(a) In recent years, San Francisco has seen a rise in size and severity of illegal Vehicle Sideshows, which include reckless driving, vehicle speed contests, and/or exhibitions that involve stunts and tricks with vehicles. In some instances, the Vehicle Sideshow features vehicles and dirt bikes weaving and speeding along thoroughfares, spinning “doughnuts,” and screeching tires while passengers hang out the windows, drawing crowds of spectators that are encouraging and instigating the Vehicle Sideshows. In other instances, the vehicles speed in unison. The various stunts and tricks featured during Vehicle Sideshows are extremely dangerous and imperil both willing spectators and uninvolved bystanders, as well as participants. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the use of vehicles for stunts and tricks has caused serious injuries and death to not only participants and spectators but also to bystanders.
(b) In 2020, San Francisco enacted Article 56 in light of the following incidents:
On February 23, 2020, there were four illegal Vehicle Sideshows involving 50 to 100 vehicles in San Francisco. Several vehicles sped through City neighborhoods engaging in reckless driving behavior. Motor vehicles blocked street intersections and engaged in tricks and stunts that included driving in continuous “figure eights” with screeching tires, and “doughnut” contests. Dozens of spectators crowded the streets and sidewalks in very close proximity to the vehicles to watch the exhibitions, creating a major public safety concern for everyone.
On August 24, 2020, there was an illegal Vehicle Sideshow in San Francisco where vehicles orbited an intersection performing continuous “doughnuts” and sending burnt rubber smoke from tires into the air as passengers hung out the window. Approximately 100 spectators cheered on the spinning vehicles. At one point, a Participating driver lost control of his vehicle, forcing spectators to move back unexpectedly. There were spectator vehicles that blocked all access to entry of the exhibition intersection. Nearby, gun shots were fired.
On September 6, 2020, an illegal Vehicle Sideshow in San Francisco attracted hundreds of spectators and approximately 50 vehicles. There were approximately 100 calls for police service for this event from residents concerned about public safety. A man was shot to death in the immediate vicinity of the reckless stunt driving exhibition.
(c) Since 2020, Vehicle Sideshows have continued to occur in the San Francisco Bay Area. They have been increasing in severity and size, and are becoming a greater community safety concern. The majority of Vehicle Sideshow1
occur late at night or during the early morning hours. But San Francisco experienced a Vehicle Sideshow on Sunday, August 25, 2024 in the afternoon, creating a bigger public safety concern as there were more people and law-abiding drivers using the public streets and sidewalks at that time. In 2024, there have been at least 25 Vehicle Sideshows reported in San Francisco and as of September 2024 the Police Department (“SFPD”) seized 67 vehicles, including 8 from sideshows and 59 others for reckless evasion (when a person flees or attempts to elude a pursuing officer while driving with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, including street takeover maneuvers such as doughnuts and burnouts). Some of the most notable Vehicle Sideshows of 2024 were:
On June 9, 2024, several Vehicle Sideshows occurred across the San Francisco Bay Area that involved huge crowds of spectators who followed the Sideshows to various locations. In San Francisco, a Vehicle Sideshow occurred on the Embarcadero and drew over 200 spectators event.1
The crowd of people blocked streets and sidewalks as they encouraged the drivers who engaged in the dangerous vehicle stunts. During the Vehicle Sideshow, a vehicle was engulfed in flames near the Embarcadero, which presented a huge public safety risk and required an enormous amount of resources to contain. SFPD seized five vehicles at the scene and dispersed the large crowd. Following the Vehicle Sideshow, splinter Vehicle Sideshows occurred at Alemany Boulevard and Geneva Avenue, on Valencia Street, and on Cesar Chavez Street. SFPD eventually dispersed the splinter Sideshows.
On August 25, 2024, a huge Vehicle Sideshow of dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles (“ATVs”) took place throughout various neighborhoods in San Francisco drawing 200-250 spectators encouraging and instigating the illegal activity. The spectators, ATVs, and dirt bikes collectively overtook several streets in San Francisco. The riders ignored traffic laws, performed stunts, and caused widespread disruption by blocking streets and sidewalks that impacted our neighborhoods.
(d) According to SFPD, there have been other illegal activities associated with Vehicle Sideshows, including shootings, weapons possession, explosives, illegal fireworks, assaults, vandalism, and public intoxication. Sideshow participants and spectators are often hostile, aggressive, and uncooperative with law enforcement officers and have on occasion been assaultive towards officers attempting to contain and dismantle the illegal activity.
(e) There is no place for this type of motorized misconduct in a heavily populated urban environment such as San Francisco. At a minimum, Vehicle Sideshows in the City create chaos, inconvenience, and in some cases fear, among those who live in neighborhoods where they occur; and they present challenges for law-abiding drivers whose routes unfortunately take them to an area where such irresponsible antics are occurring. Of even greater concern, the possibility that serious injury or death may result from Vehicle Sideshows is ever-present.
(f) Vehicle Sideshow participants and spectators do not stay in one area. They travel on our highways and bridges to come into our city and cause havoc in San Francisco and the Bay Area. The SFPD works closely with its law enforcement partners in the region to address the illegal activities. The SFPD uses technology, such as automatic license plate readers, commonly known as “ALPRs,” and unassisted aerial vehicles, “1
commonly known as “UAVs” or “drones,” to combat Vehicle Sideshows and their attendant ills. This Article 56 provides additional legal tools for the City to combat Vehicle Sideshows.
CODIFICATION NOTE
1. So in Ord. 239-24.