Er, A&E nurse talking here. They are. They knowingly endanger other people. You can’t always guarantee clear streets. I still wake in the night from dealing with the aftermath of the Bristol Middleway incident. Half of the deaths were innocent bystanders.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/full-story-horror-crash-killed-1625468

Street racing is illegal, sure

Exactly, it’s a crime. And people that engage in crimes are criminals.

This isn’t a showerthought, you just need a dictionary.

Street racers aren’t just criminals, they’re also extremely selfish people who put their “hobby” above the safety and well-being of the general public.

If you want to race a car, go find a track.

Putting other people at risk through deliberate or careless action is also considered to be criminal, in many cases.

Username checks out.

Sorry, yes they are.

The difference between “Reckless Endangerment” and “Criminal Negligence Causing Death” is one tiny slip. If you’re guilty of the former, you should be aggressively prevented from being the latter. Impound your vehicles, suspend your license for life, and fines in the six-figures.

If you’re street racing, I hope you only kill yourself.

Words mean things. The word “criminal” means that something is against the law, or someone who breaks the law.

Street racers are criminals because they break the law. It’s as simple as that.

Now you could try and argue that they’re not bad people. But you tried that in another thread in nostuoid questions and I don’t see a need to add anything there.

I hate how games like Need For Speed always paint racers as villains

I recently played NFS Heat, and that somehow twists it into street racers being good (at least relative to the corrupt cops). I haven’t played all of them, but the only one I remember where the racers just unapologetically villains is the BMW Driver Simulator, aka NFS Most Wanted (2005), and I absolutely loved it for that.

That said, if you do that shit irl, you’re a pos.

Being a criminal doesn’t mean that someone did something unethical, just that they did a crime - ie something illegal. However, in this case they are also doing something unethical.

In Need for Speed, how many other cars did you hit or do you play with traffic off? In a video game there are no consequences, so you end up hitting dozens and can keep going as you learn the game. In real life, you hit one car and someone is either dead, wishes they were, or incredibly lucky.

How about hitting the trees, the road barriers, going through grass? All that stuff costs the community money to fix.

Let’s say you’re the best (or luckiest) player in the world and never hit anything, how much did your little cousin hit when you first gave up the controller?

Street racing is a crime because its dangerous to other people. You are intentionally putting other people’s life at risk for your own personal entertainment.

This is just from an initial search, with strict query:

Known Cases in 2024 of Bystander Deaths or Innocent Victim Deaths in Street Racing-Related Crashes

St. Louis County, Missouri – April 2024 Construction worker killed in work-zone by street racing crash Two 18‑year‑olds racing; one lost control and struck construction workers. One, Christopher Johnson (34), was pronounced dead. https://www.wdtv.com/

Portland, Oregon – Fatal crash killing innocent bystander Young mother (Ashlee McGill, 26) killed She was struck by a vehicle that lost control during an illegal street race while she was a bystander (had no involvement). https://hoodline.com/2024/05/portland-man-sentenced-to-3-years-for-fatal-street-racing-crash-that-killed-young-mother/

Grand Prairie, Texas – August 10, 2024 Family killed by alleged street racer Four family members (parents and two children) killed when their car was struck by alleged street racer returning from Six Flags. https://people.com/four-family-members-killed-after-street-racer-slams-into-their-car-8695681

Kansas City, Missouri – December 2024 Two innocent people killed in street racing crash A street race (Chrysler 300 vs Charger) resulted in collision with a Honda HR‑V turning onto another road; both people in the Honda died. These victims were not part of the race. tonyskansascity.com

As someone who grew up in the racing community (at tracks designed for it), I’ve watched the safety improvements dramatically improve over my lifetime, and the number of attendee injuries drop to near zero and yet we still have crashes that exceed the math of safety engineers.

I’ll add my personal experience. A couple jackasses were racing on a residential street in a major US city. Where 2 cars can barely squeek past each other at a walking pace.

One of those jackasses sideswiped my parked truck, and hit it so hard it bent the lower control arm. You know, things that are designed for major forces. $5000 in damage to my parked vehicle that my insurance paid because the prick ran off (not sure how they did that).

Imagine the smear that would’ve made of a human body.

I work very hard to not insult people here and rather to critique their statements. But in this case, get fucked with your selfish bullshit.

Endangering others for your entertainment makes you a criminal too.

“Street racers” are some of the worst people to exist. They have no empathy and regard for the lives and well-being of other people. Most of the time, their fatal accidents kill entirely unrelated people (including children!) that were just going about their business. Having “street racing” as your “hobby” is the ultimate display of unlimited egoism; you do not care at all about the actual humans you kill through your actions and the decades of connections you sever and memories you eradicate. And defending this abhorrent practice is almost as shameful as participating in it.

I never said this on the fediverse, but FUCK YOU!

Yes you are the fucking villains.

Criminals are anyone who is breaking the law.

It’s why I never liked the term as it applies to drug users, but it is true.