These are just a few of the wild and sometimes tragic outcomes of illegal street takeovers and races.
Street racing events spiked during the height of the pandemic, when there were around 2,000 street racers out on any given weekend. Often, several such events were taking place simultaneously around Dallas. Street takeovers are closely associated with racing, but also include large groups of vehicles blocking off entire streets or intersections while revving engines, peeling out and creating clouds of smoke.
Things have gotten a bit quieter in Dallas in the past couple of years, according to the police department, as street racers have left for surrounding cities. Takeovers are still happening, but the Dallas Police Department says there hasn’t been one in the city in some three months. Nevertheless, the department is still dishing out plenty of citations and making traffic stops and arrests related to street racing in the city.
In all of 2022, DPD made 4,611 traffic stops related to street racing, according to the department. The city has an ordinance that punishes people for watching street races and takeovers, and nearly 200 people were cited or arrested for spectating last year. There were 179 accidents related to street racing that year, and the department made hundreds of arrests related to street racing. Connected to these incidents, 101 guns were seized and 69 stolen vehicles were recovered.
The numbers so far this year seem to show some improvement in some areas, but not quite across the board.
Through July 31 of this year, the department has made some 1,821 traffic stops related to street racing. It also arrested and cited fewer than 100 people for spectating street takeovers and racing events. But the calls are still coming in about the street racers. DPD has received about 2,661 such calls in 2023. There have been 118 street-racing related accidents so far this year, and the department has seized 54 guns and recovered 75 stolen vehicles.
“We take a zero-tolerance approach to street racing." – Brian Martinez, Dallas Police Department
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DPD spokesperson Brian Martinez told the Observer the department has adopted several measures to reduce the numbers. “We take a zero-tolerance approach to street racing,” Martinez said in an emailed statement. He said the department works to have a presence in areas where street takeovers might occur before they even begin. The department has installed calming measures like speed bumps, speed humps and bike lanes at intersections where street takeovers have occurred in the past.
The state is also taking measures to crack down on street racing and stunt driving.
In early August, Gov. Greg Abbott appeared in Fort Worth, where last month five people were arrested for street racing. Abbott was there to sign two bills aimed at helping police and prosecutors reel in racers and stunt drivers. The two laws, House Bill 1442 and House Bill 2899, will take effect on Sept. 1.
HB 1442 provides law enforcement and prosecutors with more tools to go after organized street racing and street takeovers in the state and mete out more substantial consequences for those who participate in these events. HB 2899 allows for the immediate removal of vehicles used in street racing events or street takeovers. It eliminates a previous requirement that a vehicle be impounded only if there were property damage or someone suffered bodily injury. Instead, cars may now be impounded if the owners are charged with racing on a highway or for reckless driving.
In February this year, Abbott launched a statewide street takeover task force. Since then, the task force has halted numerous takeover events in all seven division regions of the Texas Highway Patrol. Working with local law enforcement, the Department of Public Safety has made more than 50 arrests and 590 traffic stops and has issued more than 390 traffic citations associated with illegal street racing in Texas.
"Illegal street racing has become a growing problem," Abbott said during a ceremonial signing of the bills in Fort Worth on August 2. "And Texas law enforcement needs new tools to curb illegal street racers whose activities threaten the very safety of everyone around them."
