Street racers may seek thrills and excitement but they may cause an accident resulting in serious injuries and deaths says Boca car accident lawyer Joe Osborne.

Street racing is illegal. It may look fun and exciting in movies and on television but the reality is that it recklessly endangers the health and lives of participants and any pedestrians or motorists who get in the way. Street racers can be held accountable for the deaths and injuries they cause says Boca car accident lawyer Joe Osborne.

Earlier this month a 24-year-old man was sentenced to four years in prison because of his involvement in a street race in Hawthorne, California, last year that killed a popular elementary school music teacher, Benny Golbin, 36, reports the Los Angeles Times. Alfredo Perez Davila was sentenced after pleading no contest to gross vehicular manslaughter. He was originally charged with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter and engaging in a speed contest, but plead no contest to the one charge as part of a plea bargain.

He and Anthony Leon Holley are accused of racing each other in January 2016 when the collision occurred. Police say Davila lost control of his car, swerved across several lanes of traffic, struck the center median and went airborne into traffic coming the opposite way. His car struck Golbin’s car, killing him instantly.

Golbin, who was an alto saxophonist, left his job at the Children of Promise Preparatory Academy in Inglewood and was on his way to teach a class in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District when the accident occurred. Davila was uninjured and was arrested at the scene. The other driver turned himself in to police and plead no contest to a felony hit-and-run charge as part of his own plea bargain deal and he is expected to be sentenced to probation.

At Davila’s sentencing hearing one of Golbin’s friends, Hugh Von Kleist, encouraged Davila to raise awareness of the dangers of street racing. “A car is a weapon,” he said. “It is very heavy. And it is very fast.”

Another innocent bystander was killed by street racers in January in Davie, Florida. Dominick Del Pozzo died after he was thrown from his minivan after a head-on collision with another car that was street racing, according to the Sun Sentinel. He pulled onto Davie Road southbound when he was struck by a Mercedes sedan speeding north while racing a silver Infiniti.

Del Pozzo owned Culinary Affairs Catering in Fort Lauderdale. He was from Naples, Italy, and grew up watching his father run the Monte Carlo restaurant in Queens, New York. He was leaving Restaurant Depot, a wholesale restaurant equipment store, just before the crash.

How popular is street racing? In 2012 state troopers received a tip about organized illegal street racing in Northwest Miami-Dade and they found more than a thousand cars lined up on Okeechobee Road near Northwest 137th Avenue. Some of their owners came to race, some to watch (which is also illegal in Florida), according to NBC Miami.

Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Nelvys Hernandez told the station the area was dangerous for the racers and anyone who gets near them. "This is a death valley when so many people gather out here," Hernandez was quoted as saying. "It's just horrendous to see so many vehicles coming in and out at a high rate of speed."

If you or a loved one has been injured in a vehicle accident caused by street racing, contact Boca car accident lawyer Joe Osborne at (561) 293-2600 or fill out this online contact form. You can discuss your case, how the law may apply and your best legal options to protect your rights and obtain compensation for your injuries.