Side shows in Oakland, Calif

Side shows are illegal & considered unsafe street events mostly catering to younger residents where hot-rod car owners spin their tires & do donuts to show off their cars. This was a topic on a local radio call in show this morning. The Oakland officials were asked by callers why the police don’t seem to be able to the prevent side-shows. The officials said they generally refuse to ask the police to enforce the applicable laws b/c doing so would be too dangerous to the officers. Part of the risk, the officials say they estimate 25% of the side show attendees are carrying guns.

I expect KQED Forum’s website has the podcast if you want to listen.

There were more than a few down here.

The county sheriff informed the kids he’d confiscate the cars if they were caught doing this. And it is Florida, I’d bet more than 50% have guns in their cars. The problem stopped virtually overnight.

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hmmm … maybe a policy of just letting crime happen w/out opposition has unintended consequences …

The situation in Oakland these days is somewhere between anarchy and complete civil disarray.

Target is closing three stores in San Francisco and Oakland due to theft and in store safety. Those will be great places for side shows all day long. Maybe the same people are involved and they won’t have to change their stomping grounds.

OAKLAND, Calif. , dated end of July, - “The Oakland NAACP has called on city leaders to declare a state of emergency due to rising crime, calling the situation a “crisis,” and has urged residents across the city to speak out against it.”

I’m hoping a place can be found where the folks can do their side-show activities legally, & safely.

Joke? I see no need for this.

Some shopping centers here dont even allow car meetups, ithe one that had the police called wasn’t making a scene. The group agreed to leave and find a new spot.

No, not a joke. I think the best solution is for the (mostly) youthful car owners who want to spin their tires and do donuts to have a scheduled, safe, police-monitored place set aside to do it.

Take driving classes

Improve your skills

Track time . . .

George, please stop excusing their low-life behavior

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One of my long-time friends grew up in upstate New York, near a big car racing track there. where as a teenager he enjoyed watching the races. He was very successful in the finance business, but got tired of all that & retired at age 55. Why? To do outdoor activities; his favorite outdoor activity was to take a course to learn how to drive race cars on the track. I expect those kids couldn’t afford something like that, but hoping that some sort of legal accommodations could be made for would-be tire spinners and donut makers.

As best I understand, a major part of the side show is the illegal takeover of an active intersection, so I don’t think there will be much interest in a sanitized version in an empty parking lot.

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If the kids want to race, the SCCA’s Solo2 autocross program is as low cost as it can get.

But these kids don’t want that. They want to hoon. Lay rubber, do donuts and the increasingly outrageous behaviors like hanging out of the car while spinning…without safety gear… and while drinking and smoking weed.

There is a place in central Florida for that called the Freedom Factory. Search for that on YouTube. But it isn’t free nor are cars and tires free nor can you get high and participate.

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When I was a kid the big deal was drag racing in the streets, late at night, and one solution was to set up a permitted drag strip. I’m sure it didn’t solve the problem completely, but it helped a lot. Same thing happened with skate parks.

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That is/has become a huge deal again (for a while now), doing no prep street 1/8 mile racing… It’s just not on TV… They find roads out in the middle of nowhere and close off the street and race all night…

You can google Nashville Street Outlaws… I would go watch but they are way out away from Nashville for me to drive to… lol… But I did work with one of the top engine builders that has had a few of his builds in the Winners circle in small tire …