We shouldn’t ignore the risks these events pose to innocent people but it seems to me there could be other ways to address this issue that don’t include the typical whack-a-mole police enforcement response (and the huge invitation to injustice that represents). Mark Wigginton, PIR Interim Track ManagerĪs I rode home that one night I remember being happy that at least they were doing these dangerous things in a far-off industrial area where the only people at risk where those who signed up to be there. “From the beginning we learned that we aren’t the full solution, and there are some folks who don’t want to join the navy, they want to be pirates.” I figured, at least they were doing it in a safe place. I didn’t stick around long and as I pedaled home I was surprised at my reaction: I wasn’t mad about it at all. It looked like everyone was having a really good time. In the middle someone was spinning doughnuts and burning the rubber off their tires as a huge plume cloud of smoke drifted skywards. Months ago while biking in that same area of Marine Drive late at night I saw dozens of people and their cars packed around the edges of a large parking lot. There has been an uptick in street takeovers, where participants block traffic to perform stunts… PPB learned that the speed racing events were advertised on social media and invited participants from other states.” “Lately participants and spectators have been more aggressive. “While the dangerous and illegal speed racing events have been a problem for years in Portland,” the PPB wrote in a statement. On other nights, big crowds have taken over high-profile locations like the Fremont and Interstate bridges, the Highway 26 tunnel under the west hills, and even busy urban intersections like Martin Luther King Jr. The PPB referred to the event as a “street takeover”. They issued eight citations and used spike stripes on two vehicles when drivers tried to flee. By the end of the night officers had sixteen vehicles towed, fourteen people (between the ages of 19 and 24) were arrested and three minors in a stolen car were released to their parents. According to news and police reports, they’re growing in size, and taking place in ever-riskier locations.īack in November the Portland Police responded to one such meet-up in outer east Portland (Airport Way and 122nd) where hundreds of people and vehicles gathered. Unfortunately there’s also been several deaths and injuries at these events in recent years. The faces and the cars have changed a lot since then, but the spirit is the same. Groups of Portlanders have been getting together to show off tricked-out cars and raise hell on two wheels since the 1950s when hot rods were all the rage. The risk to public safety and the potential for police intervention to go terribly wrong is too high to ignore.
0 kommentar(er)
