The Fast & The Foolish

Every weekend dozens of cars drag race on Long Wharf and, from what I've been told, at a couple of other locations in the area.

Just the other day, an investigation into a crash in Bristol that killed 4 teenagers this past summer concluded that the driver was going more than 100 mph and trying to 'drift' -- pulling the emergency brake and letting the car slide around curves -- like the drivers do in movies like "The Fast & the Furious."

So I was interested in this story out of Maryland, where at least 7 people were killed when a car slammed into a crowd gathered to watch illegal street races.

The story also provides a video link so you can see the bodies strewn along the road.

I think it's ridiculous that, at least here in New Haven, this goes on every weekend, in the same place at about the same time, yet it goes on for a couple of hours before cops eventually come and break it up.

It's a public roadway, and I and my coworkers have experienced it firsthand because if you have to travel that roadway you have to navigate the racers in order to go about your business. It's a public safety issue.

I was talking to someone at work, trying to figure out why it is that the NHPD doesn't just go there before the racing, to stop it from happening.

There must be a reason -- if police knew that every Thursday at 4 p.m. a certain bank was going to get robbed, wouldn't they eventually learn to be there at 3:58?

So what is it? With all the problems in New Haven -- illegal immigration, ignorant kids with guns, rampant crime -- why would Mayor DeStefano and Police Chief Ortiz not crack down on the crime that not only goes on in front of their faces, but that seems to have a set schedule?