For the Thrill of It: Teen Car Racing

Alex is a 16-year-old girl from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She enjoys playing soccer, writing for her school newspaper and her favorite subject is History.


teen racing, speeding, teens and cars, highway racing, teen licenses, tickets, policeTwo things teens love are freedom and living on the edge.  Getting a car and a driver’s license is long awaited by all teens because it translates into the aforementioned two things.  Unfortunately, not all teens are responsible with their privileges to drive.  Many teens speed, stay past curfew and carry an illegal amount of passengers in their cars.  Even though these things are dangerous, a new and even more dangerous fad has begun with teens and their cars: racing.


Especially common in boys, racing cars in the middle of the night on traffic free highways is a teen’s idea of freedom and living on the edge.  A “car race” begins when two teens, who might have never met each other before, pull up next to each other and discuss where the start and finishing landmarks are going to be.  After that, bets are placed on who’s car will win the race.  These bets can lead teens into serious debt.  The two teen drivers drive side by side on a two lane highway for a couple of minutes to ensure that no cars pass them while they are racing.  Once they reach the designated starting point, the teens go from 0 to 130, or as fast as their cars can go in a matter of seconds.  From there, the teens race until the designated finishing line.  In the process of racing, it is allowed to veer into the other car’s lane and beep uncontrollably in order to throw the other car off.



Not only is this idea of fun horribly dangerous, but it is against the law.  Unfortunately, these teen racers are experienced enough to know where to race and not get in trouble with the police.  They pick parts of the highway that are hard to access and they race in the middle of the night.  The only reason that might prevent a teen from continuing to race is that it amounts to hundreds of dollars in mechanical fees because racing is obviously very bad on the car.