When Does Speeding Become Racing?

Police officers hand out tickets for speeding - thousands of them each day. An officer won't normally peg someone with a speeding ticket unless they are blatantly breaking the posted speed limit by 15 miles per hour or more. Plenty of people do exactly that, so a good amount of tickets go to drivers regularly. And while a speeding ticket is bad enough, there is something much worse - tickets for racing.

Speeding vs. Racing

The main difference between speeding and racing is pretty simple - the number of people involved. Obviously, every driver can speed on their own, but it takes two or more speeding drivers to race. To a police officer, however, there are certain things he or she must consider. A person on a road by themselves flooring the accelerator is in no way racing. As a police officer, however, they do have discretion in interpreting a situation. Therefore, a person who appears to be in the act of attempting to race someone else could feasibly be seen as illegally racing in the eyes of the law. Of course, two or more drivers zipping down the street together can be nothing but a race, even if the offenders don't believe it to be so. Due to the way laws are worded and the fact that police officers are tasked with interpreting the actions of drivers, there can be much contention when dealing with racing tickets.

Consequences

As for the consequences of receiving a ticket for racing, there are plenty of them. More often than not, a person will be handed multiple citations. These citations can range from speeding to reckless driving to endangering the well-being of others – all of these on top of the illegal racing charge. Also, most illegal street racing charges involve the offending driver losing their vehicle and the suspension of their license. In some cases the driver can even risk losing his car insurance coverage completely. The consequences of receiving a racing ticket make those of speeding tickets look minor in comparison. There is a fine line between speeding and racing by definition, but the law can blur this line. Either way, the consequences of both speeding and racing can be huge.