The road safety implications of illegal street racing and associated risky driving behaviours: An analysis of offences and offenders

The purpose of this study was to explore the road safety implications of illegal street racing and associated risky driving behaviours. This issue was considered in two ways: Phase 1 examined the descriptions of 848 illegal street racing and associated risky driving offences that occurred in Queensland, Australia, in order to estimate the risk associated with these behaviours; and Phase 2 examined the traffic and crash histories of the 802 male offenders involved in these offences, and compared them to those of an age-matched comparison group, in order to examine the risk associated with the driver. It was found in Phase 1 that only 3.7% of these offences resulted in a crash (none of which were fatal), and that these crashes tended to be single-vehicle crashes where the driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with a fixed object. Phase 2 found that the offender sample had significantly more traffic infringements, licence sanctions and crashes in the previous three years than the comparison group. It was concluded that while only a small proportion of racing and associated offences result in a crash, these offenders appear to be generally risky drivers that warrant special attention.

► Evidence of the risk of driving behaviours associated with street racing is limited. ► 0.21% of fatal crashes in the US from 1998–2001 involved street racing. ► 3.7% of racing and associated offences in this study resulted in a crash. ► Risky driving offenders have more offences, sanctions and crashes than young males. ► These results suggest that the risky driver should be a target for intervention.