BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
Asking for a friend?
Do you drive a Kia? Do you have a TikTok account?
There’s been a long trend on YouTube and TikTok of crews, who started in Cincinnati, that bust in through a Kia’s back passenger window, use a flathead screwdriver to rake off the plastic steering column, pry off the ignition, and hidden below is a spot where they fit the end of a USB cord into the ignition and make it vroom! This ‘great accomplishment’ can be done in under a minute and a half.
What follows is a Grand Theft Auto-style tearing through streets, driving in the same lane—the opposite direction—frightening drivers and eventually drifting, crashing or even flipping the cars. Some of these Kias are then sold for as little as $50–$100 after the jacking.
Will this come to Blaine County? Unlikely! But due to the rampant racing that HAS been happening for years in the Valley, it’s worth being aware of some of these ridiculous trends that kids, mostly gang affiliated, may get into. Watch your vehicle.
The Fast and the Foolish
The street racing in Blaine County is not even remotely new. If you frequent Facebook groups like Blaine County Rants and Raves or You Know You’re Old School Ketchum or Hailey, you’ll see people posting, livid and frightened, by the cars and commotion. Disruption of the peaceful by the rebellious. The illegal racing is rampant on Main Street, 1st and 2nd Avenues and Myrtle Street in Hailey. On Highway 75 they get going around 9 p.m. In Bellevue, they blast around 8th Street near O’Donnell Park—leaving everyone’s nerves shot.
Every city has a crew of folk who hotrod and blast the streets, drifting and raging for the adrenaline and rebellion. What’s in rebellion? A chance to be oneself, taste the forbidden fruit and socialize in some motorized cultural way. Perhaps fueled by movies and video games but really it’s an age-old culture. Street racing has been going on since cars.
Anyone who’s seen “Two Lane Blacktop” or “American Graffiti” knows the role. It’s also well-known that Hollywood stars like James Dean or Steve McQueen, “icons of cool,” would race their cars up and down Mulholland Drive. It is cultural—part and parcel of having a car and the teenage lightning that splashes from the pores of the young and aimless. Idle hands? In Minneapolis, a giant drag-racing event was broadcast on Snapchat by a large event promoter. They were summarily busted by their very posts to social media. Some call it “self-snitchin’”. Story here (https://www.hometownsource.com/abc_newspapers/news/publicsafety/law-enforcement-busted-massive-street-racing-event-in-blaine/article_35a78d0e-ac44-11ea-878d-5bd98d2f1231.html)
Solutions
The situation begs for proactive action. Set up a social media account, share it with others, take photos or videos — everyone can post anonymously — and tag the local police department. It’s optimal to get license plates, show make and model of the car, and the perpetrators’ vehicles will be flagged for future violation backed by video evidence. Make no mistake, social media is a double-edged sword. Like all forces, it can be used for good, evil and all in between.
The issue is street racing. Is it kids being kids? For sure it’s all ages, but it’s not cool. The racing up and down and all around has everyone in the community spiraling. There are some things that just don’t fly and recklessly putting people, oneself included, at risk of injury or death is socially bankrupt at best and morally cavalier.
Speaking out is necessary but ranting and raving with text in a general Facebook forum isn’t going to do a whole lot without evidence, though it does spread the word. People are happy to announce locations of the nuisance but photos would seal the deal. A community forum for this type of thing is in order. The community must nip it in the bud by vigilance and the ever trusty phone camera. No one wants to play this game but when the hand is forced? The police are doing their best and it’s challenging to be in all places at once. Photos and anonymous tips could change the game. Perhaps there is a solution in the making—as a citizen’s duty.
Keeping the community safe
Playing devil’s advocate, there are places these adrenaline escapades could proceed where no citizen would be harmed. The idle will continue to rival—perhaps they just need a venue? What if there were a designated, lonely, haunted country road where the wild could rip their rods? Perhaps for a trophy or a taxed money pot? That’s an interesting but somewhat reasonable example of finding a solution that offers a compromise without the boot on the face of the word ‘No’.
Kids will be kids, and maybe just giving them a space to be kids could work. People like to say “there will always be outlaws” but is that type of language really useful? Proactive solutions begin with collaborative words. Encouraging all manner of freedoms generally results in a win for everyone involved. Do mothers and fathers like to see their children join MMA fighting or go off to battle a banker’s war in a foreign land? Usually not, but they do it to activate some semblance of a greater good. Yes, it’s somewhat controversial but that’s where the rubber meets the road in life. Striking a balance between freedom of expression and public safety.
An example of this can be found where drag racing is measured and metered. “It’s easy to forget how far drag racing has evolved in 60+ years since the car-crazy ‘50s got everything going. The early drag strips were funded largely by fraternal social groups, like the Elks or the Lions, as a solution to rampant street racing and all the trouble that was often the result. The goal was to get the speed-obsessed kids off of the streets and into a better and safer venue where they could feed their compulsions without danger to the general public. It worked, and drag racing became hugely popular. Car clubs now had a place to settle their beef and once the flag dropped, loudmouths were forced to put up or shut up. And not much has changed.” (https://www.drivingline.com/articles/drag-racing-101-understanding-the-basics-of-1320-racing/)
Everything is a compromise. How can you flip a problem into a solution—and potentially profit from it? Courageous thinking and diplomatic action.
Which type of hand creates harmony—the iron fist of constraint or the velvet glove of compromise? Of course, yes, they have to stop doing this on the streets of Blaine County; however, they may not have to stop doing it altogether. Diplomacy and forward thinking help harmonize the heinous and, as a community, it can be done. Solutions, sublimation and the diplomacy of proactive thinking could result in a safe, metered path to winning on all sides.
