San Diego police introduced Tuesday they’ve introduced again an outdated observe — one which has not been utilized in 20 years – of their effort to fight native reckless driving and unlawful avenue takeovers: court-ordered automotive crushing.
Avenue takeovers, also called sideshows, typically contain spectators blocking intersections to create house for drivers to do probably harmful maneuvers, comparable to “donuts” and “burnouts.”
Investigators stated these unlawful group gatherings, in addition to high-speed avenue racing, have develop into a spotlight for them in recent times as a result of costly injury they trigger to public property and the danger of harm related to them.
A 17-year-old died after crashing right into a tree whereas racing one other motorist in Chula Vista Monday evening. And a number of avenue takeover occasions, coordinated over a single weekend final yr, have been attended by about 200 folks and led to 3 arrests. In one of many gatherings in Spring Valley, it value roughly $13,800 to wash, re-slurry and repaint an intersection.
“Street racing and sideshows are both dangerous events,” police Lt. Travis Easter stated. “They occur in areas not designed for high speed maneuvers, bring together large crowds and vehicles operate at dangerous speeds with no safety controls.”
Detectives stated that after years of trying to repair the issue of reckless driving, they’ve introduced again automotive crushing. Easter stated police lately secured a courtroom order for 2 automobiles – a Toyota Chaser and a Yamaha R1 – to be destroyed after they have been related to harmful driving actions.
“You can give somebody a ticket, and it’s just a ticket. They can go on their way,” Easter stated. “But (car crushing) is within the confines of the law and this is one of those things that can be utilized as a penalty and punishment for the first time in a long time.”
Easter stated the Police Division division doesn’t particularly monitor the variety of arrests or accidents related to unlawful avenue racing and takeovers, however stated the variety of reckless driving arrests and citations have been on the rise in recent times.
The division’s officers recorded 74 reckless driving arrests and citations in 2023, 83 in 2024, and 2025 is on tempo to have the next quantity, primarily based on the 49 arrests by means of July of this yr, Police Division knowledge exhibits.
Easter stated somebody’s automotive being impounded and crushed might be decided on a case-by-case foundation and primarily based on the egregiousness of the offense or the variety of repeated offenses.
The primary emphasis behind reintroducing automotive crushing, Easter stated, is to discourage future reckless drivers or, a minimum of, be certain a selected automotive stays off the street.
“We want to emphasize this behavior will not be tolerated and (car crushing) is one of the consequences that can happen,” Easter stated.
