Montgomery County lawmakers are set to consider a bill Monday that would make it a crime not just to race or do donuts in the street, but to simply stand around and watch once police order the crowd to disperse. The Montgomery County Council's Public Safety Committee meets at 9:30 a.m. on Monday to review Bill 27-26, legislation that would create new local penalties for street racing and so-called street takeovers on public roadways.
The bill, introduced in June, would define terms related to unlawful racing and takeovers and establish penalties for violators, according to The MoCo Show. Under the measure, non-driving participants — organizers, timekeepers, flaggers, or spectators — who fail to obey a police dispersal order would face Class A misdemeanor charges carrying up to six months in jail and fines as high as $1,000, according to the county's economic impact statement on the legislation. The bill also grants Montgomery County police explicit authority to seize and impound vehicles involved in unlawful racing, takeovers, stunt driving, or exhibition driving, whether on public roads or private property open to the general public.
Bill 27-26 is sponsored by Councilmember Andrew Friedson and cosponsored by Council Vice President Marilyn Balcombe along with Councilmembers Sidney Katz and Dawn Luedtke, per The MoCo Show's reporting. The proposal follows a string of recent racing, speed contest, and exhibition driving incidents that have rattled county neighborhoods.
A Cruiser Windshield Shattered With an Officer Inside
One of those incidents unfolded in the early morning hours of February 22, when a crowd of vehicles moved into Chevy Chase at East-West Highway and Connecticut Avenue after starting in Prince George's County. Participants blocked intersections and performed donuts, damaging two marked Montgomery County police cruisers and shattering a windshield while an officer sat inside, according to WUSA9.
In April, Montgomery County Police charged three suspects — ages 17, 18, and 20 — with reckless endangerment, property destruction, and hindering law enforcement in connection with that Chevy Chase takeover. The station's report notes that the 20-year-old was accused of smashing a cruiser window and exposing himself to the officer inside. A separate takeover on April 4 led to a shooting inside a Kensington Safeway parking garage on Connecticut Avenue, after police responded to reports of shots fired around 2:33 a.m.; two people were injured and a 19-year-old suspect was arrested, per the same account.
Few Stops, Uneven Enforcement
County officials say the current legal toolkit hasn't matched the scale of the problem. An analysis by the Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight found police recorded just 535 traffic stops for street racing and exhibition driving between 2012 and 2026 — fewer than 40 stops per year on average, according to the county's Racial Equity and Social Justice Impact Statement.
That same data showed Latinx residents were overrepresented among those stopped for street racing between 2012 and 2026, while Black and White residents were represented proportionally and Asian residents were underrepresented, the impact statement found.
State Law Already Toughened Penalties for Drivers
Maryland lawmakers have already moved on the driver side of the equation. Under state Senate Bill 442, which took effect statewide in June 2024, drivers convicted of street racing face mandatory court appearances, doubled maximum fines of $1,000, 8 to 12 points on their license, and up to a year in prison if the act causes serious bodily injury, according to the Maryland Highway Safety Office. The General Assembly approved that legislation after law enforcement agencies documented 139 major exhibition driving incidents statewide in 2023 alone, a figure cited by state Senator Pamela Beidle during hearings, according to the Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog.
County officials argue that state law alone hasn't given police the tools to break up crowds before violence erupts, which is where Bill 27-26's spectator and organizer penalties come in, according to Montgomery Community Media.
Weighing the Cost to Lower-Income Residents
Not every projected effect of the bill is framed as a clear win. A September economic analysis by the county's Office of Legislative Oversight found Bill 27-26 would impose financial burdens on lower-income households through fines and vehicle impound fees, though those costs could be offset by reductions in crash-related expenses and commercial disruptions tied to takeovers, per the economic impact statement.
The Public Safety Committee's review Monday marks the next step for the bill as it moves through the council process, with the broader goal of giving police a way to clear crowds and seize vehicles before incidents like the Chevy Chase and Kensington cases repeat themselves.
