Cars racing through neighborhood

[DLgal]

We have had this issue for a decade in my So Cal neighborhood. Nothing has changed over the decade despite all of the above suggestions. Counting down the next two years until we leave So Cal.

We have the same issue here with street racers. However, our local PD is VERY involved and has an actual enforcement team specifically for this issue. They have impounded and cited numerous cars/drivers and arrested several. The ones in our city are serious...essentially drag racing on our straightaways in their exotic sports cats at speeds up to 150mph. They have caused numerous fatal accidents. The cops had no choice but to really start cracking down. A lot of smaller racing clubs from other parts of So Cal come to our town because we have a lot of long streets that are straight and at night, essentially no traffic. They tend to race between 11pm and 2am. We have one of these straightaways very close to our home and hear these cars a few times a month. We also live close to an on ramp to I-5 and they like to race there too. It's probably the only thing I don't love about where we live.

 

[mrodgers]

Our town did this in a couple subdivisions that had people speeding and racing down their streets - it solved the problem instantly.

It solves the problem with people speeding, but also affects you. The first summer they didn't put the speed bumps back down after winter plowing was fantastic as I didn't have to crawl the whole way out of the neighborhood at 3 mph easing over the speed bumps.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Our town did this in a couple subdivisions that had people speeding and racing down their streets - it solved the problem instantly.

See in our area it just moves the problem from one pocket to another. So speed bumps could make one street less desirable for the street racers but they'd find another area (usually a highway or some other straight stretch of road) and then the residents get impacted by speed bumps in other ways.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

If the police investigated and they weren't speeding, are they just noisy? It's possible for a car with modified exhaust to be quite loud without breaking the speed limit.

It solves the problem with people speeding, but also affects you. The first summer they didn't put the speed bumps back down after winter plowing was fantastic as I didn't have to crawl the whole way out of the neighborhood at 3 mph easing over the speed bumps.

Not to mention they're noisy. I had one almost directly in front of my house and could hear the "thump-thump" every time someone drove over it.

My experience with speed bumps is the people who drive slow respect them while the people who drive fast realize you feel them less at 40mph than 5mph. Waste of time.

 

[mrodgers]

My experience with speed bumps is the people who drive slow respect them while the people who drive fast realize you feel them less at 40mph than 5mph. Waste of time.

Absolutely on that. Speed bumps are always better at 3 times the speed over what they are trying to hold you at in my experience.

 

[Mysterian]

We get speeders in our suburb too, but we also have cops that live there and/or patrol there. Unfortunately many cops in our area also speed, run red lights, run stop signs, perform illegal right hand turns, all manner of traffic violations. (All of these done without lights/sirens running)

 

[Cheburashka]

I'm not one who advocates calling the local media, but this could be one. It will be an "easier" sell for a story if it's always at or around the same time. Getting your own video would help also. But I am confused... you say you see/hear these guys at your house, but then say you can't get video because you're driving. Stand on your front porch and get video.

I like the ideas I've seen of contacting media & legislators. The road is a long block from my house, with a row of houses between my house and the road, so I can't see them from my porch. I'd have to either go to that major road & stand on its edge with a camera, or else try to follow them while using a dash cam.

 

[Cheburashka]

If the police investigated and they weren't speeding, are they just noisy? It's possible for a car with modified exhaust to be quite loud without breaking the speed limit.

My experience with speed bumps is the people who drive slow respect them while the people who drive fast realize you feel them less at 40mph than 5mph. Waste of time.

I have seen them when driving and they do speed. I don't think speed bumps are possible because it's a major road.

 

[monsterkitty]

Street racers are a huge problem in the metro area here. There is a hotline number to call to report racers.

The racers will actually block the highways to race.

 

[RangerPooh]

Where I live this is a big problem on some streets, especially those considered main roads that connect subdivisions to main roadways. We have one of these connecting roads a block away from us. The posted speed limit is 25mph, but far too often cars zoom past at 40+. This is a two lane street through a quiet subdivision, not a major thoroughfare. Who cares about those flashing speed limit sign, or the kids riding bikes in the bike lane. The two speed humps do nothing to deter speeder either. I'd like to see a series of speed humps strategically placed throughout the road. My concern is that a child will be hit, and the driver will speed off without stopping.

As it is, these speeders will fly past you because you're going the posted speed limit doesn't suit them.

 

[pigletto]

While I do not have racers I live close to a high school and just have a bunch of other problems that come with that so you have my sympathies.
One thing I’ve learned is that sadly you have to be the squeaky wheel and organize an effort with your neighbours to get this addressed . I never wanted to be “that” person but I feel like you just get placated until you say enough is enough. Lodge a complaint every single time, document, call the appropriate people at the city and follow up regularly.
I literally had kids fighting on my lawn before I snapped and made the school deal with this issue and put someone outside on breaks. They were tearing down street signs , racing on our street, skateboarding in front of cars so slowly that traffic would have to stop behind them and laughing about it. Setting fires to the garbage cans . Like it was just out if hand and it was nobodies problem until we called the city , the police and the school with all the neighbours and followed up repeatedly. I wasn’t rude or mean or screaming .. I just wasn’t backing down.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Where I live this is a big problem on some streets, especially those considered main roads that connect subdivisions to main roadways.

This is our issue too, well it's in many neighborhoods, but a lot of times it's people who don't live in the neighborhood that use these more traveled roads that connect from a main one (which is a complaint in itself) but they also tend to speed too. They don't race on these roads because it's not straight enough but the speed limit of 25 is never observed for those folks flying past to get to the other neighborhoods.


Right in my neighborhood instead of using the main road to get all the way to the other one people cut through to a different road. But that road is right by an elementary school and they've done electronic signs placed around over time, increased patrol and most recently larger barrier by the pedestrian crossing right by the elementary school. That road by the elementary road is a 2-car width one right by the elementary school side to accommodate people parking to pick up their kids but it narrows with those barriers. That seems to have helped because people have an extra obstacle to worry about. Speed bumps wouldn't work, they'll prevent plows from clearing a necessary road by a school and won't really mean speeders will care.

They also turned the intersection that was the big problem from a 2-way stop to a 3-way stop but there was already a stop sign on the point where the speeders/non-neighborhood folks come from, they just largely pause or don't even really stop (much less use a turn signal) so that hasn't really helped much