If youre on the wrong road at the wrong time of night youll see them: street racers who care more about thrills than your safety. In KGUN9s Operation Safe Roads program, were hearing from people who say Houghtons become their neighborhood raceway.
Street racers have been turning up just about any place there is room to race.
And that certainly goes for the wide, smooth stretches of Houghton.
The noise is a nuisance for the people who live near the road.
For Chris Hall the danger is enough to keep him off Houghton when the fast drivers are on it.
He says, I’m not doing any errands after Nine o’clock. I mean, there’s just no point.
KGUN reporter Craig Smith asked: What would you say to these guys, if you could?
Hall: I would tell them to think about what if what if your family is in the neighborhood? God forbid that they kill anybody. What would happen if it was one of their family members driving on the same street?
Sharon Wadginski says Nine oclock is about when she hears the fast cars too.I don’t like to drive at night anyway. So yeah, it would concern me and coming home from my sons at night like I would not want to be in front of one of them or.
Craig Smith: Does it surprise you that they seem to do it with relative impunity?
Wadginski: Yes and disregard for human life. Usually they’re not the ones that get hurt. Its somebody else.
People we talked to say they understand Tucson Police are stretched thin but theyre frustrated the speeders and racers just keep roaring on.
Dave remembers calling 911.
I’m like, Yeah, you can hear them. You’re coming by. And it seems, Oh, we’ll get someone out there and then maybe 30-40 minutes later TPD will drive by the area but by that time they’re gone.
TPD says it is serious about traffic enforcement and has units that specialize in it. TPD says its officers have teamed up with Sheriffs Deputies on coordinated crackdowns. Officers say penalties are stiff for street racing and can even let police confiscate a racers car.
They say to call 911 and use the departments Traffic Watch website to make a detailed report of any dangerous driving you see.