Colorado State Patrol offers guidance on avoiding, reporting illegal street racing
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- What should a driver do when caught in the middle of an illegal street race, and how can citizens report such racing when they see it?
Knowing what to do can be difficult, since street racing can occur suddenly with vehicles around you in traffic, on a major street or highway, at high speeds placing racers and everyone around them in danger.
The Colorado State Patrol issued a release Thursday in response to citizen concerns.
Troopers advise that if a street race suddenly develops around you: Remain in your vehicle and avoid any involvement with the racing; don't try to block the racers; stay behind the racers and pull over if they try to affect traffic; and call 911.
"Racers are often wound up," said Sgt. Jason Garrett, of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. "If you try to interfere with them, you could trigger a road rage incident. And we've seen people shot, and even killed, in those."
Racers could be charged with illegal activity and could lose their vehicles, be cited or arrested, or injured or killed.
The CSP also asks citizens to report street racing or learn more about it by visiting: http://reportstreetracing.com.
The website lists 12 local race tracks where drivers can race safely and legally. They include: Pikes Peak International Raceway, El Paso County Raceway, I-25 Speedway, Pueblo Motorsports Park and La Junta Airport Raceway.
The CSP said that nearly 50 law enforcement agencies have received reports of street racing, and 2,700 reports wee made to the website in the past year.
During the past summer, Colorado law enforcement agencies contacted 1,007 street racers and issued 829 citations.
"When people report street racing, providing the vehicle description and the license plate number are good," Garrett said. "But what we really need is a description of the driver."
Sgt. Troy Kessler, of the Colorado State Patrol, explained why he issued the release.
"We continue to get complaints and people ask why something's not being done about it," he said. "But many people don't realize we have been doing something. There are a lot of law enforcement officers working on this. But we also want racers to think about the consequences to them, and to others, if they're street racing illegally."
In the past year, Colorado Springs passed an ordinance against street racing, and placed speed bumps on some streets that were popular racing locations.
