Topic : 12/03 Shocking Teen Trends

I will leave out the fact that you are committing a crime because I can see that does not matter to you.  I will leave out the fact that high speed racing kills because that does not matter to you.

You say that you are a good driver and that those who die are rookies- to paraphrase.  I will assume, for the sake of argument that you are.  You are in total control of your vehicle- as you say.  That is the only thing that you are in control of.  You cannot control a deer jumping in front of your vehicle.  You cannot control a slow moving wheelchair being in the middle of the road when you whip up to it at 110 miles per hour.  You cannot control a tire blowout.  You cannot control the other drivers on the road who might not be as excellent a driver as you.  They might swerve in front of your vehicle.  They might be driving below the speed limit and cause you to rear end them.

Being a good driver means to recognize these things.  You don't care about your own life because you have the mentality of a daredevil but it is not only your life that you are putting at risk.  My family shares the road with you.

I know how scary it is to get that call that there has been an accident.  My son didn't get his drivers license until he was 18.  On the day he received his license he went out with friends.  I got a call about 2:00 in the morning from him telling me he was in jail and that he had totaled the car.  He was frantic to find out about his best friend who had been riding in the back of the pick up at the time of the accident, and was thrown from the vehicle.  His friend had been taken by Care Flight to the hosptal and my son was afraid he was going to die.  He had made that split decision at a red light to race the car next to him.  When they got to the next intersection he couldn't stop in time and broadsided another car.  Thank goodness the other car didn't have a passenger or they would have been killed. His friend ended up being fine but I've never been so scared in my life, all I could think about was if that boy died that I would never see my son free again.  My son is now 26 years old and is just now able to get his drivers license back.  These boys think that nothing will ever happen to them, but my son thought the same thing.  It only takes once for something to go horribly wrong and end up hurting or killing innocent people.  I hope they learn their lesson and their parents don't have to get that call in the middle of the night.

If Dr.Phil thinks, even for a minute, that these boys will stop street racing - HE couldn't be more wrong. I'm around street racing sometimes and a lot of that has to do with the fact that many of my close buddies (including my boyfriend) are very much into cars. They have been for many years now. They street race every now and then and sometimes I've been apart of those races. And you'd be shocked to see the wide range of people that participate. That's right - ADULTS TOO.

Either way, I'm not saying that street racing is okay. I'm not saying that it matters who, exactly, is participating. It doesn't matter if YOU THINK you're a good driver or 'good at street racing'.. because it's everything else that you need to worry about. You may be able to control what you're doing (you think) but you can't control what the rest of the world is doing. It's OTHER PEOPLE that don't know how to drive. It's huge pot holes and uneven ground YOU MAY NOT SEE that 'causes you to lose control. How about bad weather conditions that can strike at anytime. Children running out onto the road.. maybe even adults.. WHO KNOWS! You need to be prepared and the truth of the matter is - people who street race are NOT prepared. At least when you're at a track, it's set up for you to drive like that. It's a general understanding among everyone there that people will be racing, driving at high speeds. Not that it's more safe, but it's a controlled environment meant specifically for that.

Street racing, in my opinion, will always be a huge problem. I can bet that those 2 boys won't stop street racing until the day they hurt OR even worse.. KILL someone. It's sad but it's true. Take smoking for an example. It doesn't matter how many warning signs are placed infront of our faces - we still choose to light up. When we have lung cancer - than we've had enough. Something drastic ALWAYS needs to happen in order for people to change their behaviour. And this is the truth people, you can't deny it.

I was extremely disappointed in Susan and Lezlie (the two mothers on yesterdays show). They both have let this go on way too long and have given in numerous times. When are you going to finally put your foot down, be a mother/parent and stop this behavior for good??!! It's going to be too late if you wait any longer.

As far as Susan goes...you are absolutely fooled if you think that your son Dominic is going to give up street racing. Nothing on the show has truly changed how he feels. He was definitely not sincere. I mean come on, you sold his car then went and bought him a new one with more power two weeks later?!! Get real and get control lady!!

And as far as Lezlie goes....you are the one enabling your daughter Lexie's behavior 100%. She is buying things for her virtual avatar with real money....YOUR MONEY!! I mean seriously, if you really wanted her to stop you would not be giving her your CC information to continue. Your the parent-not her!!!

The guest on the Dr. Phil show was actually one of my friends. Trais lives 4 houses down from me and everyday that I passed his house I would see his nice red car that eventually took an innocent persons life. Watching the show brought tears to my eyes to have to see the victims family, and the mangled wheelchair that she was in. It made me realize that life is so valueable and even though Trais made the mistake of accepting the street race challenge, I deeply adrmire his courage and his will to change things to prevent future illegal racing. It is alot to bare on a young teens shoulders, and he will never fully forgive himself for the actions he made, but I have never been more proud to call someone my friend. Someone who is willing to re-live this nightmare for the benifit of others.