# Driver charged with racing adjusts to life without a GTO



## 05GTO (Oct 6, 2004)

*Driver charged with racing adjusts to life without a GTO*
November 25, By By Sonja Elmquist, Staff Writer 









_*Jarrod Bivins was charged with prearranged speed competition and two counts of reckless driving.*_​
GREENSBORO - In a very real sense, Jarrod Bivins is grounded.

His Pontiac GTO is sitting in a Forsyth County Sheriff's Office impound lot with other cars seized in a street racing investigation that led to arrests Saturday night. 

Highway Patrol officials continued to work Monday to arrest the remainder of the 32 people charged with racing-related crimes that troopers couldn't get Saturday. 

Bivins, 19, who was arrested Saturday, was charged with prearranged speed competition and two counts of reckless driving. He said a few of his friends - other "car guys" - had also been charged with racing-related crimes.

"Mainly, we're just trying to figure out how we're going to get through this without losing our cars and drivers' licenses and going to jail and stuff," Bivins said.

Bivins declined to discuss the charges against him. But he said he had always been interested in cars and had a group of friends who participate in autocross events. He'd taken the occasional trip to a drag strip to race legally and had made cosmetic modifications to his car's exhaust and suspension, but nothing that made it faster, he said.

Troopers arrested Bivins in the parking lot of the Cook Out on North Main Street in High Point, a regular hangout for "car guys," Bivins said.

Bivins thought the car crowd might stay away from Cook Out for a few weeks, but they'll be back. 

"A good percentage of people don't do stupid things," Bivins said. "They don't have anything to worry about."

Assisted by state Alcohol Law Enforcement agents and the Guilford County Sheriff's Office, troopers began serving warrants and seizing vehicles late Saturday after a 3-week undercover operation targeting illegal racing. 

By Sunday, troopers had arrested 13 people and seized 12 vehicles. Seized vehicles are turned over to the sheriff of the county in which law enforcement officers say the offenses occurred. 

Highway Patrol officials were unable Monday to provide an updated count of the number of people arrested and vehicles seized. 

After Bivins was back home from the operation's command center at A.J. Simeon Stadium - his car traded for a court date - his mother went back and thanked the troopers for running the operation.

Julie Rouse picked up cheeseburgers and coffee for the troopers.

The way she looked at it, they might have saved her son's life.

"I back you guys 100 percent in what you've done," she told them. "If this is what it takes to stop it, it's a lesson learned the hard way."


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## REDGTO89 (Jul 19, 2008)

I dont know what to say to that!


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## Aramz06 (Mar 2, 2008)

Pfff...... what a supportive mother.


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## Trout (Nov 9, 2008)

I am Jarrod Bivins. I feel like a total jerk for the time being. I will get my goat back. I am going straight back to racing after this blows over. I have not learned my lesson.


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## 6QTS11OZ (Mar 27, 2005)

Aramz06 said:


> Pfff...... what a supportive mother.


Seriously, what do you expect a mother to do? I see nothing wrong with her view on this matter. Just say her son did get into an accident, injures or possibly kills someone. Even as an adult at 19 years old, who do you think little joey is going to turn to to pay his bail money, added insurance costs/payouts, court fees, punitive damages through a civil suit if he killed someone, etc.? I will take a wild guess and say, "Mommy" and daddy if he's there. What happened to him could have happened to anyone else regardless of their age. At 42, I'm not saying that I am a better driver than a teenager but I can say that I have more experience driving than a teenager (have had my license for 27 years,) and their inexperience is one of the main reasons why I don't race against them when so many of them challenge me in my GTO. Like the mother said, that is a learning experience for him and hopefully he'll learn something from it. In my opinion, at his age, he need to keep it at the track if he has a need for speed.


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## alsgto04 (Nov 21, 2007)

REDGTO89 said:


> I dont know what to say to that!


:agree Im lost for words here.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Good riddance.


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## Jaebeegto (Dec 3, 2008)

Thats tough man......REAL tough.


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## orangestorm (Nov 13, 2008)

Trust me on this one fellas, she just saved a bunch of lives, when your young your dumb. I've seen a bunch of kids here in Detroit who thought they were pro's when it came to racing and found themselves wraped around a pole or smashed into innocent drivers causing pain for both sides of the families most of these kids have no respect when it comes to muscle cars therefore they think there bulletproof until it's to late.


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## Aramz06 (Mar 2, 2008)

6QTS11OZ said:


> Seriously, what do you expect a mother to do? I see nothing wrong with her view on this matter. Just say her son did get into an accident, injures or possibly kills someone. Even as an adult at 19 years old, who do you think little joey is going to turn to to pay his bail money, added insurance costs/payouts, court fees, punitive damages through a civil suit if he killed someone, etc.? I will take a wild guess and say, "Mommy" and daddy if he's there. What happened to him could have happened to anyone else regardless of their age. At 42, I'm not saying that I am a better driver than a teenager but I can say that I have more experience driving than a teenager (have had my license for 27 years,) and their inexperience is one of the main reasons why I don't race against them when so many of them challenge me in my GTO. Like the mother said, that is a learning experience for him and hopefully he'll learn something from it. In my opinion, at his age, he need to keep it at the track if he has a need for speed.


I can see the point your trying to make, and it makes sense. Yes its true he would probably end up going to mommy and daddy if he wrecked his GTO, but lets take this into consideration. Go back a year or so to the day he got the car. Obviously he got some help from his parents buying the car, and if they trusted him with a car like that, they knew it was coming sooner or later. I got mine when I was 18, but I am responsible, yes I have street raced before but only under the right circumstances. My father still tells me every other day not to drive it fast on the streets, and everyday it does make more of a difference as it starts to grow on me how dangerous this really is. Obviously he got a GTO for a couple of reasons, and one of them is definitely speed. I'm not saying the mother needs to give him a pat on the back for what he did, but buying the policeman who took his car away sandwiches and coffee? I bet he feels some betrayal. I bet either way the bills are left on mommy and daddy.


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## leeanator (Sep 7, 2008)

I wonder if that kid pays for his own car and insurance? I had to buy my own cars and insurance. I find owning my own stuff sure changes my attitude towards it...Respect etc.

Personally i am glad the cops have caught onto this street racing group (in the article). Fast & the Furious isn't real life.


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## PDQ GTO (Jun 21, 2007)

Glass houses and rocks. No comment here...


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## 6QTS11OZ (Mar 27, 2005)

Aramz06 said:


> I can see the point your trying to make, and it makes sense. Yes its true he would probably end up going to mommy and daddy if he wrecked his GTO, but lets take this into consideration. Go back a year or so to the day he got the car. *Obviously he got some help from his parents buying the car, and if they trusted him with a car like that, they knew it was coming sooner or later.* I got mine when I was 18, but I am responsible, yes I have street raced before but only under the right circumstances. My father still tells me every other day not to drive it fast on the streets, and everyday it does make more of a difference as it starts to grow on me how dangerous this really is. Obviously he got a GTO for a couple of reasons, and one of them is definitely speed. I'm not saying the mother needs to give him a pat on the back for what he did, but buying the policeman who took his car away sandwiches and coffee? I bet he feels some betrayal. I bet either way the bills are left on mommy and daddy.


Let's take the mother out of the equation and use the term "Legal" instead. 

It's legal to drink alcohol in most states at the age of 21. Therefore, there is a sense of trust from the lawmakers that believe that you will drink responsibly. Their trust doesn't prevent irresponsible drunk drivers from hitting the road everyday does it?

It's legal to own a fire arm when you hit a certain age and/or a handgun course and a background check is completed. Therefore, there is a sense of trust from the lawmakers that believe that you will use your firearm responsibly, if the use of it is required. Their trust does not prevent gun owners from illegally firing their gun or murdering someone does it?

All I'm trying to say is, yes, mom probably trusted him with a car like that. But her trusting him with a car like that doesn't necessarily means that she knew he would be irresponsible sooner or later. When I was a kid and my mother gave me her car she gave it to me "trusting" that I wouldn't do anything stupid. If I did do something stupid then she would never let me use the car again. She would have beat the crap out of me if I would have wrecked her car and said, *"Well mom, you know I'm young and me crashing the car was coming sooner or later so it's your fault not mine."* 

Trust me. I've done some stupid things behind the wheel myself when I was younger such as racing on crowded streets, freeways, etc. At an older age, I've done less stupid things but I've still done things I shouldn't have done such as taking my GTO up to 150+ on empty roads. Racing on crowded roads are definitely more stupid than speeding on an empty road where if something unforeseen happens there is only the chance of me harming myself instead of others. Even when I've recently raced someone, no one was in the direct vicinty of us. The last time I really raced someone was when *gm4life* and I were going to MagnaFlow. I raced a C6 Vette (and beat him might I add) and no one was around us at the time. Justin was behind us. We did our thing, backed off when we knew the race was over and continued on at a safer speed. 

I hope the kid gets his car back but I still hope that he not only learns a lesson but is a more cautious of his surroundings if he does clown around a bit.


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## Aramz06 (Mar 2, 2008)

6QTS11OZ said:


> Let's take the mother out of the equation and use the term "Legal" instead.
> 
> It's legal to drink alcohol in most states at the age of 21. Therefore, there is a sense of trust from the lawmakers that believe that you will drink responsibly. Their trust doesn't prevent irresponsible drunk drivers from hitting the road everyday does it?
> 
> ...


Well, Yeah very understandable. I'm pretty sure this has happen to many people lately since they keep raising the bar on the consequences of street racing.


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## Trout (Nov 9, 2008)

kids nowadays are a bunch of sissies and ****. when i was a kid, i would have known better than to pull this street racer nonsense like this. if this kid would have had his head pounded a few times as a kid he would have been a lot better off than he his now. what a dumb hillbillie *******.


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## alexh123animals (Nov 23, 2008)

respect the goat i rather one impounded than totaled:cheers


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## wooddaniel (Oct 30, 2008)

Wow. That sucks for him. That said, I have been a Deputy in Florida for two years now and have seen a lot of young life lost from kids thinking they are better drivers than they are. Maybe he will learn from it. Racing is for the track, not the street. I was guilty of the same thing at 19 several times and I am lucky I didn't wrap my 97 Z28 around a tree. I learned my lesson when I got a 500$ ticket. It sounds cliche but speed really does kill.

It is refreshing to see you guys not bashing the cops for this. Most forums I have been on would look negatively on law enforcement for this type of thing. There are the few jerks that get off writing a ton of tickets and powertripping but most of us are just regular guys trying to keep people from hurting themselves or others.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

wooddaniel said:


> *It is refreshing to see you guys not bashing the cops for this. * *Most forums I have been on would look negatively on law enforcement for this type of thing.* There are the few jerks that get off writing a ton of tickets and powertripping but most of us are just regular guys trying to keep people from hurting themselves or others.


That's because a lot of young kids are getting their hands on cars like this and view law enforcement as the enemy and hold little respect for them. 

:cheers for the job you do.


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## 6QTS11OZ (Mar 27, 2005)

wooddaniel said:


> Wow. That sucks for him. That said, I have been a Deputy in Florida for two years now and have seen a lot of young life lost from kids thinking they are better drivers than they are. Maybe he will learn from it. Racing is for the track, not the street. I was guilty of the same thing at 19 several times and I am lucky I didn't wrap my 97 Z28 around a tree. I learned my lesson when I got a 500$ ticket. It sounds cliche but speed really does kill.
> 
> It is refreshing to see you guys not bashing the cops for this. Most forums I have been on would look negatively on law enforcement for this type of thing. There are the few jerks that get off writing a ton of tickets and powertripping but most of us are just regular guys trying to keep people from hurting themselves or others.


To me, in this case, it's not about bashing the cops. It's about knowing right from wrong. What the kid did was wrong and according to the law, what the cop did was right. Case closed!


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

GTO JUDGE said:


> That's because a lot of young kids are getting their hands on cars like this and view law enforcement as the enemy and hold little respect for them.
> 
> :cheers for the job you do.


:agree


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## BastropGTO (Mar 27, 2007)

wooddaniel said:


> *It is refreshing to see you guys not bashing the cops for this.* Most forums I have been on would look negatively on law enforcement for this type of thing. There are the few jerks that get off writing a ton of tickets and powertripping but most of us are just regular guys trying to keep people from hurting themselves or others.


In my opinion, if you are not comfortable being around a law enforcement officer, or if you wig out when one is nearby, then you are most likely guilty of something and need to correct yourself.
I am a young person myself, and as with any group of people not every individual reflects the motives/thoughts of the group as a whole. I see other people on this forum my age with as much respect for the car and for law as I do, and I also see people my age who abuse their cars and race every make and model car that is out there.
There should be punishment (such as the impounding) because no matter what area you live in, you can probably drive an hour to a racetrack and do it safe.


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## wooddaniel (Oct 30, 2008)

BastropGTO said:


> In my opinion, if you are not comfortable being around a law enforcement officer, or if you wig out when one is nearby, then you are most likely guilty of something and need to correct yourself.
> I am a young person myself, and as with any group of people not every individual reflects the motives/thoughts of the group as a whole. I see other people on this forum my age with as much respect for the car and for law as I do, and I also see people my age who abuse their cars and race every make and model car that is out there.
> There should be punishment (such as the impounding) because no matter what area you live in, you can probably drive an hour to a racetrack and do it safe.


I can understand doing it occasionally if no one is around. I used to race on the highway when I was younger and thought I was bulletproof. I'm glad I never hurt anyone. 

In florida all we have is a 1000$ fine for going 30 over the speed limit. We dont have a street racing statute because some judge deemed it unconstitutional. And I agree with you. If I talk to someone and they are nervous around me (while I am working) I definitely think they are either doing something wrong, or about to do something wrong.


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## wooddaniel (Oct 30, 2008)

Rukee said:


> :agree


Thanks guys. It is definitely a tough job. We are underpaid and way overworked. It is different every day though which is what i enjoy about it.


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## Aramz06 (Mar 2, 2008)

BastropGTO said:


> In my opinion, if you are not comfortable being around a law enforcement officer, or if you wig out when one is nearby, then you are most likely guilty of something and need to correct yourself.
> I am a young person myself, and as with any group of people not every individual reflects the motives/thoughts of the group as a whole. I see other people on this forum my age with as much respect for the car and for law as I do, and I also see people my age who abuse their cars and race every make and model car that is out there.
> There should be punishment (such as the impounding) because no matter what area you live in, you can probably drive an hour to a racetrack and do it safe.


There you go!

I know plenty of people who don't respect the law, but behind all that disrespect is probably a big reason. Rather disrespect, I see them as being in fear of the law, in fear of getting caught.... why be in fear is you have nothing to hide. Me personally, I don't do drugs or drink and drive or anything like that, so why fear the law. Respect them and they will treat you with respect just like any other human being would.


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## PDQ GTO (Jun 21, 2007)

Aramz06 said:


> There you go!
> 
> I know plenty of people who don't respect the law, but behind all that disrespect is probably a big reason. Rather disrespect, I see them as being in fear of the law, in fear of getting caught.... why be in fear is you have nothing to hide. Me personally, I don't do drugs or drink and drive or anything like that, so why fear the law. Respect them and they will treat you with respect just like any other human being would.


Nicely worded Aramz…:agree


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## wooddaniel (Oct 30, 2008)

Aramz06 said:


> There you go!
> 
> I know plenty of people who don't respect the law, but behind all that disrespect is probably a big reason. Rather disrespect, I see them as being in fear of the law, in fear of getting caught.... why be in fear is you have nothing to hide. Me personally, I don't do drugs or drink and drive or anything like that, so why fear the law. Respect them and they will treat you with respect just like any other human being would.


I wish everyone had your attitude. :cheers


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## BastropGTO (Mar 27, 2007)

As many have noted before, this forum has a good people base.
arty: and :cheers to all you guys.


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## lukekeith (Oct 27, 2006)

Personally, this is a very interesting article for me. Especially with consideration to the events over the last few years of my life.

First, on march 2nd of this year I was the passenger as my friend was showing off his brand new EVO IX and attempting to prove how well it handles corners by going 60 through a curvy road with a posted speed limit of 20 miles an hour. Next thing I knew, I woke up a week later in a hospital where I spent a couple weeks, then the next 3 months in a wheel chair with my jaw wired shut, to this day I have physical deformities as a direct result of that accident that are impossible to fix.

Second, from 2004 - 2006 I was stationed on Ramstein AB in Germany. I spent a lot of time on the audobahn. Which was a lot of fun incase you were wondering. The entire two years I was there I only ever saw one accident on the audobahn. However, there were times I was doing 120mph and some guy would go flying past me as though I were standing still. However, they have strict laws governing how the audobahns work. Trucks are only allowed in the right lane (wish they'd do that here), no passing on the right, and if you are in the left lane and somebody is approaching your rear going faster than you, you are required by law to change lanes. However, the audobahn system is completely different than our highway system, for any one city, there are only three exits, north center south, or east center west.

While it is undeniable that the faster you go, the more difficult it becomes to respond in an instant, it is also true that speed is not always synonymous with "danger" given the right circumstances.

In my opinion, knowing the difference is what makes you an experienced driver. Putting your own life on the line is completely different than endangering the lives of others.

Trust me, I know how it feels to want to race... and I admit I've done some unwise things on the road in my lifetime. Recently my wife bought me a cam and fast 92 with install & tune for my 05 GTO. I got 60rwhp out of the deal, so naturally the day I get my car back from LG Motorsports I HAD to test it out. But I waited till I had a nice chunk of road without any traffic and only accelerated to around 80 or so a couple times to see how much more quickly I could accelerate. But even in those circumstances, there is always the possibility somebody could pull out into the road too quickly or something. Nothing is ever certain, and you are NOT invincible. Like so many have already said... "respect".

Respect your car, respect yourself, and most of all, respect others. Just use common sense.


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

i hope the kid learns a lesson too. when i was younger (a long time ago) the legal consequences weren't that serious but the safety of the cars were a lot worse. in a lot of ways i think i was lucky to live thru that time. that said when i was young you didn't have as many young kids getting hi po cars like these. i'd be curious how many there are left on the road. i know the first year or two when they were $30,000+ they were pretty well taken care of. as they got into the used car market there have been a lot of wrecks


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## Copasetic (Oct 20, 2008)

BastropGTO said:


> In my opinion, if you are not comfortable being around a law enforcement officer, or if you wig out when one is nearby, then you are most likely guilty of something and need to correct yourself.


Please come live in LA for 2 years hahaha.


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## willbluegoat (Dec 23, 2008)

Its not that i don,t like cops .as for the speed kill but there are more people that die in low speed crash than high speed crash.no the cops don,t have right to take your car if do not catch u in the act. just like sending u ticket in the mail when they don,t know was in your car .let alone right u ticket for it thats federal law not state .just local city and towns can,t change the speed limit on state hwy or federal hwy thats federal it sup seed state law. can be beat in court there is nothing they can cops can do about street is wrong we all have done i i don,t mind taking gto above 150 its one hell of a rush to from time to time .


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## 6QTS11OZ (Mar 27, 2005)

willbluegoat said:


> Its not that i don,t like cops .as for the speed kill but there are more people that die in low speed crash than high speed crash.no the cops don,t have right to take your car if do not catch u in the act. just like sending u ticket in the mail when they don,t know was in your car .let alone right u ticket for it thats federal law not state .just local city and towns can,t change the speed limit on state hwy or federal hwy thats federal it sup seed state law. can be beat in court there is nothing they can cops can do about street is wrong we all have done i i don,t mind taking gto above 150 its one hell of a rush to from time to time .


WOW!!  :confused


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

willbluegoat said:


> Its not that i don,t like cops .as for the speed kill but *there are more people that die in low speed crash than high speed crash.*no the cops don,t have right to take your car if do not catch u in the act. just like sending u ticket in the mail when they don,t know was in your car .let alone right u ticket for it thats federal law not state .just local city and towns can,t change the speed limit on state hwy or federal hwy thats federal it sup seed state law. can be beat in court there is nothing they can cops can do about street is wrong we all have done i i don,t mind taking gto above 150 its one hell of a rush to from time to time .


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## Copasetic (Oct 20, 2008)

willbluegoat said:


> Its not that i don,t like cops .as for the speed kill but there are more people that die in low speed crash than high speed crash.no the cops don,t have right to take your car if do not catch u in the act. just like sending u ticket in the mail when they don,t know was in your car .let alone right u ticket for it thats federal law not state .just local city and towns can,t change the speed limit on state hwy or federal hwy thats federal it sup seed state law. can be beat in court there is nothing they can cops can do about street is wrong we all have done i i don,t mind taking gto above 150 its one hell of a rush to from time to time .


Good God, my eyes are bleeding now.


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## Aramz06 (Mar 2, 2008)

willbluegoat said:


> Its not that i don,t like cops .as for the speed kill but there are more people that die in low speed crash than high speed crash.no the cops don,t have right to take your car if do not catch u in the act. just like sending u ticket in the mail when they don,t know was in your car .let alone right u ticket for it thats federal law not state .just local city and towns can,t change the speed limit on state hwy or federal hwy thats federal it sup seed state law. can be beat in court there is nothing they can cops can do about street is wrong we all have done i i don,t mind taking gto above 150 its one hell of a rush to from time to time .


MUHAHAHAHA, Shall no one understand!!


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## Gotagoat (Jan 6, 2006)

willbluegoat is failing to connect some dots. Perhaps 150 has blurred them.


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## turbowizard (Dec 12, 2008)

ok say i am in the parking lot and get my car impounded for what ,,,,attempted street racing? or possibly thinkin about it?get a good lawyer and this is going know where!:confused this is like getting pulled over for attempted speeding:rofl:


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## Copasetic (Oct 20, 2008)

Where is the rest of this story by the way? I want to find out how the police knew they were all street racing to begin with and weren't just hanging out.


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## midiman1962 (May 13, 2007)

I love the track.


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## LS2Monaro (Mar 26, 2008)

I feel kind of bad for the kid. Apparently his car was impounded and he went to jail for just setting up a race and not actually doing it? *maybe I mis-read*

Yeah, they are definitely making an example of him to try and stop others. If it was an 89 honda civic crx, lol... they prolly would have left him alone.

About a month ago or so I almost got screwed realllll bad. I had old tires on the rear and decided to smoke em' off while on my way to have them replaced. I was near an old deserted park on a deserted road near a subdivision.... smoked em for not even a minute and then just drove off (not dangerously, not speeding),.... got not even a mile and a charger had me pulled over. He made me get out of the car, put me in his squad car and told me he was thinking real hard about having the car impounded and throwing me in jail for a bit for what I had done.
I was just real calm and rational with him, explained it wasn't a habit and was just getting some enjoyment out of the old tires before they were replaced. Also explained that while working with cars it was imperative that I had zero points on my license in order to keep working. He lectured me for quite a while but eventually just gave me an "improper start" ticket, no points, $100 (cheaper than a 5 over)....

Scared the shiiiiit out of me, never been in that position before with a cop, man I shouldn't have been doing that....


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## wooddaniel (Oct 30, 2008)

LS2Monaro said:


> I feel kind of bad for the kid. Apparently his car was impounded and he went to jail for just setting up a race and not actually doing it? *maybe I mis-read*
> 
> Yeah, they are definitely making an example of him to try and stop others. If it was an 89 honda civic crx, lol... they prolly would have left him alone.
> 
> ...



There is really nothing wrong with that as long as you were not doing it at stoplights which you weren't. I also don't see anything wrong with gunning it to 45-50 or so as long as it's not during rush hour traffic. The ones you have to watch out for are the kids that watch fast and furious and weave in and out of traffic and are a danger to the public. Or the guy last week that one of the deputies clocked going 160+ on the interstate in a Cobra. That is just insane. As for the kid who got his car taken away there has to be more to it than the story says or they would not have taken his car.


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## VistaGT (Sep 11, 2008)

That's beat, hopefully he gets his car back and gets minimum punishment while learning to be smarter about when and where he enjoys the hp.


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