Nothing good comes from drifting cars and driving recklessly

Spectators watch as a car drifts in circles during a takeover at a South Side intersection, Friday night, Aug. 12.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

In a Sun-Times story last week, a spectator at a car drifting event was quoted as saying those who participate in these illegal activities are not “bad people.” If that’s true, why did one driver choose not to show his face in a photo and use the alias “Draco”? Draco says drifting gives him an adrenaline rush. 

Well, his selfish adrenaline rush is harmful. It causes air and noise pollution and adversely affects residents of neighborhoods where street takeovers are taking place. I can’t sleep with my windows open because of the noise of revving engines as the cars fly down streets. So I keep my air conditioning on, burning more fossil fuels and hurting the environment. 

Being reckless behind the wheel is never a good idea. In September, a driver lost control and hit a 24-hour diner at Chicago and Orleans streets, severely damaging the building and injuring four people inside. Thankfully, no one was killed, but it took months to get the building repaired. 

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Then, last weekend, a Florida woman was killed by, apparently by a drag racer. It is only a matter of time before one of these drifters loses control and kills another person. And the drifters and spectators have no respect for police, throwing objects at officers and damaging patrol vehicles. The cost of these car repairs will ultimately come out of taxpayers’ pockets.

The drifters and their fans are bad people, as far as I’m concerned.

I know I am not alone when I say arrest these people and impound their vehicles. We’re tired of their “we just wanna have a fun adrenaline rush” attitude that infringes on the rest of us.

Lynn Nealis, River North

Republicans have drunk the Kool-Aid

You don’t have to be a Democrat to rail against those who call themselves Republicans in Congress — as President Joe Biden did on Tuesday — for refusing to condemn the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, then vilifying the FBI for raiding Donald Trump’s Florida residence to recover sensitive documents he never should have taken when he left the White House.

Those of us who used to respect what being a Republican traditionally stood for have wondered how so many could have drunk the Trumpist Kool-Aid to turn so completely against the acceptance of honest elections, keeping the government out of the most personal decisions and supporting institutions that safeguard our democracy, all in order to promote the agenda of a huckster who cares for nothing beyond trying to stay in power.

J.L. Stern, Highland Park

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