Drag Racing has become more prevalent among the youth culture in the Philadelphia area over the past 10 or so years. It is increasingly popular for kids on motorbikes with the fat tires or in tricked out Hondas go careening at high speeds around the Philadelphia bridges, down by the airport, or almost anywhere racers can get access to a a long stretch of straightaway. Fun for them; dangerous for us.
As a Pa. Drivers License Lawyer, I have represented a lot of kids, and adults, for violations of Pa.C.S.A. 75 Sec. 3367 – the Racing on Highways statute. If found guilty of the law, which prohibits illegal street racing, an individual is hit with a fine and a six (6) month drivers license suspension from Penndot. Many people are unaware of the potential for license suspension when they receive the ticket so retaining a Pa. Traffic Ticket Lawyer is almost an essential if one wishes to retain their driving privileges when faced with the charge. Courts rarely cut breaks on drag racing tickets.
This is not to say that drag racing holds no allure for those who may wish to perhaps take in a race or two on a sultry summer night. Spectators must now be aware also. Pa.C.S.A. 75 sec. 3367(b), when discussing ‘racing’ has the language “…and no person shall in any manner participate in any such race”. This begs the question: “Is watching a racing ‘participating’? In Commonwealth v. Holstein, 927 A.2d 628 (Pa. Super. 2007) the court ruled that a woman who had gone to a drag race for the purpose of watching had, in fact, ‘participated’ in the race and therefore violated the Drag Racing law. That’s right. If you go to a watch a drag race you can get a ticket for, and be convicted of, drag racing.
As a Pennsylvania suspended license lawyer, I advise anyone who has gotten a ticket for drag racing, driving or watching, to contact a lawyer who is intimately familiar with the Pa. Drag Racing law.