The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a plan to double the fines for those caught participating in such illegal activities. A vote cast on Tuesday saw unanimous support from board members, signaling a push towards stronger deterrents against this disruptive trend.
Under the proposed plan, civil penalties are set to jump from $500 to a steep $1,000. The intentions are to hit the wallets of the culprits hard enough to think twice before turning public streets into their racetracks. As highlighted by a recent study, incidents in just the Second District leaped by 64% in the last quarter of 2024, reports CBS Los Angeles.
Social media giants are also being roped in, urged to reinforce their terms of service by cracking down on content that promotes these dangerous gatherings. "Live streaming these illegal events often causes an influx of participants and can facilitate a localized environment becoming more prone to rapid growth in the illegality, often overwhelming law enforcement efforts to mitigate and disperse the events," a motion read according to NBC Los Angeles.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell is at the forefront of this legislative crackdown. Representing the Second District, where illegal racing is rampant, she introduced the motion. "This is one of many approaches we are taking to address this issue that far too many of my constituents are impacted by," Mitchell stated in a report by CBS Los Angeles. The success of the plan hinges on a necessary second vote to formalize the proposal's language, a crucial step before it can take full effect. In the meantime, the streets remain under the watchful eyes of law enforcement, who hope that the threat of lighter wallets deters would-be racers and bystanders alike.
Los Angeles has been grappling with the issue of street racing for decades, but the recent pandemic has only exacerbated the situation, causing a noticeable rise in such incidents. In the first three months of 2024 alone, the city reported 176 street races, marking a significant 50% increase from the previous year.
