ABC Stateline - Illegal Street Racing

[jsttry]

ABC ran a segment on Beat the Heat on Friday night and how they are encouraging young drivers to race their cars at organised 'street racing' events run by the King Cobra Rod & Custom Club instead of engaging in the dangerous practice of illegal racing on public streets

The segment has been uploaded to the Beat the Heat website. A few different formats have been included so you can chose the size that is appropriate for you.


2MB version here (warning pretty small)
http://www.beattheheatnt.org.au/media/albums/media/stateline09_01_2005_ulow.wmv

7MB version here
http://www.beattheheatnt.org.au/media/albums/media/stateline09_01_2005_low.wmv

16MB version here
http://www.beattheheatnt.org.au/media/albums/media/stateline09_01_2005_med.wmv

[Ghosn]

Great story and some nice footage....

The heat is a great idea, the fact u can legally take on the cops in drag racing, that would be so much fun.

[holdennutta]

Err....that cop car, when it does it's burnout. Does it look like a single spinner to anyone else? Like all the smoke is coming from the left rear.

[jsttry]

It looked like it in that video but trust me, its not. It has a mini spool with 4.11's in the arse end. Every time you hear it turning, the back tyres scrub.

[VX2VESS]

and the nsw police won't let them run at EC

[holdennutta]

It looked like it in that video but trust me, its not. It has a mini spool with 4.11's in the arse end. Every time you hear it turning, the back tyres scrub.

Yeah, I thought it was a little strange that they would have a slippery diff...SS has a LSD as standard doesn't it? So it aint like they would downgrade :p

[VX2VESS]

i see nawdy is on the story

[jsttry]

Yep, very nice closeup of him :) There were 4 other forum members that made an appearance in the show too. Make that 5 if you include TheHeat.

[BOBGEN111]

and the nsw police won't let them run at EC

That sounds stupid of them. Do you know the reason why?

[VX2VESS]

That sounds stupid of them. Do you know the reason why?
no reason given really, they asked the nsw police if was ok and they said no.
was organised on another site.

[jsttry]

TheHeat will still be visiting Mackay on 13th & 14th May and Kwinana later in the year. It is a shame about WSID but I'm sure it can be overcome at a later date with cooperation and help from the general public.

[vaughn]

Nice to see the police getting involved and understanding the passion of cars. I wish they would open Sandown for these sort of events, It would take the load off calder (and its close for me). You should have seen Dandenong 12 months ago with street racing. IT WAS PRETTY BAD!

How good would it be for the cops...racing cars and not having to pay for it.(but i dont mind my taxes going into a drag car...seriously).
And holdennutta i dont think it is an SS,. Looks like a clubby. I have seen a couple of clubby's in vic. maybe just got a front bar in it.

[Febs]

That sounds stupid of them. Do you know the reason why?

Jealousy?
Worried that they'll be expected to follow suit with a local NSW version?

I can't think of any other reasons. I mean they've had a police-marked STi at various drag events in Sydney, and BLUEY2 has been at Summernats more than once. It's just stupid.


maybe just got a front bar in it.

Yeah, it's got a Clubby front bar. There's some pics on the site of when it wore the standard SS front.

Cheers,
- Febs.

[jsttry]

How good would it be for the cops...racing cars and not having to pay for it.(but i dont mind my taxes going into a drag car...seriously).
And holdennutta i dont think it is an SS,. Looks like a clubby. I have seen a couple of clubby's in vic. maybe just got a front bar in it.

There is no tax payers money put into the car. While it is run by off duty police officers, it is not sponsored or paid for by the NT Police or the government. The officers have to pay for their ANDRA licenses etc and they put a lot of time in working on the car and making appearances at functions and displays.

The program relies totally on sponsorship and support from the community, local businesses and service organisations. BTH is now a non profit organisation that has charity endorsement from the ATO.

The car is a VY SS. There are a lot of photos in the Photo Gallery (http://www.beattheheatnt.org.au/gallery) on the site from when the car was first delivered from Holden all the way through the Sign Writing and the launch. Febs is right, its just a mock Clubsport front bar. Rest of the kit is standard SS. Specs of the car are also on the website.

[BOBGEN111]

What is the best time to date and is it coming to SA as I think it would be great to see it.

[vaughn]

There is no tax payers money put into the car. While it is run by off duty police officers, it is not sponsored or paid for by the NT Police or the government. The officers have to pay for their ANDRA licenses etc and they put a lot of time in working on the car and making appearances at functions and displays.

The program relies totally on sponsorship and support from the community, local businesses and service organisations. BTH is now a non profit organisation that has charity endorsement from the ATO.

Well I like what they are doing...and I like I said I would not mind if it was tax payer funded...imagine some of the public response though, if it was. I will look for the website...do you have the link??

[Febs]

do you have the link??

http://www.beattheheatnt.org.au/ or click link in jsttry's post:


Photo Gallery (http://www.beattheheatnt.org.au/gallery)

Cheers,
- Febs.

[LSX-438]

The official reason is there is no reason!

However you dont go out of your way to BLOCK a programme like this unless you have reasons...

One can only speculate.. however the obvious conclusion is NSW police do not want to be embarrassed into taking part. They are not interested. NSW police have blocked this safety initiative because they are not ready or do not want to have a bar of it.

Not good enough.

Some of you know that Peter of ######## worked to organise sponsorship for the national programme (vehicle transport, AV educational equipment, WSID promotion, media interviews etc) and of course the usual BTH organisers have put in their awsome work.

After watching that stateline clip, with the drag racing "incident", and how NT police are managing the issue, how can you say 'NO' to this programme Mr Moroney?

In any event the programme will power on in other states, perhaps NSW will eventually be shamed into doing something.

[TheHeat]

Guys...thank you so much for the support of the Beat the Heat initiative. We must however remove the emotion on this issue and focus on the facts and the positives and accept the umpires decision. It must be a realised that the introduction of such programs or initiatives must be at the discretion of each jurisdiction, and whether they want them or not is their perogative...we dont want to cause any trouble or embarrasment or get up in the politics of it all.

All we wanted to do was do something good for the community that has been so generous in supporting us, run at some of the best tracks around the country, meet other car enthusiasts, see what our car can do (in cold air!)and have some fun...anything that helps break down some of the barriers between the police and young people and provide a means of education has got to be a good thing.

We have not been the first to do this..and would never lay claim to it...Vic, WA and Qld as far as I know have all used similar initiatives for similar purposes. Our model is a little different though....it is incorporated and set up as a non profit organisation much like police & citizens youth clubs, Blue light discos etc. I have also had it endorsed as a 'harm reduction charity' by the ATO so that supporters/sponsors that provide assistance can get some benefit back. This is a big thing that they do in the USA. We also have the full support of ANDRA. BTH is not run or managed by the police but we retain our links though our Commissioner being our patron and the two drivers are serving police officers. The rest of the team are civvies. We manage the initiative ourselves, in our own time, with some of our own money and are try to be ambassadores for the Police...no Police or Govt money goes into Beat the Heat because we dont want the age old criticism of 'look where our tax dollars are going" from the knockers in the community. So the organisation get all the benefits and the PR that we generate without the liabilities....we are very fortunate that we have their full support as it allows us to show a different side to policing. We dont mind doing it this way because it creates wins all around and we are proud of what we do, what we have achieved and who we represent.

What has happened before in many jurisdictions is the organisation sets up, manages and funds the initiative...which is great, but support can change over time and funding eventually dries up and a really good and popular program dies.

With ours, if we dont do the work, find the sponsors, represent the organisation well and responsibly, put in the time and effort and make it work, we loose credibility and kill our own program...so it is totally emcumbant on us to make it succeed. If we were handed a bucket of money, it might makes things easier, but we sure as hell wouldnt appreciate it as much...sponsors have to be looked after.

Any funding or assistance comes from the community and businesses in Darwin but we have also been very fortunate to have also had some considerable assistance from businesses and organisations interstate and forum members. The model has been set up so that any 'protector' or emergency service organisation could run a car (to certain guidelines) under Beat the Heat. That means ADF, Ambulance, Police, Fire, SES etc. Its much like the US model except theirs focusses on education about drugs and alcohol while driving, we focus more on 'anti street racing' and educating the public that 'street racing is not drag racing'. We love the sport and the interaction with the public...and are proud of what we have achieved and what we do.

I would also like to publicly thank Mr Peter de'Vries of ########.com who has embraced our initiative and put so much work into trying to get this little project down south...we could not have achieved this by ourselves. Darwin is a long way from everywhere (but we do some pretty good things up here at times). If it wasnt for his tenacity, contacts and support we wouldnt have found the sponsors like Fujitsu or TOLL who have offered to move our car around so we can see what its like down south and have the opportunity to talk to others around the country about this project.

The bottom line is if people like it, thats great, we'd be happy to share what we have put together with others, if they dont like it, thats their perogative. It is simply another idea and another option. If it saves only 1 life on the road......its worth it.

[BOBGEN111]

I think it is great what you guys have done. If we had something like that down here, i am sure it will reduce the illegel street racing that goes on as it would be great to say that "I just beat a cop car and got away with it" and you have a timeslip as proof.
It would not bother me at all if my tax dollars were in it.

Well done.

[Nawdy]

i see nawdy is on the storyCertainly am :D .... I was lucky enough to have my car shown a few times during the story.
Yep, very nice closeup of him :) .Handsome devil, aren't I? :D :cool: :lol: .
There were 4 other forum members that made an appearance in the show too. Make that 5 if you include TheHeat.All jokes aside, TheHeat works very hard to try and get his message out, and is very involved in Darwin's drag racing scene. Darwin's LS1 members try to show support for this initiave to varying degrees (from jsttry providing IT expertise/support to others like myself who turn up at each race meet to have a run in a street car), and each member who turns up to every meet should take a (figurative) bow.... but the real kudos belong to MJ and his team for really doing something about the illegal drag racing scene!!!

Also, as an aside, there are members from other forums who contribute to varying degrees, and show support for the BTH program. These people too should be recognised.

If BTH is going to be near you, I urge you to show your support by turning up and having bit of a run against MJ and his team - I'm sure he's got plenty of T-shirts to give away!!! It's a pity he's unable to run at WSID though...

[vh-holden]

Yep, very nice closeup of him :) There were 4 other forum members that made an appearance in the show too. Make that 5 if you include TheHeat.

6 if you squint enough and lighten the video - i'm on the hill :p

[TheHeat]

:bow: :bow: :

Guys, I am really humbled by the show of support from you all and thank you sincerely for the way you have accepted our idea (wouldnt you know it, there is no blushing smilie).

Its not easy starting things like this because they are viewed with scepticism by the authorities (our jurisdiction was no different), I am just very fortunate that my boss was prepared to take a chance on us and give it a go and got behind it and allowed me to put together the model we have....the onus was squarely on us to prove we could make it work...the rest however is up to the community and the drivers themselves.

If you take a second to look at www.beattheheatinc.org in the USA it started off the same way. It makes no sense to me to run different initiatives that are designed to target the same problem. Why not put them together in a collective way, observing the same goals and objectives and coordinate activity..that way sponsors, supporters and everyone else benefit. But thats just my vision..(goes along side world peace...lol)

Forum politics aside..(and I admit I am a newbie with this side of things and didnt know half these forums existed).....the issue is the 'cause' and trying to save young lives on our roads. We will not ever stop the irresponsible few that still choose to illegally race on our streets, but if we can influence 1 young driver, or prevent 1 accident by divert him or her to the track to enjoy their car and give them a better appreciation of what their car can do and thus start to change attitudes, we go along way to achieving the main objective of making our roads safer.

Some members whom have already been mentioned in this forum are helping and supporting this in a number of different ways and have done a huge amount of work for 5 people they have never met, that are a long way away from them. They have spent hours chasing sponsors, running up phone bills, organising venues just to help us get to some southern tracks simply because they believe in the idea. So it doesnt matter what forum you are on, where your preference lies, what car you drive, how many cylinders it has or whether it is NA, NOS, SC or T... the fact is you support the cause of reducing illegal street racing...and this is one area where you can all unite and combine forces with a common aim

[strife]

That sounds stupid of them. Do you know the reason why?

maybe its because currently its associated with a lot of bad publicity.

reading from dragster.com.au there looks like there is a NSW thing happening,

it would be good to them to have a cook off once they are all sorted

[cev]

With all the illegal drag racing problems we are having in Sydney, I dont see why the NSW Police would refuse.

I always thought why dont WSID organise something like this. Like you could have it every Friday night, come down with your Mum's car even and have a go! It doesnt even have to be for free, something like 5-10 bucks is fair!

Wanna do a burnout, go do one on the heli pad, one by one obviously. Wanna race ur mate and have bragging rights once and for all, then that should be possible!

I know we have the Wednesday night drags at WSID but I think many people are even embarassed to take a stocker down there bcoz u got all these 8-9 second cars.

All cars should be street legal and registered and there should be theme nights like V8's only, 4 cylinder night, Holden Vs Ford day, Australia Vs Japan day and etc.

[biante12]

Well it looks like Current affair and all media are only interested in protraying all car enthusiasts as hoons after tonights episode. I wrote to them and i encourage every car enthusiast to do the same. The more they hear from us the more they have to listen and they might actually start showing stories of those trying to get the kids onto tracks to race. The email i sent is included below . the email address is aca@nine.com.au


I've just watched your Monday episode on ACA Monday 18/04/05 and felt impelled to write with my views on your story. I live in WA where we now have the "Anti-Hoon" laws in place. Has this stopped the behaviour you portray as happening continuously, no it hasn't. Yes, there have been cars confiscated, but this is not the answer to stopping the "MINORITY" of car enthusiasts from behaving this way.

Over the years, the media have pushed these stories down our throats. All this has done is turn the general public and Police against ALL car enthusiasts. You are missing the point or are you being dictated to by Police, Government Departments and the chance to increase the public hatred towards car enthusiasts. This seems to be apparent as we have never seen a story on what some enthusiasts are going through. We are not all hoons. Hoons make up such a small percentage, but you constantly paint us all with the same brush.

To help you understand my point, I will try to explain. I am 42 years old. I have been into cars since I was old enough to know what they were. I have raced professionally and in my younger days, I was a rat bag, but age helps you understand that cars can be fun without thrashing them. I am not alone. The majority of car enthusiasts in Australia are the same. Our cars are our life. My car is a high powered modified V8. I don't carry one like the few you show on your programme but I am constantly labelled a hoon. It has got to the point now that if there are 4 performance cars in a car park, they are organising illegal street drags and its not long till the police arrive and start the hassles. Are we organising drags, no, we are just catching up and talking. Our cars are scrutineered and the Police attitude is we are all guilty and are cars unroadworthy. In my club, not one has been defected but the hassles don't stop. Our cars are safer than 99% of factory cars. Our brakes, suspension, tyres etc have been modified to beyond most factory sports car levels. Our cars are clean and tidy, but the hassles continue.

And what yourselves and every media group in Australia don't know is we are constantly encouraging and sometimes even paying for the younger members of our clubs to attend sanctioned competition days in their cars. These include drag days and motorkhanas and purpose tracks and drag strips. We are constantly trying to make these young drivers understand that they don't need to cut loose because everyone else is doing it. And why don't you know this, because you are not interested. It's not controversial enough. In the case of the Newspapers, these types of stories dont sell papers. Or is it your are controlled by the powers that be to portray this image of riots and hoons in cars. The reason I say this is because the media are not interested in attending any event involving cars unless its bad. I have personally seen news crews at one of Perth's oldest car hangoouts, Scarborough Beach. There was a crew from channel 7, 9 and 10. There were approx 20 police and about 40-50 cars. 4 hours later nothing had happened. We were all standing around talking, just chilling out, when one of the crews, and I do know which ones, went up to drivers asking them to cut lose so they could get footage. They eventually found someone. So what does this tell you. You all don't care unless you get good footage of someone doing a burnout.

One car club organised a cruise for the tsunami victims. Over 300 cars turned out and they raised over $3500 for the cause. The Police and ALL the media were notified and invited to attend to cover it. How many do you think turned up. Not one News crew and the only Journo was from a local council paper, but we did have Police present and some hassles. There was a permit for the event and no one drove out of line. But it wasn't worthy of a news report. Gee, wonder how the 100 primary school kids who raised $500 for the same cause got coverage, oh thats right, car enthusiasts are hoons and never do anything to help anyone else.

There are hunderds of car clubs in Australia. There are thousands of car enthusiasts in Australia, and they can be split into two groups. The serious car enthusiast whose car is more important to them than life itself and the impressionable "idiots" The ratio, aboutt 90% serious to 10% idiot. You show your programme and within 2 minutes the grapevines are running hot. All this does is aggravate all of us.

I am not saying you should come to Perth to see what is being done by clubs to help these guys and girls, you can do this with any major Car Club in any State, but what I am asking is to be fair and show the other side of this story. Those trying to get the Kids off the streets and onto the tracks. Peter Brock has the right idea, not the Government or Police and untill they realise they should be supporting and encouraging these ideas, there will be problems on our roads.

We are all tired of being labelled hoons by you guys and the public for the wrong reason.

Thankyou for your time

John *****

Member of - WA Sporting Car Club, Commodore Car Club of WA, Pro-Utes Car Club Australia, G3WC Car Club, HSV Owners Club of WA.

And Serious Car Enthusiast.

[strife]

All cars should be street legal and registered and there should be theme nights like V8's only, 4 cylinder night, Holden Vs Ford day, Australia Vs Japan day and etc.

its a nice idea, however I dont think you get to far away from what is currently offered at WSID, EC and other tracks, there is plenty of opportunity for people wanting doing the right thing

I think the bigger issue is peer group pressure on a friday and saturday night

[Padina]

Nice email you sent them biante12. I agree with you a100%. But I think all they did with it after they read it.... hit the delete key... if they were bothered reading it.

None the less if you do get any sort of reply from them, please, do post on here mate. :)


Cheers...:D

[biante12]

One can only hope they read it. I know of about 25 guys here in Perth that sent emails the same night and a few from other states.

If we get no response, then I guess we dont live in a FAIR COUNTRY

[mundi316]

hmmmmmmm did ya happen to notice me juicing the XR8 and loving it

[Nawdy]

hmmmmmmm did ya happen to notice me juicing the XR8 and loving it

Mrs Nawdy said she could see your smile from trackside every time you did a pass!

See you Friday night.

[VooDoo]

Well it looks like Current affair and all media are only interested in protraying all car enthusiasts as hoons after tonights episode. I wrote to them and i encourage every car enthusiast to do the same. The more they hear from us the more they have to listen and they might actually start showing stories of those trying to get the kids onto tracks to race. The email i sent is included below . the email address is aca@nine.com.au

Great email mate, Its a shame it wont do a thing though. Ive sent many over the years and its rare to even get a reply. The only time i did my comments were taken out of context and the majority edited out. The police and Media dont care at all. Its easier to label everyone the same and treat us all like criminals than actually target the troublemakers. Responcible owners dont sell papers.

Its also a shame this forum didnt get behind BTH when they had the chance, now the idea has been taken by other ppl and copied. At least something is happening in a positive way for them. It makes you wonder what could have happened if the movers and shakers here put their support in.

[XLR8 V8]

Its also a shame this forum didnt get behind BTH when they had the chance, now the idea has been taken by other ppl and copied. At least something is happening in a positive way for them. It makes you wonder what could have happened if the movers and shakers here put their support in.


Stew, you already know that's not true. We've already discussed that The Heat requested the thread regarding the interstate thing be removed. It was not the forum not getting behind BTH at all.

[VooDoo]

Sorry, that wasnt what i ment.


The forum's MEMBERS didnt get behind it. The forum management itself was very supportive. Sorry for the mis-understanding.

[LSX-438]

well the decision to can BTH visiting other states was taken a metter of days ago in a police commissioners conference. unless forums members include high ranking federal MP's i dont see any other outcome really.