How do you beat a Racing Addiction?

[moi]

hopefully you kill yourself before you kill anyone else

This is pretty much sums up my thoughts on this subject, sad as it may seem.

Seriously, grow up. Get your ego in check; you're treating serious matters as if they're a game. Unlike a game, there's no 1-UP for you. Why is that not good enough? The fact that you posted a thread for serious help and litter it with joke pictures shows how serious you really think the matter is.

Like everyone else has said, stop driving. It's clear that it's doing you no good. What scares me even more is the attitude though; who knows where you can apply that later in life. There's going to have to come a point where you have to get away from that attitude before a tragedy forces you to.

 

[Vineon]

I'd say by losing your license, which will hopefully happen soon as people like you shouldn't be allowed on the road.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

There's this guy in my city who drives down the 401 at night at 300 km/h and he's so fast that the cops can't catch him.

Moral of the story: Race on highways at night, not during traffic times.

 

[Fishy]

i am incredibly enticed by the need for speed - i was so excited to get my license when i turned 16 so that i could drive my dad's 2004 nissan maxima. today he still owns the car, and the handling/acceleration feels excellent, and makes me love driving a vehicle. uhh,

it is borderline insane to seriously believe that public roads are at all a playground, regardless of your driving caliber. not everyone else on the road is treating the situation exactly the way you are, and cannot react in the same fashion either. i fawn and fawn over all the old muscle cars i see in movies, wishing i could drive my own to feel the engine purrrrrrr and switch gears with the touch of my toes! BUUUUUT i'm not about to go "CRUIS'N WORLD" in my neighborhood.

that being said, i don't get the appeal of nascar. utilizing such speed and energy in a machine, i'd prefer to actually GO somewhere instead of tracing an oblong circle for however many laps.

 

[TeeJay]

tl;dr I have no idea what was said after the first paragraph. But I read Fishy's post because she <3's dragons and so do I.

Oval racing is stupid and the culmination of an attempt to maximize the most enjoyable part of the sport from a spectator's point of view - passing.

Anyone who has driven a race car knows true skill is displayed in corners. The most enjoyable part of the sport from a drivers point of view is the "feeling" of speed a.k.a acceleration a.k.a. what you do when you leave a corner.

That said, you're not going to find it on a street. A street is not for racing, sorry. You're not racing. You're irresponsibly driving your car fast unskillfully in a straight line.

Find a road course. They're all over the place. Open track on weekends. If you're in America, find a local SCCA club. Pay a few dollars and race for real. No risk of harm to others, no risk of tickets.

If you want to watch good racing, watch any road racing. Daytona Prototype, Le Mans, Formula 1, the list goes on.

 

[Nastyjungle]

this is like the definition of irresponsible

and i will also say that speed limits exist for a reason; cars are not playthings, they are huge pieces of machinery that kill people every day, even those driving at low speeds

so the fact that you will speed on public road with other drivers, who could be innocently caught up in what you are doing and lose their life is ridiculous, and even more so is the fact that you continue to do it with an "i dont care" attitude

 

[Vein]

I also did street racing here in my country but only on closed roads. However, I've seen three deaths during those times so I stopped.

I suggest video games instead.

 

[Pocket]

120 km/h = 74.5 mph
140 km/h = 87 mph
160 km/h = 99 mph

Correct me if I am wrong, but I always thought that a good rule of thumb was to never go past the speed limit + 15 / 20 mph on a high way (on a local street make that limit + 10 mph). For a well-lit high way with a 65 mph speed limit, people should be able to safely cruise the lanes at 80 or 85 mph (when there's little to no traffic obviously). The high ways usually accommodate for such speed.

You seem to be only slightly over the "threshold," so I suggest you slow it down a bit to 150 km/hr tops. The rule of advice I can offer is to never run at a speed you are uncomfortable with (duh), and always have PLENTY of space between you and the car in front of you (you want all the reaction time that you could get). The faster you run, the larger the spacing should be.

My b if those rules dont apply outside of NJ.

EDIT: I apologize if I totally missed the point / if my "advice" is no-shit-Sherlock material.

 

[X5Dragon]

Umbreon Dan

to be honest, it sounds like maybe you should just stop driving for a bit. cool off, as it were.

It's only a temporary solution I'm afraid and as I said I need this job.

Texas Cloverleaf

There's this guy in my city who drives down the 401 at night at 300 km/h and he's so fast that the cops can't catch him.

Moral of the story: Race on highways at night, not during traffic times.

LOL what the hell is that dude driving?! And most importantly what is the road he's speeding on, I'm hard pressed to find a good space to reach 180 km/h O_o

But yes in my case I should wake up at 6AM and drive through the quiet highway.

Fishy

i am incredibly enticed by the need for speed - i was so excited to get my license when i turned 16 so that i could drive my dad's 2004 nissan maxima. today he still owns the car, and the handling/acceleration feels excellent, and makes me love driving a vehicle. uhh,

it is borderline insane to seriously believe that public roads are at all a playground, regardless of your driving caliber. not everyone else on the road is treating the situation exactly the way you are, and cannot react in the same fashion either. i fawn and fawn over all the old muscle cars i see in movies, wishing i could drive my own to feel the engine purrrrrrr and switch gears with the touch of my toes! BUUUUUT i'm not about to go "CRUIS'N WORLD" in my neighborhood.

that being said, i don't get the appeal of nascar. utilizing such speed and energy in a machine, i'd prefer to actually GO somewhere instead of tracing an oblong circle for however many laps.

Maxima's, my mortal enemy *w*

I know fishy and truth to be told I'm starting to feel a bit more like an ass day after day. Sure when I started unknowingly I had lots to learn and there were tons of people better than me, but right now it just feels like I'm showing off and I'm just competing with myself. Maybe that will help because as I said, I have this code thingy and me continuing doing this is just creating a moral dilemma.

LOL Nascar, it's nothing more than an endurance race...for the car -_-
No, F1 is where the shit's at, high speed racing, tight controls, true skill.

Nastyjungle

this is like the definition of irresponsible

and i will also say that speed limits exist for a reason; cars are not playthings, they are huge pieces of machinery that kill people every day, even those driving at low speeds

so the fact that you will speed on public road with other drivers, who could be innocently caught up in what you are doing and lose their life is ridiculous, and even more so is the fact that you continue to do it with an "i dont care" attitude

The last paragraph is what bites me really, that people who get excited by what I do and they have absolutely no way or amount of control as I do (which in turn I only acquired because I escaped death many times) and seeing them screaming at innocent people or going through the emergency lane when they can't weave their way through the lanes is starting to put me off of this whole thing.

It's not that I don't care, it's just I passed the point where I'm actually scared for myself WHILE I drive.

Vein

I also did street racing here in my country but only on closed roads. However, I've seen three deaths during those times so I stopped.

I suggest video games instead.

Ironically GT5 had this special event thing for collector's edition where if you score a high score for a race ingame you qualify for a race for elite GT players around the world and a chance to win a Mercedes SLK. Meh, I didn't even bother playing the PS for it.

Pocket

120 km/h = 74.5 mph
140 km/h = 87 mph
160 km/h = 99 mph

Correct me if I am wrong, but I always thought that a good rule of thumb was to never go past the speed limit + 15 / 20 mph on a high way (on a local street make that limit + 10 mph). For a well-lit high way with a 65 mph speed limit, people should be able to safely cruise the lanes at 80 or 85 mph (when there's little to no traffic obviously). The high ways usually accommodate for such speed.

You seem to be only slightly over the "threshold," so I suggest you slow it down a bit to 150 km/hr tops. The rule of advice I can offer is to never run at a speed you are uncomfortable with (duh), and always have PLENTY of space between you and the car in front of you (you want all the reaction time that you could get). The faster you run, the larger the spacing should be.

My b if those rules dont apply outside of NJ.

EDIT: I apologize if I totally missed the point / if my "advice" is no-shit-Sherlock material.

TBQH the speed I'm comfortable with and I can absolutely guarantee control over my car is around 160 km/h, but ideally and I managed successfully for an entire week to cruise around 140 km/h, but the amount of idiots behind me honking me to move over to the other side while not bother to see the lane on my right is occupied made me say frak this all and go back to overspeeding.

This issue here is that I somehow managed successfully to convince myself that I'm DIFFERENT from those guys who go around harassing people on the road, with the whole code thingy and no violence attitude against slower drivers and those who chose to strictly obey the speed limit, not even bothering to go to the right lane to save themselves from the headache.

Maybe If I could just do what I do, keep my speed at 160 km/h and find space intelligently and ignoring those calls for racing I might pass this.

 

[ocarina of rhyme]

Or you could grow the fuck up and stop. Somehow I don't think trying to make "compromises" is going to help anyone.

 

[X5Dragon]

Oh look, another well wisher. Stop it guys I'm blushing here. You need to look up the word addiction before acting tough.

 

[Wyverii]

I don't really think you can use the addiction excuse here. It's not drugs. You don't have a chemical addiction. There is nothing physically stopping you from changing your behavior and when there are lives on the line you fucking stop doing it. No matter how you do it, no excuses.

Find a vice or hobby that isn't going to end up killing people thanks. Or find a way to race that doesn't endanger bystanders (driving early morning or night does not count).

Honestly, I don't see the point of this thread. You clearly know what the problem is. Asking other people isn't going to give you an enlightening answer. All you're going to get here is people telling you to man up or touchy feely help.

In the end this all feels like a cry for attention while the OP tries to dodge around responsibility.

(note: chemical addiction might not be the correct term for it, but people should still get the point)

 

[cayr]

@Wyverii

I could see how the adrenaline or as the op said the superiority feel could just as easily be adictive.

As for op, well, make someone take your drivers license, move closer to your work, or just drop driving all together for a while, that should help.

 

[Eraddd]

Oh look, another well wisher. Stop it guys I'm blushing here. You need to look up the word addiction before acting tough.

I laughed.

 

[breh]

@Wyverii

I could see how the adrenaline or as the op said the superiority feel could just as easily be adictive.

As for op, well, make someone take your drivers license, move closer to your work, or just drop driving all together for a while, that should help.

To add, anything that makes one feel good is something that one can become addicted to.

Anyway, I agree that you should try to tone it down; you could seriously injure somebody.

 

[RitterCat]

So basically this thread is saying "Look at me the fucking amazing driver" while pretending to say "Oh no I am doing something I shouldn't please help me"

Seriously you are so inconsiderate and callous it's making me puke. You never place the responsibility on yourself, for it totally is your responsibility for driving this fast, irresponsibly and dangerously, but instead blame a claimed "addiction" and the GO VERNMENT for enforcing a totally rational speed limit designed to prevent DEATH. Because this isn't some silly little addiction. Every time you speed when you drive, no matter how good your self-indulgently think you are, you are putting others' lives at risk. And if you posted this thread for "advice", then why do you flame people who claim things and offer advice (read: 'well wisher' post).
Please, for the sake of every one, no matter how inconvenient or difficult, please find a way of getting to work that doesn't involve running a very probable risk of KILLING PEOPLE. This "racing addiction" can be easily vented in many ways already put forward by people in this thread, so stop being obstinate, follow their advice and for God's sake don't keep driving the way you are.

 

[iDunno]

You can only cure your addiction by letting god into your heart and letting him make all of your decisions for you. People are powerless to make their own decisions especially when it comes to street racing.

 

[popemobile]

change your addiction into something less harmful, like meth

 

[X5Dragon]

I'm sorry telling someone to go die or man-up isn't advice, it's called being a philosopher at things you know frakkin nothin about.

I also don't see the problem with the OP, I was being honest and if somehow you end up tomorrow with a loved one having the same problem you would know the exact phases of he/she reached there, from killing time to learning something new to having insane fun to getting aggressively competitive and then ending up being genuinely scared of what will happen tomorrow.

If this was a bragging topic the title would have been "how to own high end, fancy bumper motors with your rag-a-tag drive and still owning dat road", by yours truly "da accord masta" before ending up with the lines "I own this shit homies!".

Chemically, I don't see the appeal of adrenaline, so maybe it's just a mental thing, since the latter is only an annoying heart ache that comes in the middle of the road.

I do however thank the many positive answers and advices that were given here, I now know that this is a multi-faceted problem and I'm going have to talk to myself during the road (for example you not competing with anyone but yourself, there is no glory in speeding infront of unwilling or regular drivers) and putting caps on myself, since I already have things that I abide to even in the heat of the race which I find disgusting (not crossing into the emergency lane for example).

Edit: Racing can be an addiction.

 

[Eraddd]

No we're telling you that you're fucking stupid and you're risking the lives of others on the road to be an "Alpha Dog" as you call it. Your entire post focuses on everything rules and common sense tells you NOT to do.

This topic might as well be "Hi, I like putting other people in danger because I like the high it gives me." No matter how you spin it, you're a grade A bastard, which is very high standard to reach especially on this site!

Edit: LOL?

 

[X5Dragon]

I'm not gonna give you the fight your craving for, sorry kid.

 

[Darkamber8828]

itt obvious troll

i find it hard to believe that this guy can regularly go 100 MPH without drowning in tickets

or getting arrested

 

[moi]

for example you not competing with anyone but yourself, there is no glory in speeding infront of unwilling or regular drivers

You've already given yourself a clause which still allows you to race. Racing is inherently dangerous.

You ignore valid statements (however condescending they may have been) by claiming it is an addiction to racing itself, but the only addiction you have referenced is to a superiority complex. Why can you not find that elsewhere in life? Is there nothing else you can do to maintain the competitive atmosphere while not risking lives? You've already said yourself that no matter how good a driver is there is inherent risk, so what is so difficult in the transition from this to another competitive outlet?

 

[X5Dragon]

OK that may have not come out as I wanted it to be. Let's try this again, I will no longer race anymore, willing drivers or not. I will never exceed 160 km/h again on anything that isn't a track. Me not racing even if provoked will mean I will have no problem waiting and slowing down until I find a convenient opening instead of taking more risky maneuvers.

Also, it is true that after carefully studying the mannerisms of the police on the highway and knowing where to slowdown and acting innocent has given me a 5 month streak of no tickets, it doesn't that I don't get fined and right now it's anywhere between 100$ to 150$ per month.

I really don't think it's a superiority complex otherwise I would have had it in competitive pokemon, debates, etc. There is something really attractive about controlling a ton of metal at insane speeds with the tip of your fingers and feeling no fear about it.

In any case tomorrow is the first day I'm driving back to work after 4 days, hopefully I'll work it out.

 

[Impetus]

How old are you? Seems like you're still stuck in teenage years. Your 'tips' to swerving in and out of traffic is called common sense and is used by a vast majority who need to get someplace quickly. OR you can call it traditional cali driving, your choice. Either way, if no one else is remotely close to your speed, slow the fuck down. Especially since you're driving a shitty car

I can't see this as an addiction over seeking attention, but if you are truly addicted, then I guess everyone who drives near you is fucked