Cape Town - Drag racers will soon be offered an opportunity to blow off steam more often at the Killarney circuit if the city has its way.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said on Sunday the city was looking to invest more than R700 000 to extend the track and allow for more drag-racing events to create safer streets.
“We want the Killarney event to happen more frequently – every week – as a legitimate outlet for the drag racer’s energy. We want them to take that energy off the streets.”
Smith said the city would also be investing in awareness programmes that involved DJ Reddy D.
COMPLAINTS
He said in recent months residents of Sea Point, Athlone, Ottery and Bellville have complained about the “raucousness of drag racers who often urinate in gardens, engage in loud arguments, rev their vehicles and resort to violence when confronted”.
“The racers cause death when they drive under the influence. If I must measure the success of drag racing operations by the amount of arrests we make, then yes, it is successful. But we have failed to change the attitudes of drag racers who put their own lives and the lives of others at risk,” he said.
On Saturday the city and its Ghost Squad held a drag racing operation to combat the illegal activity. Smith hailed the operation a success when metro police officers arrested six drivers for driving under the influence in Sea Point on Saturday night.
Traffic inspector Maxine Jordaan said: “The driver of a black Volkswagen Polo drove through a red light and was arrested for reckless and negligent driving. When asked why he was speeding, he said someone had made him angry.”
The Argus