Drifting, tilting the car, burning tires on the spot... Recently, there have been incidents in many places where teenagers gathered at night to "destroy the streets" and spread the word using online platforms. The public security organs have implemented heavy rectification measures to form a strong deterrent, but they still face difficulties in handling the incidents afterwards.
Violent crackdowns on “will-o’-the-wisp boys” in many places
"Racing on the street" refers to the behavior of drivers driving sports cars or motorcycles to deliberately slam the accelerator and make loud roars to attract the attention of passers-by. Recently, the police in Liuzhou, Guangxi issued the country's first noise nuisance ticket for "driving cars that bombard the streets." Liaoning, Shandong, Guangdong and other places have also followed suit and issued corresponding penalties for "driving cars and bombing streets" and other disturbing behaviors.
In response to chaos such as the frequent occurrence of teenagers driving modified "motorcycles" at night in Victory Square in Liaoning Province, the Anshan Municipal Public Security Bureau integrated elite police forces from multiple police departments to form a joint task force. In the early morning of July 31, more than 240 police officers and more than 50 police vehicles were dispatched to carry out special operations to close down the network. They successfully eliminated the "racing and bombing" illegal gangs that had long gathered in urban areas at night to race and show off their skills.
"They are mainly active from 11 o'clock at night to 1 o'clock in the morning of the next day, gathering in the form of tilting the front of the car, slamming the accelerator, etc., and posting relevant videos to online platforms." A policeman handling the case said that the law enforcement video of the special network closing operation released by the police has been liked by many netizens, forming a strong deterrent online and offline.
According to the person in charge of handling the case, the police quickly cleared the people and vehicles involved in the case by adjusting the traffic lights at intersections around Victory Square in advance, diverting and filtering public vehicles, and persuading onlookers to leave. The entire operation took only one hour. It is understood that a total of 103 suspects were arrested during the special operation and 61 vehicles involved were seized. At present, 36 people have been detained administratively in accordance with the law, and the remaining personnel have been fined, warned, criticized and educated.
The police handling the case revealed that most of the electric motorcycles driven by the persons involved were unlicensed and illegally modified vehicles. There are widespread illegal behaviors such as driving without a license, chasing and racing, and changing lanes at will, which can easily cause road traffic accidents and seriously threaten people's travel safety. At the same time, illegal activities are concentrated during the night when residents are resting. The loud roar of modified vehicles continues to interfere with the normal rest of surrounding residents, and complaints from the masses are concentrated.
During this special operation, Anshan police also seized two khaki imitation guns. The two guns were purchased through online channels by the persons involved in the case. Their appearance imitated a certain foreign model, but they were actually water bomb launchers. Although it has been tested to be non-lethal, its appearance is lifelike, and its use in crowded and chaotic environments can easily cause social panic.
Similar special operations are being rolled out in many places across the country. On July 23, the police in Danzhou, Hainan, launched a special rectification operation to strictly investigate illegal activities such as driving without a license and dangerous stunts by minors; on July 26, the police in Hezhou, Guangxi carried out an encirclement and rectification operation, arresting 30 teenagers suspected of "racing and bombing the streets", and seized a total of 19 illegally modified motorcycles in accordance with the law; on August 10, the "Lie Yin" special operation in Yinchuan, Ningxia came to an end, and all 58 persons involved in drag racing were brought to justice.
Why do teenagers gather to "blow up the streets"?
According to the policeman handling the case, the early participants were mainly senior players who were interested in vehicle performance and vehicle modification. They used the open space of the square for technical exchanges or night riding experiences. The turning point came with the widespread dissemination of short video platforms - some riders posted live videos of their stunts and team cruises online, or set up equipment to broadcast live, with the label "night riding", quickly attracting the attention of teenagers in the same city and even out of town. As a result, the age of participants dropped significantly, and the number of minors gradually increased.
The police said that the maximum number of people in a single live broadcast room can reach 1,000, and some comments said it was "too handsome" and "seeking for experience". At the same time, the algorithm continues to push similar content, inducing teenagers to follow suit and imitate. According to statistics, participants mainly include unemployed people, freelancers and students. The long-term partnership of "exploding streets" has given rise to a closed circle, in which they compete with each other and even regard daring to challenge traffic regulations as a "symbol of ability."
Zhang Sining, a researcher at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said that some teenagers have serious family conflicts, or lack of parental attention, and have been "neglected" for a long time, but they find sensory stimulation in "racing on the street" and quickly establish psychological identity. "Without timely intervention, this group can easily embark on a more serious illegal path."
Urgent need for multi-party co-management
Although police in many places across the country have carried out special rectification operations, the rectification of the "street racing" chaos still faces problems such as difficulty in follow-up processing. Interviewees called for the establishment of a long-term collaborative mechanism of multi-party co-management to combat illegal and criminal activities at the source, and at the same time improve the social education and guidance system to help minors grow up physically and mentally healthily.
First of all, we must increase the cost of violating the law and cut off the chain of violations. According to the police handling the case, this type of illegal behavior mainly involves electric motorcycles. The value of the vehicles is low, and the penalties after seizure are limited, which can easily form a cycle of "catch and release, release and gather". The public security department should improve rapid response and disposal plans to ensure that similar gathering risks are discovered, reported and handled as soon as possible. At the same time, they should cooperate with transportation, market supervision and other departments to improve the normalized linkage mechanism of cross-regional multi-departments, investigate and rectify illegal modification outlets, and cut off the illegal chain.
Secondly, we must implement the main responsibilities and strengthen the supervision of network platforms. Relevant videos and live broadcasts spread rapidly on online platforms, but the platform's verification and removal response was not timely, which objectively played the role of "online attracting traffic and offline gathering". Interviewees suggested that online platforms should be promoted to implement their main responsibilities and establish a rapid identification and disposal mechanism for harmful information such as "racing and bombing the streets".
Once again, it is necessary to improve the social governance system for aberrant minors. At present, for minors who commit serious bad behaviors, in addition to being reprimanded and ordered to strictly discipline by the public security organs, there is a lack of effective follow-up intervention and correction methods, resulting in some minors repeatedly participating in "street racing". Zhang Sining suggested that we should improve the social correction system, improve the diversified education and correction measures for minors who violate the law, promote the multi-party linkage of "police, schools, families, and society" to achieve integrated promotion of crackdown, control, and education; at the same time, guide teenagers to cultivate healthy hobbies, meet their psychological growth needs, and open up new paths for their growth and success.
Half Moon Talk Reporter: Li Yujia
Original title: "People gather to race cars late at night, and the chaos of "exploding the streets" urgently needs to be managed by multiple parties."
