Donuts aren’t quite so tasty on public roads
I do enjoy a good donut.
After a hearty meal, I sometimes like having a chocolate-glazed one for dessert (no sprinkles, please, I’m fat enough). I also enjoy donuts in a powerful rear-wheel-drive car, applying just enough opposite steering lock to keep the front end just where it should be.
A donut of the automotive kind is what appeared to be happening in a Facebook Reel that I watched a few days ago. The bright-red muscle car was bouncing off the rev limiter, producing massive plumes of tire smoke and leaving burnt rubber on a public road – comments suggest that it was not a closed event, so there would be a bevy of traffic violations here.
And don’t think this sort of phenomenon is unique to the Philippines. TikTok has a bevy of videos from abroad showing cars driving recklessly on public roads, ranging from donuts to speeding between cars on the highway to “takeovers” where groups just take a parking lot or piece of public road and do as they please.
Delectable danger
The hazards of this sort of automotive anarchy are painfully clear.
One of the stories that I did when I first started at Mobility PH was about a viral video showing a group of young people speeding in a Toyota Innova. Despite the driver’s attempts at imitating a Formula One driver, he and his passengers collided into a gutter and careened down a ravine, sending some of them to a painful and pricey trip to the emergency room.
Indeed, the World Health Organization noted in its 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety that road crashes were the number-one killer of young people aged 5 to 29. This doesn’t just include drivers, but also passengers, cyclists and pedestrians who may happen to be in the way of someone’s audition for the Fast and the Furious franchise.
But the appeal of such driving behavior is largely because of two factors. One is lackluster enforcement (this is the Philippines, remember) and the other is, well, the thrill.
Some of the young people that I talked to who do this sort of thing (and shall remain anonymous) said the video-game-like feeling can be intoxicating – they think it’s cool playing cat and mouse with law enforcers who they believe can’t really do much, plus they get to be the center of attention, sometimes for all of eternity when it’s on video.
Tastier off the street
But strangely enough, when me and my friends in the racing community invite many of these young people to the racetrack, they say no because they’re scared.
The irony is simply mind-boggling – they have no fear of killing innocent road users, damaging public property or burdening our national economy with their healthcare costs should things go awry, but they are positively terrified of driving fast in a place where they are allowed to drive fast in complete safety.
And nowadays, there’s even less excuse for hooning on public roads with the rise of various grassroots motorsports and driving events, where doing donuts and going fast are actually encouraged.
The brilliant team behind Super Sprint conducts regular competitions and clinics so that drivers of all backgrounds can understand and truly enjoy performance driving. My friends and I also have the same goal with the General Petroleum Philippines Gymkhana Pilipinas, which has attracted a considerable following since we started earlier this year.
And huge open spaces like the R33 Drift Track in San Simon, Pampanga let you live out your wildest driving fantasies for a minimal fee, all without oncoming traffic, pedestrians, light posts, bridges and other hazards.
Donuts are always much more enjoyable at the right place and time, especially when potentially killing someone isn’t a factor. INQ
