When her seven-year-old son demanded a bicycle , Babitha Mascarenhas thought nothing of it until she learnt that he wanted to do scary stunts with it on the road with his friends, influenced by the drag races held by college students during the weekends in the bylanes of Frazer Town and Cox Town . The worried mother says drag races have become a nuisance in these residential areas of late. "We are scared to let our children out to play or ride bicycles in the open because of them. Even the old are afraid to venture out for fear of being hit by the zooming vehicles. These youngsters on bikes dont listen to us although we have requested them to stop racing, " she rues.

The deafening noise from the speeding bikes disturbs the residents and the children, who find it difficult to study and are easily distracted by it. "The moment they hear the bikes zooming, children run out of their houses to watch them. Many have tried to mimic them with their bicycles and have hurt themselves in the process," complains Ms Mascarenhas. Parents got most anxious after a drag racer, David Joseph, died after he lost control of his bike while trying to do some stunts with it recently. Mohan Raj, a businessman from the area, who is also no fan of the drag racers, says repeated requests to the college students to give them up, have met with no success as they continue to hold them despite the noise and disturbance caused.

"Most times its impossible to catch them as they simply zip through," he deplores. A resident of Cox Town, Maria Joseph, feels the traffic police needs to keep a tab on drag races in residential areas and put an end to them. "Let these stuntmen do what they like on open stretches like the NICE roads, but they must leave the residential areas alone," she insists.