least once a day, or else I don't feel fulfilled.

On a serious note, like Vince said, I will not race when there's traffic. Or if there's a chance of putting someone else's life in danger besides myself and the prey. What I can't stand are people who have total disregard for the safety of other, and zip through parking lots, and crowded streets like they're untouchable.

 

Basically the V8 owners are older in age by a huge percentage.. Most of the import guys are younger than the V8 owners.. I cant speak for the V8 mentality compared to the Import mentality.. I own both..

 

i will be interviewing all of you in person as well...this is just to get you guys thinking about the perspective i need to have to create a study that is comprehensive and accurate...

 

Ok. No cameras until I get my hair done..

 

of course you guys will remain anonymous...

i may use your TR screennames...or pseudonyms...

 

hmmm...pick me pick me, I wanna be interviewed

but...as far as the difference between ricers and V8's...that I've noticed is that...ricers like previously stated are generally younger than the V8's, most of them want their rides to look cool and sound cool above being the fastest thing out there, hence the stickers, wings, neon lighting, sound systems, etc...

The V8's seem to be strictly for speed, making their car very loud and very fast

sometimes you'll get some mixture for example a very fast ricer or a V8 with stickers, neon lighting etc...

What I've noticed though is that a big majority of the V8's have very little respect for any ricers...I dunno if it's cause they're generally slower or because the V8's just hate the stickers and lighting...personally...whatever makes you happy go for it...for example I want to put neon lighting under my skittle and I know i'm going to get a lot of people flaming me for it but...I just personally really wnat to do that and it's my own money so no one can really tell me what to do with it you know?? And that's what I think a lot of ricers mentality is...they do what they want and don't care so much about what other people say

Mentioning my car above brings me to my next point...ricers hate me (cause I beat most of them, lol)...V8's don't have respect for me at all (cause I am still a 4 cylinder even though I can keep up/beat some of them)...so...I'm kinda on my own...I'm gonna start the skittle category

Anyway that's my take on the Ricer vs. V8 situation...and like datruth said...we all share the same thing...passion for our cars...we just happen to have a wide variety of taste...so I don't have disrespect for anyone unless they have disrespect for me or my car (for example big fat mexicans spitting on it )

 

sounds good, i will definitely try to interview you.