A look behind the wheel: Exposing the UK’s street racing scene

By Reporter Lewis Warner and Journalist Zane Hogan

They call it the UK Street racing capital for good reason.

Racing across Birmingham,[1] for those who take part, is a daily obsession. Every night, as soon as it gets dark, flashy cars with loud exhausts, tinted windows and custom plates take to the streets across the West Midlands.

And it's not just a problem here - it's across the country.

ITV News understands that there are hundreds of groups set up over encrypted social media sites like WhatsApp and Telegram. And we've managed to get access into some of them.

We wanted to know why - why do the racers take to the streets ?

And the best way was to immerse ourselves in their world, and talk to them ourselves.

"Not here but the fastest I gone to was 178 bro".

"Down on the M1, M40 yeah. On the way back from Heathrow back to Birmingham".

"It's an achievement, it's an achievement man".

On the nights we went out, we weren't sure what to expect. We'd seen the pictures on social media and heard the noise at night.

In the chats that we were in, all of a sudden they lit up.

We'd seen hundreds of deleted messages, but just below a new one appeared.

A picture, with just a postcode, and a time - with no more information.

With trepidation, we made our way over there. But when we got there, we were too late.

The cars that were there had already left. But we did see the tyre marks that they left behind.

The next location appeared and it soon became clear how the night might unfold - a new location would appear, we would drive there, but because we were driving at the speed limit, most of the time the racers had already moved on.

On the night we travelled to Dudley[2], Wolverhampton[3], Walsall[4], Birmingham and even as far as Worcester[5].

It was mainly industrial estates, dual carriageways and roundabouts.

We often weren't even sure that we were heading to the right places. But as soon as we got close, we could hear from their loud exhausts and screeching tyres that we were there.

On the night we filmed footage of cars drifting and speeding past us and racing against each other. Some of the cars would drive past us at more than 150 miles per hour.

One main location in West Bromwich[6] stayed on the chat for a while before being deleted.

It left us enough time to catch up with the racers themselves.

The people we spoke to told us they feel at one with the road here, and that despite risking their lives driving at such speeds, the thrill that they get makes them feel alive.

Play Brightcove video

"There's been loads of instances where you know people that just watch end up losing their lives because someone is just not able to control that vehicle".

"I would never be able to live with myself"

We went out again and again on nights following street racers. We considered any hostility that they might have towards us - after all they were breaking the law.

But surprisingly, there was an odd sense of community. The majority of people at the meets had a fascination with all things cars.

They would talk about cars, compare each others' cars, and were happy and eager to talk to us.

It was hard too, as we were driving from location to location, not to feel a sense of excitement too in an odd game of cat and mouse.

From our experiences it was a mix of men and women of different backgrounds, most under 25 and most racers were men.

Police presence at these meet-ups was minimal. A singular police car would turn up, flash the lights, and then people would quickly move onto the next location.

It was clear that the police strategy wasn't a deterrent. People still wanted to race, regardless of the consequences.

But it is clear that street racing can have devastating consequences.

In November 2022, what was supposed to be a static car meet ended in tragedy.

A group of teenagers were hit by a speeding Nissan Skyline, as it sped off a dual carriageway, onto a pavement and into a brick wall.

Ben Corfield and Liberty Charris were both teenagers when they died Credit: Family handout

Two of the group were left with life-changing injuries, but two others - Ben Corfield, aged 19, and Liberty Charris, aged just 16 - were both killed.

Their parents are still processing what happened that night.

Ben Corfield had dreams of going into politics and driving trucks just like his dad.

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"They never think it's going to be them.

The reality is now that you're speaking to two parents - it is real for us every second of the day. There's no let up from it. Two and a half years now we're still looking for him to come through that door".

Liberty Charris had a passion for radio presenting, being a DJ and anything creative.

Her mother Tracy tends to a mural dedicated to her, where people often stop to pay their respects to her daughter.

Tracy recalls a conversation her father had with Liberty at a young age.

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" 'Lib what are you gonna do when you're older?' "

"' I'm going to be bigger than Gaga'.

She was a drama queen, massively. But she lived life to the full".

"She was so passionate but about life, about charity. She would do anything for anybody.

Mom we're doing this zumbathon, Mom we're doing this walk for life, Mom we're doing this".

"I miss her so much".

In response to our filming, West Midlands Police[7] Superintendent and head of Motorway Policing Gareth Mason spoke to us.

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"We've done over 300 prosecutions"

We showed him footage of what we captured on the West Midlands roads. He said:

"I wouldn't necessarily agree with what they're saying. We might turn up and disperse an event as its happening.

We use plain cars, we use other tactics to record what's happening.

"We've got over 60 pending prosecutions for dangerous driving ongoing.

Not people that were arrested on the night, people where we knocked on the door after the event because we captured evidence of them offending.

"We've done over 300 prosecutions in addition to that and over 300 notices of anti-social behaviour on those vehicles as well".

It is worth noting too that Operation Hercules, a special dedicated police force whose main objective is to stop street racing and cars being driven in a dangerous manner, have put in 66 prosecutions for dangerous driving in the last six months, with a total of 27 convictions.

But as the days get longer, and the summer approaches, so do perfect conditions for street racing.

That buzz and those loud bangs that you might hear at night, could long continue.

Watch 'Street Racing: Caught on Camera - Tonight' on Thursday, 29th May at 8.30PM, on ITV1 and ITVX.

If you have been affected by the issues in this story then please access support here:

Support links

Mind[8] is a mental health charity which promotes the views and needs of people with mental health issues.

It provides advice and support[9] to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem, and campaigns[10] to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.

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Child Bereavement UK

Child Bereavement UK[12] supports families and educates professionals when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying, and also when a child is facing bereavement.

Call: 0800 02 888 40Email: [email protected]

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References

1. ^ Birmingham, (www.itv.com)
2. ^ Dudley (www.itv.com)
3. ^ Wolverhampton (www.itv.com)
4. ^ Walsall (www.itv.com)
5. ^ Worcester (www.itv.com)
6. ^ West Bromwich (www.itv.com)
7. ^ West Midlands Police (www.itv.com)
8. ^ Mind (www.mind.org.uk)
9. ^ advice and support (www.mind.org.uk)
10. ^ campaigns (www.mind.org.uk)
11. ^ Back to top (www.itv.com)
12. ^ Child Bereavement UK (www.childbereavementuk.org)
13. ^ Back to top (www.itv.com)