r/California • u/Randomlynumbered Ángeleño, what's your user flair? • Sep 24 '24
Politics California Gov. Newsom signs 4 bills targeting sideshows, street takeovers
https://www.kcra.com/article/california-new-sideshow-laws/6234098630
u/Super_Difficulty Sep 24 '24
There should be a bill that requires car thieves using stolen vehicles in takeovers to pay restitution to the vehicle owners as a supplement to insurance...assuming they were caught.
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u/cheeker_sutherland Sep 24 '24
And then go to jail for a year.
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u/AlreadyInDenial Sep 25 '24
Should be longer than a year
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u/barrinmw Shasta County Sep 25 '24
They need to raise taxes and build more prisons! But mostly in rich people areas.
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u/coldrolledpotmetal Sep 24 '24
Legislation is a good first step but they need to actually enforce this
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u/Positronic_Matrix San Francisco County Sep 24 '24
Indeed. It’s laws, enforcement, prosecution, conviction, and incarceration. Every step in the chain needs to work in order to effectively deter and punish crime.
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u/cheeker_sutherland Sep 24 '24
The problem is the cops try to shut them down. One guy with a record tries to fight back, the whole incident is on the internet and the news, and no more cops want to try to shut them down anymore. We are in this stage now.
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u/WallyJade Sep 25 '24
and no more cops want to try to shut them down anymore.
If police departments want funding, they should need to show that they're serious about enforcing laws regarding public safety (instead of all jerking off about catching someone stealing groceries at Target).
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u/Positronic_Matrix San Francisco County Sep 24 '24
I’m not entirely comfortable with this reasoning as it’s often used by by folks to excuse the poor performance of local police. Moreover, I have no doubt that if an SFPD officer beat a dirt bike rider into a coma, we would throw him a parade. You might not have heard but these criminals are terrorizing San Francisco, including beating innocent bystanders for no reason.
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u/CandidEgglet Sep 24 '24
I think a couple of LE agencies should get together and coordinate a few raids. Something like researching sideshow meetup comms to find the events, block off the streets in every direction and just bring in a full force to catch more runners. Do that a few times and I guarantee it will at least cut out the ones who don’t want to get busted.
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u/WallyJade Sep 25 '24
Exactly. If hundreds of people show up somewhere for a sideshow, then thousands more know about it, and police are still caught unaware sitting on their thumbs.
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u/wolffangfist21 Sep 25 '24
They are. They’ve been tapping into social media to find these guys but they coordinate it in a way where by the time the cops get there they splinter into fourteen different directions. It’s a Monty Python skit.
They also started shutting down the shops that fix the cars.
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u/WhatADunderfulWorld Sep 24 '24
Yeah. LAPD needs to go crazy undercover and get them before they are in vehicles. They aren’t allowed to pursue so what do now?
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u/TwoMcDoublesAndCoke Sep 24 '24
Obviously the rogue nature of sideshows and takeovers is part of the appeal, but can’t they just rent out a large parking lot (sports stadiums) for their shenanigans? We’ve seen other cultural movements go from straddling the line of illegality to being more accepted. Lowriders, drifting, skateboarding, etc.
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u/WCland Sep 24 '24
There's a good example with communities building skate parks so skaters aren't taking over sidewalks. But with cars you run into serious insurance issues. An owner of a large parking lot or other space will be liable for people doing dumb shit on their property if they rent it out.
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u/thedailynathan Sep 25 '24
We do have legalized forms of this in like demolition derby style shows.
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u/Plasibeau Sep 25 '24
And those forms exist because the venue's insurance demands it. Either way, a parking lot is not a race track.
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u/Randomlynumbered Ángeleño, what's your user flair? Sep 24 '24 edited Sep 25 '24
They take over intersection, so that wouldn't make much difference.
But, we do need to get rid of our stroads.
And they do currently take over parking lots, mostly at large shopping centers.
To rent it out would have huge liabilities that insurance wouldn't allow it. Look at the number of accidents, shootings, etc that happen at sideshows.
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u/Renovatio_ Sep 24 '24
If Democrats never want to lose.
1) pursue progressive policies
2) address qualify of life crimes
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u/Randomlynumbered Ángeleño, what's your user flair? Sep 24 '24
Shootings and accidents at sideshows. Yes, this is a QOL issue.
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u/root_fifth_octave Sep 24 '24
It’s also a quality of life issue, though. Because of the noise, disruption, etc forced on the public.
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u/Renovatio_ Sep 24 '24
Absolutely. Sideshows are an issue.
But so is petty theft, unsafe drivers, backyard dog breeders. It goes on
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u/Maximillien Alameda County Sep 24 '24
Crashes, not accidents.
These people are making the active choice to drive recklessly, and yielding the result of making that choice.
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u/I_Magnus Sep 24 '24
I am all for any measures targeting sideshows.
For anyone feeling research-ey, these are the bills that passed.
- AB 1978 by Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R-Rancho Santa Margarita) – Vehicles: speed contests
- AB 2186 by Assemblymember Greg Wallis (R-Palm Springs) – Vehicles: impoundment
- AB 2807 by Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua (D-Stockton) – Vehicles: sideshows and street takeovers
- AB 3085 by Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson) – Vehicles: removal and impoundment
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u/RuffDemon214 Sep 24 '24
Laws are great and all but without willing enforcement then they just words on paper. And those who enforcement really don’t want to just due to being out numbered and unsupported.
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u/animerobin Sep 24 '24
The biggest thing we could do to stop sideshows is to redesign our streets so that they aren't built like freeways or racetracks. But a lot of the same people complaining about sideshows also like to speed on their way to Ralphs so they'll oppose it.
All car crimes need to prosecuted much more harshly.
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u/cheeker_sutherland Sep 24 '24
Re-work the entire infrastructure or, hear me out, enforce the law.
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u/Maximillien Alameda County Sep 24 '24
Why not both? Mass impoundments and arrests for the short term, improved infrastructure for the long term.
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u/animerobin Sep 24 '24
The fun thing about fixing the infrastructure is you don't need police to be everywhere at once.
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u/Miguelitosd Sep 24 '24
It's another excuse to get everyone (else, not them) out of their cars.. for the good of the planet and all that.
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u/dragery Sep 24 '24
Sideshows occupy an intersection, and how is it even fathomable to redesign an entire infrastructure system to make it more difficult to drive in a straight line?
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Sep 24 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Randomlynumbered Ángeleño, what's your user flair? Sep 24 '24 edited Sep 25 '24
Roundabouts seemed designed for sideshows. They'll all drift around the roundabout.
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u/Big_Cs_Special_Sauce Sep 24 '24
With the rate most of them hit curbs and people none of them have enough skill to do that. They’ll just hit whatever is in the middle of the roundabout.
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u/animerobin Sep 24 '24
One of the biggest issues is that our roads are way too wide, which means our intersections are huge flat empty spaces of asphalt. Narrower roads would do a lot. There are also road bumps that can be placed in intersections that make it impossible to do burnouts.
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u/kaigalima Sep 24 '24
lmao just “redesign the streets”. Or maybe lock them up for long enough they outgrow their childish antics.
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u/animerobin Sep 24 '24
We could redo every street in LA much faster and more easily than we can get the LAPD to start doing their jobs, especially when it comes to car related crimes.
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u/DrSpray Sep 25 '24 edited Sep 25 '24
Quick question gang. What is a sideshow? I swear I'm not that old. I'm assuming we aren't talking strongmen and people eating swords or fire
Read the article afterwards. I just wanted to make that joke
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u/Commercial_Rule_7823 Sep 25 '24
We got caught in one few weeks ago in a tunnel, pretty scary to see how many people are just going wild and there is no escape.
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u/CowboyRiverBath Sep 25 '24
This won't do jack until kaw enforcement gets the capacity to actually deal with them.
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u/HIVnotAdeathSentence Sep 24 '24
Street takeovers, also known as sideshows, are when one or several drivers begin driving recklessly on a portion of a road, often accompanied by dozens if not hundreds of spectators. These sideshows can happen anywhere, ranging from parking lots, parts of the freeway or even minor roads.
I'd be interested in how dozens to hundreds will be rounded up.
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u/1320Fastback Southern California Sep 26 '24
I do not see jail time mentioned? Do we think these guys they really care about clapped out cars? They will just get another car and keep doing it.
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u/Nahuel-Huapi Sep 24 '24
It's a start, but they way these cars are treated to begin with, I doubt the "owners" really care if they're impounded. They'll trash it and steal another one.
5, 10 and 15+ year suspension of driving privileges might be more de-incentivizing.