TWO drivers who raced at high speed along a busy road in Bradford have been condemned, after video footage appeared online.
The clip shows two high-powered cars lining up alongside each other and blocking the carriageway on Thornton Road, near its junction with Hollings Road in Lister Hills, before they shoot off into the distance in the direction of Ingleby Road and Whetley Lane.
The cars - a grey Mercedes and a white Audi - wait for other vehicles to turn right into Hollings Road before racing off. They spend a total of 36 seconds on their makeshift start-line - 20 seconds of that waiting for other cars to turn right.
Someone in a car behind filmed the race, with that vehicle left behind as the other two sped off.
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Amjad Malik, whose 15-year-old son Saliq was killed in a car crash in Bradford, said the race was believed to have happened at about 4pm or 5pm last Friday.
Mr Malik, who is running a road safety campaign, Consequences of Careless and Reckless Driving, said of the incident: "I think it was just out of order. This sort of thing happens on a regular basis, day in and day out, in Bradford.
"They are blocking the road off and then they are just gone. It is frightening. The cars are too powerful - you can see that in the video. And what if somebody just steps out? Then you cannot imagine the consequences."
Police confirmed they had been sent the video, and Mr Malik added: "It is really good this has been sent to the police. Hopefully the people in the cars can be dealt with and hopefully it will send a message out to people."
He continued: "We are trying to get into schools and mosques and other educational schemes where we can go and spread the message.
"We also want to cut down on the hiring of the cars and these kids that are 17 or 18 that are hiring these cars. It is too easy for young lads to get these cars."
A police spokesman said officers would be "making further enquiries to establish who was driving these vehicles at the time of this incident".
Councillor Val Slater, deputy leader of Bradford Council and the authority's executive member for transport, said: "It is very reprehensible. Obviously the video needs to be sent to the police so they can investigate it."
Cllr Slater also sought to defend standards of driving in Bradford, saying: "There have been instances of bad driving, but I don't think it is fair to condemn all drivers in Bradford. I don't think it is any worse than any other city.
"I used to live in Manchester and driving standards there were not great. And I would hate to drive in London. All cities have their problems.
"I would not like anybody considering coming living here or having a business in Bradford to be of the opinion that we have an intolerable problem.
"Throughout the country there are problems with drivers."
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