Street racing in California only getting more brazen, and more dangerous

Adrenaline-filled races were made famous in films like "The Fast and the Furious." But in the real world, these streets are where everyday families live.

For decades, California and car culture have gone hand-in-hand. Illegal races offer the chance to drive cars fast, burn rubber and get a rush of adrenaline, but it’s a lifestyle steeped in risk and recklessness. The slightest mistake can be deadly. Sgt. Michael Downing of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department knows that risk all too well. He has spent his 17-year career patrolling LA’s streets. “It seems lately, almost every weekend or every couple of weeks, we have a fatality somewhere in the county that's related to street racing,” he said. “You see on the freeway, all the time, the high speeds and they crash into somebody who's going slower or [an] innocent party on the freeway gets killed.” Watch "Nightline" weeknights at 12:35 a.m. ET on ABC