Much like the cities of Maranello and Fiorano in Italy, it appears London has a supercar problem. Summer is a popular time for wealthy vacationers, mostly from the Middle East, to visit, and these vacationers love to bring their supercars with them. That means seeing incredibly-rare Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Maseratis driving through the streets, which should be enjoyable, but according to the locals, it isn't.
In the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, reckless drivers will now face fines of up to $1,500 (₤1,000) for their behavior, says The Daily Mail. That includes engine-revving, rapidly accelerating, racing, "performing stunts," honking their horns, or generally causing obstructions. Police will be handing out tickets when they can, but a 24-hour hotline has also been established to allow residents to report the license plate numbers of offending vehicles.
It may sound harsh, but the problem is bad enough it led to a 2013 documentary called Millionaire Boy Racers that highlighted the issue.
We can all agree we love seeing a McLaren 650S drive by or hearing the sound of a Ferrari 458 Italia's exhaust note, but there's a time and a place for those things. Even as awesome as burnouts are, there's no reason to do one on a crowded city street. That sort of thing is best done safely and responsibly on private property—preferably not while trespassing on said private property.
The biggest challenge is going to be getting these drivers to pay their fines. If they're citizens of EU countries, that's one thing, but since many of them come from the Middle East, the government's authority is limited. Currently, officials plan to contact the guilty person's embassy in an attempt to have them enforce the fine, but if not, they intend to pass the citation along to local authorities.
The fines are also relatively small when you consider how wealthy most of these boy racers are.
"It remains to be seen whether a fine, which must appear small to people who can afford to drive around in cars worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, and sometimes millions, will have an impact. However, at last the issue of noise pollution in residential areas -has been recognized and the council has taken a step forward for which they are to be thanked and congratulated," local resident Panda Morgan-Thomas told The Daily Mail.
If the fines go unpaid or prove ineffective, you have to wonder if the government will move to ban cars above a certain displacement from being driven in London. Short of banning offenders from re-entering the country, if people like this are going to continue to behave like they're above the law, it may only be a matter of time.
Remember, as Petrolicious says, drive tastefully.
