Do We Have to Say That Street Racing a Go Kart is a Bad Idea?
As long as there are going to be vehicles that are still under human control, there will be street racing. It’s not safe, it’s not very smart, and it’s not going to go away anytime soon. Detroit Police Chief James Craig says that his department tracks as many as 500 street races some nights. The racing usually take place at 2 or 3 in the morning on weekends. The police can track them because street racers, like police officers, are creatures of habit.
French Road, on Detroit’s northeast side, has long been used as a dragstrip by outlaws racing cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
That explains how a 30-year-old motorcyclist ended up hospitalized in serious condition Sunday evening, the result of a racing crash. It doesn’t explain, however, why the as-yet unidentified driver of the other vehicle in that collision decided to choose a go-kart as his steed. That wasn’t the only curious decision the 21-year-old man made. He also, according to police reports, veered in front of the motorcycle, causing the wreck and his own death.
TTAC’s resident karting expert tells me that the go-kart appears to be an adult racing kart powered by a four-stroke motor, possibly an Animal-class engine. Considering that it was running fast enough to cut off the motorcycle, a four-cylinder sport bike, it wasn’t slow.
I can understand test running a go-kart on a closed off cul-de-sac, or even on an empty shopping center parking lot, (I’ve done that myself) but street racing a kart must surely put the deceased into competition for a Darwin Award.
Image Source: Fox2 Detroit.
Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, the original 3D car site.
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The thing about street racing that makes me have so much contempt for it, is that not only is it dangerous to the participants, but it also puts at risk people who did not volunteer for that risk. Plus, as anyone who has done any closed course racing can tell you, what you can do on an open public roadway is so weenie compared to how hard you hang it out on the race track that it's not worth doing. Now, closing the roadway and having a race, that's intense. Look at the Isle of Man TT, it is totally testicular.
I am no expert, but at high speed on a go-kart with small diameter race tires and no suspension, he possibly didn't turn in front of the motorcycle purposely, maybe the kart bounced and veered off because of the road condition. Usually these drag races are held on rural or less used roads where there is less maintenance done on them causing them to be in pitiful condition. But again, I'm just assuming! It's also been seen before where the race is over and one guy turns in front of the guy doing a fly-by!