As China progress along the path of motorization, so will the proliferation of street racing. Last year, a Chinese youth made headlines in China for killing a pedestrian while racing his Lancer Evolution 9. What irked Chinese netizens however was his nonchalant behavior after the accident, when he allegedly behaved as if nothing serious happened, chatted with his girlfriend, puffed ciggies with his buddies.
The kid was dumb enough to have a sticker of his car club pasted on his Evo, which provided a starting point for online witch hunting by Chinese netizens. Somehow, all his (and his dad's) private details (scroll down to the comments section here) were made available and netizens were able to track down his vehicle details and modifications done. Probably a lesson for all you ricer racer boys who like to make yourself proud by announcing to the whole world your allegiance to a particular group of racer boys.
Chinese cops eventually caught up and he was sentenced to 3-years in jail. But Chinese netizens believed that daddy will just send some big gifts to the right officials and the kid will be out again in no time.
Anyway while researching on the topic of automotive sub-cultures, I came to know of a certain club called "The Midnight Club" in Japan, which is not your typical boy racer's gathering. It started in the 1980s, and like all things Japanese - it was characterized by a very high degree of discipline. Only 10% of its members are inducted as full fledged members of the Midnight Club, and unlike car clubs of today, members of "The Midnight Club" kept a very low profile and one of the club regulations is that one must not ask private details or occupation of a fellow member. Many members of the Midnight Club have regular jobs, something bordering on leading double personality lives. Membership requirements insist a very high standard of driving ability in a car capable of speeds over 250km/h. If your ride can't do well above that speed (closer to 300km/h is more realistic) you are not accepted into the club. So this keeps the annoying racer boys with their loud dinky modified rides out, only serious drivers are allowed. However if at any one time their driving, even when they are not racing, poses a danger to other motorists, the offending member will be asked to leave. Because a weak driver who drives recklessly or over-estimates his talents will eventually be a liability to the club.
However it was due to this very rigid standard that caused the club to be disbanded in 1999. On one fateful night, members of the Midnight Club were racing down the Shuto Expressway when a group of Bosozuku, or motorcycle gangs sometimes linked with low class Yakuzas or as Malaysians might call them; Japanese Mat Rempits, decided "to have some fun" with the hashiriyas (street racers). 6 bikers were hospitalized and 1 was killed. Living up to their strict standard, the Midnight Club was disbanded as it was starting to gain a lot of public attention and it was no longer "safe" to race down the Shuto Expressway, their favourite haunt.
The arcade video game Midnight Club was inspired by this real club, as is also a highly dramatized Japanese street racing movie "Shuto Trial." You may find various Youtube videos labeled as Midnight Club but these are not the real deal. The real members of the Midnight Club have since moved on, the club is dead. Besides, real members of the Midnight Club will not reveal themselves. The disbandment of the Midnight Club also marks the end of an era for Japanese street racing. I think Tom Ford of 5th Gear did an episode on the myth of Japanese street racing, and found that the cult have now been replaced by tricked up disco minivans. The many Japanese tuners that have gone bust is a symptom of the trend. Ralliart no longer exist, neither do Trust and Greddy.
As the saying goes - 80% of drivers think they drive better than most people. At one time, even I was guilty of that. But who am I kidding? It's called public roads for a reason, there are too many factors beyond your control and unlike a track, not everyone is as focused, neither are all going in the same direction or even accelerating and braking at the same point. If you harbor ambitions to go out in a grand style, like in some heroic ball of fire, then so be it. Spare others who have other plans on their own though. There is no such thing as driving fast and safe. And certainly no studies done are able to dispute the relation between speed and accidents.
Even professional test drivers, with tens of thousands of kilometers of high performance driving and track racing experience under their belt, can mess it up in a big way. Remember the high profile fatal crash involving Toyota's master test driver and resident "ringmeister" Hiromu Naruse? And the several other Porsche and Mercedes test drivers?
Hiromu Naruse's fatal crash involving a prototype Lexus LF-A and a BMW test car, just outside the Nurburgring.
A 2012 Mercedes M-class prototype which struck and killed the driver of a broken down Mazda on the A81 autobahn. The Mercedes test driver was seriously injured.
A pre-production Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet veered off course and crashed into the barriers on the A5 autobahn, killing the Porsche test driver.
Rolf Fischer "Turbo Rolf" prototype Mercedes CL600 struck a Kia hatchback driven by a 21-year old mother and her 2-year old baby, killing both of them.
Read more about these high profile crashes involving highly experienced test / racing drivers here.
In each of these accidents, mechanical failure was ruled out and the driver error was cited as the cause. So if drivers like them, with an extremely deep wealth of talent to dig from can mess it up, what more about you? In your Mitsubishi? Or your little Honda / Toyota or worse, a tricked up Proton / Perodua or your over-rated BMW or Audi or Mercedes?
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