Horizon West among drag-racing hotspots

HORIZON WEST  Drag racing in Horizon West has reached a boiling point for some residents, with engines revving into the wee hours of the morning.

Street racing has been there, but no more than elsewhere in Orange County, said Cpt. Jeff Stonebreaker, Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s Sector IV commander who recenty commanded Sector III, West Orange.

“The challenge that we have is it’s too easy to look at it myopically, where, (for instance,) ‘Well, we have a problem down at John Young (Parkway), so we’ll put some (patrol) cars down there,’” Stonebreaker said. “Then they move, and we put some cars out on the east side; then they move to way out in the southwest of the county. It is very difficult to generate a response, partially due to late hours, and … it’s impossible to know where they’re going to be, when they’re going to be there.”

With analysis, a detail could come together to find patterns in criminal activity, but street racers tend not to operate in patterns, lest they get caught, he said. One pattern has been racing Saturday nights into Sunday morning, but with potentially hundreds of cars involved, catching more than a few racers is a tall order, he said.

“Eventually, we’re going to have to look at how we address this overall,” Stonebreaker said. “There’s going to have to be some education to the drivers that this is inherently unsafe; it’s a huge problem. We’ve had accidents in the past; we’ve had other incidents related to this. Until we start doing some social media monitoring and … looking at it holistically, it’ll dissipate and then it’ll reform somewhere else.”

Racers tend to use social media by sending scouts along a potential race route to check for officers; they tell everyone to bail if law enforcement is around, he said. With the help of auto dealers, officers could help get word out by social media about the fatal hazards of racing.

Another issue is tickets for street racers going dismissed, something the parts of the justice system need to collaborate on to address, Stonebreaker said.

Beyond car racing, Thursday night somehow evolved into a night for motorcycle races.

“The reality is the bars finish at 2 (a.m.),” Stonebreaker said. “Anytime you’re driving late at night, there’s less traffic, but there’s more people you need to be concerned with. If you come upon a large group of people, find an alternate route. If you think it’s street racing, call us and give us as much information as possible.”

THE NEED FOR SPEED

According to the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, the following are motivations for street racers to illegally race on public roads instead of participating in legally sanctioned events:

— The environment is less controlled by sanctions than legal races.

— It is accessible to people too young for bars and other such venues.

— Participants can show off their vehicles.

— Social interaction and community arise among racers.

— Racing excites some when law enforcement will chase.

— The area might lack proper legal racing venues.

— Organized racing often has entry fees, rules and politics some find cumbersome.

— Participants and observers often bet on races, usually in cash but occasionally for the cars.

— Racers sometimes settle grudges through races.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].