At a minimum, he didn't respect the cars ability to bite him in the arse. Alot of kids don't, that's why they end up wrecked so often.
I was recently egged on at a small local cruise-in. I decided to (oops) go ahead and give it hell for the guys. I was sideways through 1st and 2nd ....right past the squad car that I didn't notice. I got off with a warning and a talkin' to. The primary concern of the officer was not what I was doing, but what high school kids watching from the adjacent parking lot would try to emulate.
Hopefully seeing me get pulled over for doing something reckless, as embarassing as it was and regardless of my abilities, was enough to keep just one kid from doing something stupid.