Car racing in city areas is a direct threat to public safety, and people who indulge in such dangerous activities should be investigated, tried and punished according to the law. Dealing with such cases through the administrative system will neither teach the culprits a lesson nor deter potential offenders. Traffic police should close watch especially on sports cars and modified vehicles with young drivers behind the wheels. Besides, law enforcement officers should also maintain a blacklist of perilous drivers and their vehicles.

People are getting increasingly worried about accidents involving luxury sports cars because in such cases the car owners, mostly brash youths, almost always get away by paying a fine or using their family connections. To allay public fears, therefore, law enforcement officers should make their investigations and actions in such accidents absolutely transparent. The people, after all, have the right to know the details of the cases that directly concern their safety.

More importantly, young drivers' parents, who in many cases buy the luxury cars, must make serious efforts to make their children more aware of the traffic rules and ensure that they follow them, because as fellow citizens it is their duty to respect other people's rights and safety. Otherwise, such cars become expensive toys for their children that could prove fatal for others. Also, rich young drivers should know car chase sequences in movies and TV programs are filmed under controlled conditions, with special effects adding to the thrill element, and they should not be tried in real life.

China has overtaken the United States as the world largest auto-maker and consumer. But despite transforming from a country of bicycles to a country on wheels, China still has a long way to go before making its roads safe, for which public consciousness is the top prerequisite; traffic rules and laws come later.

Also, the rich who speed in their luxury cars and drivers of government vehicles should abide by traffic rules to foster a culture of road safety. Only when drivers have respect for the lives of pedestrians and their fellow drivers can "car racing"on cities'streets stop.

The author is a writer with China Daily. liyang@chinadaily.com.cn