Europe
Street racing in most European countries is illegal. The most common way of street racing is grip on mountain passes, especially in Catalonia, a non autonomous country of Spain, with roads like L'Arrabassada in Barcelona or Montseny, the biggest and the most exciting Touge in Catalonia, about 270 km of pure winding road (Track map
)
Portugal
In Portugal, street racing is illegal, but is still widely popular, mainly among teenagers and young adults between the ages of 18-30. The preferred sites for street racing are industrial areas, freeways, wide streets in the largest cities and expressways connecting locations around them. The main hot-spot for the street racing practice in Portugal is the Vasco da Gama Bridge, the longest bridge in Europe, with 17.2 km (10.7 mi), providing a long and large straight for drag races. These hot-spots usually have automatic speed cameras installed. The races are usually performed at night, when there are less drivers on the roads.
In spite of the many efforts by the police against the threat, and according to sources from the Public Security Police and the Highway Patrol division of the National Guard, crimes related to street racing are still increasing, which led to the promulgation of a new law that allows one to be convicted of "homicide in the context of a street race" instead of only negligent homicide.
Since the races are now mainly scheduled through SMS and Internet forums, the police maintains a constant vigilance over street racing websites. Also, videos depicting street races in video hosting websites like YouTube, help the police to identify locations and individuals and, eventually, prosecute them.
An association of volunteers, called Superdrivers, fights against the street racing, defending the sanctioned racing events as an alternative.[11][12][13][14]
Australia
Street racing in Australia occurs across the country most notably in the lower socio-economic suburbs of the main cities and semi-rural NSW and Victoria. People who participate, specifically the drivers themselves, are referred to as hoons or 'boyracers' in New Zealand. The term is also used as a verb to describe reckless and dangerous driving in general ("to hoon" or "to hoon around").
Street racing began in the late 1960s as the local vehicle manufacturers (Ford Australia, Chrysler Australia and Holden) began creating performance versions of their family cars both for attracting the growing male youth market and meeting racing homologation requirements. Vehicles such as the Chrysler Valiant Pacer offered strong performance at an affordable price, while vehicles from Ford offered even stronger performance at an even more affordable price. While V8's were popular most street-racers concentrated on tuning the locally designed and built Chrysler 265ci Hemi, Holden 202ci and Ford 250ci six-cylinder engines used in the Chrysler Valiant, Chrysler Valiant Charger, Holden Torana, Holden Monaro, Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon.
Laws exist in all states and territories that limit modifications done to vehicles and prohibit having nitrous oxide hooked up to, or even present inside a car. In most states and territories P- Plater (Provisional Drivers) are not allowed to drive any vehicle with more than six cylinders as well as turbo. In most states further laws impose strong penalties for street racing such as confiscating/impounding the vehicle and loss of license.
Australia has lower reported levels of this behavior than New Zealand related to street racing due in part to the size of the Australian continent and much of it occurring undetected in remote rural locations and/or at odd hours. Stricter rules recently imposed on safety features of imported cars, reducing the volume of small and cheap Japanese imports that are typically modified with loud exhaust tips and cut-down coil springs by boy racers.[15]
Brazil
In Brazil, street races are commonly known as "pegas" or "rachas".[16] Since 1997, the National Traffic Code of Brazil prohibits street racing, stunts, dangerous moves and related competitions in public streets; racers may have their driving licenses and cars confiscated, besides paying a fine and going to jail from six months to two years.[17]
Normally, popular street racing places are discovered by the Police after receiving information from Crime Stoppers.[16] Normally, some Plainclothes Men are sent to the place to check if the information is correct. If so, the roads leading out of the place are blocked to avoid flees, and then the competitors are arrested.[16]
In some places, it is possible for amateur drivers to race legally. The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, for example, hosts regular amateur racing events with appropriate infrastructure. Some racecourses have events like trackdays or drag racing with different categories for less or more powerful cars.[16]
Canada
In 2006, in Toronto, Wing-Piao Dumani Ross and Alexander Ryazanov were racing their two cars on Mount Pleasant Road, hitting speeds of between 80 and 140 kilometres per hour in an area where the posted speed limit is 50 km/h. They struck and killed taxi cab driver Tahir Khan. Police investigating the incident found a copy of the video The Fast and the Furious in one of the cars.[citation needed] Both were charged with street racing and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death.[18][19] \ Ross and Ryazanov each pled guilty and received a one-year house arrest term, followed by a one-year curfew. The judge felt that prison terms were not warranted in the case, saying: "neither has tried to blame the other and they had done the right thing, accepting full responsibility and pleading guilty at the right time." The Crown was seeking a three-year prison term and an appeal. The two offenders had their conditional sentences doubled to two years of house arrest and their driving bans extended from four to seven years, though the appeals judge maintained that jail was not necessary. Khan's family has filed a $2 million civil suit.[20][21][22][23]
A driver convicted of a causing a street racing fatality can be sentenced to life imprisonment as a maximum term. If he or she receives such a sentence, he or she can apply for full parole after serving 7 years' imprisonment.
A driver convicted of injuring another person, via street racing, is subject to a maximum prison term of 14 years
.
Japan
Street racers, known natively as hashiriya (走り屋),[24] often run their cars on expressways and highways, where they are known as kōsoku battle or commonly known as Roulette-zoku as they drive round and round in circular motions[24] and frequently occur on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo. Japanese racers have also popularized racing along the narrow winding roads of the mountains of the country, known as Touge (portrayed in the manga/anime series Initial D).
The most notorious group to be associated with street racing was the Mid Night Club who gave street racing worldwide attention with its 300 km/h (190 mph) antics. It was known for its high standards and organization until they were disbanded in 1999 following a fatal accident involving a group of bōsōzoku. The expressway racing scene is portrayed in the manga Wangan Midnight, as well as in the movie series Shuto Kousoku Trial .
With heavier punishments, patrolling police cars, crackdowns in meeting areas and the installation of speed cameras, expressway racing in Japan is not as common today as it was during the 1980s and the 1990s. Still, it occurs on a not-so-regular basis. Persistent racers often install spring assisted license-plate swivelling mechanisms that hold plates down at speed or picture-proof screens over their plates. In 2001, the amount of hashiriya dropped from 9,624 (in 1995) to 4,365 and police arrests in areas where hashiriya gather are common. Cars are checked for illegal modification and if found, owners are fined and forced to remove the offending modifications.
One of the causes of street racing in Japan is that, despite the numerous and famous race circuits, they can become overcrowded. Furthermore, such circuits may cost as much as ¥20,000 to race,[24] while a highway toll may cost less than ¥1,000.[24]
As in other countries, street racing also occurs on long straights in industrial areas, which are used for drag races, known natively as Zero-Yon (ゼロヨン) for "0-400" (meters; in America, racing to a quarter-mile, 1320 feet, or 402 meters, is the norm), Yon is Japanese for "4". This practice gave its name to a popular video game franchise of the 1990s, Zero4 Champ series.
Malaysia
Main article: Mat Rempit
Street racing in Malaysia is illegal, as is watching a street race; this is enforced by the Malaysian police. Many streets, roads, highways and expressways in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuala Selangor and other cities have become sites for racing. Among the participants are teenagers driving modified cars or riding motorcycles.
Motorcycle street racers in Malaysia are known in Malay language as Mat Rempit. These Mat Rempit are infamous for their "Superman" stunts and other feats performed on their motorcycles. They are also notorious for their "Cilok", a kind of racing in which racers weave in-between moving and stationary traffic at high-speed. In addition to doing their stunts and racing around, they have a habit of causing public disorder. They usually travel in large groups and at times raid isolated petrol stations. They can cordon off normal traffic flow to allow their friends race along a predetermined circuit.
Most illegal car racers in Malaysia use modified common cars or bargain performance cars.
Some of the commonly used cars include local cars such as the Proton Saga, Proton Perdana, Proton Satria, Proton Waja, or Japanese cars such as the first-generation Nissan Cefiro, Nissan Silvia, Mitsubishi Lancer,the new Nissan GT-R, Nissan 240SX, Honda Integra, and Hachi-roku. High-performance western cars such as Ferrari F430, BMW M3 E46, and Porsche Cayman have also been used. Illegal drift racing often takes place on dangerous hill roads such as Bukit Tinggi, Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands or Teluk Bahang, Penang. Meanwhile, illegal drag racing takes place on expressways such as the Second Link Expressway in Johor Bahru. Illegal racers can be distinguished by their over-modified vehicles which do not follow road regulations in Malaysia.[25]
Meanwhile on 3 May 2009, the Bukit Aman Traffic Division of the Royal Malaysian Police, together with the Road Transport Department, have once again launched a major integrated operation to crack down on both cars and Mat Rempit motorcycles involved in illegal racing. More than 115 motorcycles were impounded in the major operation which was held simultaneously in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan.[26]
New Zealand
New Zealand also has strict rules on vehicle modifications and a registered engineer must audit any major modification and certify road-worthiness within a system known as the Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association. The LVVTA exists to service legal motorsport and responsible modifications only. Unofficial street racing remains illegal and police are well endowed with equipment to use, such as 'sustained loss of traction' which carries a minimum sentence of licence disqualification and maximum sentence of imprisonment. Street racing is common in New Zealand and there are many small clubs offering street racing in remote rural roads. Despite its popularity, rates of incident due to street racing in New Zealand are relatively low.[27]