LOS ANGELES: California, the birthplace of hot rod culture and televised police chases, is cracking down on a surge in deadly street takeovers.
Often organised through social media, these chaotic events — also known as sideshows — have transformed quiet streets into dangerous arenas where drivers race, spin out and burn rubber for cheering crowds.
With injuries and fatalities on the rise, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills last week aimed at curbing the growing phenomenon by allowing authorities to seize vehicles, suspend licences and jail participants.
"We have seen too many people killed or hurt at these events,” Newsom said in a statement last week. "Today we are sending a clear message to anyone participating in or attending a sideshow: Stricter penalties are in place, including the potential loss of your vehicle.”
The measures, which passed with bipartisan support, provide law enforcement with new tools to combat the problem in a state where daredevil street racing has long been romanticised — from motorcycle riding rebels to lowrider cruisers and through film franchises like The Fast and the Furious.
One bill, sponsored by assemblywoman Kate Sanchez, a Republican representing parts of Orange and Riverside Counties in southern Califronia, allows police to impound vehicles that block roads during takeovers, even without arresting the driver.
However, a state assembly analysis warned of potential legal challenges, citing concerns over possible violations of "unreasonable” search and seizure protections.
"Sideshows and street takeovers need to end now,” Sanchez said in a statement. "Our communities have had enough of the lawlessness.”
A surge in street takeovers began during the pandemic, when traffic was light and roads were empty.
The California Highway Patrol cited 341 individuals for "violation of motor vehicle exhibition of speed” in 2020, up 70% from 2019.
They’ve continued this year, with several incidents making headlines.
Over the weekend, two people were killed in separate homicides connected to sideshow events in Sacramento.
Hundreds of people joined an illegal street takeover in South Los Angeles in June, when more than 50 participants looted a nearby auto parts store, stealing an estimated US$67,000 in merchandise, according to the Los Angeles Police.
In April, a woman was apparently knocked unconscious while watching an Infiniti G37 lose control while cutting donuts during a street takeover in South Los Angeles.
At least six people died in 2022 in connection with Los Angeles street takeovers, the same year a new US$588 million bridge was repeatedly closed because of these events and other types of vandalism.
Law enforcment has been taking action. In February, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s office infiltrated a weekend sideshow event, detaining 150 people and seizing 88 cars. Oakland Police arrested five people and recovered three guns in June after a series of sideshows that attracted 300 vehicles and 200 spectators.
The tradition of sideshows in Oakland dates back to the 1980s, evolving a decade later into more spectacular events influenced by the city’s hyphy culture, a local slang term meaning "hyperactive" that was coined by Rapper Keak da Sneak and popularised by E-40’s song, Hyphy.
"The original sideshows were just meant to show off cars, but they developed into larger events under Oakland’s unique hyphy culture in the 1990s,” according to a bill analysis.
The problem extends beyond California.
A new Florida law imposes hefty fines and potential licence suspensions for drivers involved in stunt driving and takeovers.
Police in Philadelphia recently responded to 11 incidents involving as many as 200 vehicles engaged in drifting and drag racing, with crowds setting off fireworks, wielding a flamethrower, and vandalising five police vehicles, resulting in injuries to one officer.
"It’s playing whack-a-mole,” Philadelphia deputy commissioner Mike Cram said during a press conference. "They just move from one location to another.”
