Culture|Garage

The old Cannonball Runs of the 70’s seems to be the inspiration for a lot of folks to get out on the highways and drive as fast as possible. Usually this is disorganized, sporadic, and usually ends with a hefty ticket or fine. Sometimes, however, this trend becomes more of an underground sport, prompting people all over the world to race from one point to another over long distances on public roads.

Last night, I happened to stumble upon superspeeders.com, and it got me thinking about the whole idea of speeding, the rush, the excitement, the danger of it. I won’t lie, I’ve done it (along with just about everyone else on the face of the planet). But I gotta know, what’s your opinion of people who speed habitually, like the good folks at SuperSpeeders?

Spike TV’s Bullrun series was an effort at offering the general public a better view of these cross-country racers, adding visibility to what is largely considered an underground activity. Although the show was a wee bit sugarcoated (hey, the drivers were constantly on camera) it still had its moments.

There are a few points to ponder here, chiefly, whose lives are in danger? Who loses the most if they do have a collision? Is this just good ‘ol fun? This phenomena of groups of people using high-performance vehicles in high-speed road rallies is not new or purely American, as the next video shows:

Getaway in Stockholm is one of the most well-known and most-watched car-chase series of videos on the internet, and it’s clear why. Some will argue there is little risk for an accident because it is late at night and noone is around. Others will argue that it’s the one (car, person, boat, duck, whatever) that you don’t see that’ll kill you (and maybe themselves).

Furthermore, do you see these races as even relevant anymore? Have air travel, bullet trains and mass transit rendered high-speed cross country journeys unimportant?

So what say you, Culture Garage readers? Are these just rich boys without something better to do? Are they simply exercising the limits of the law? Let us know!

via: YouTube, Amazon

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