Street Racing Town Hall Recap
On Saturday, February 24th, Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE) was honored to participate in District 2 Governing Board Supervisor Holly Mitchell’s first interactive community workshop on ways to stop illegal street racing and takeovers. Over 130 SD2 community members attended the event, which took place at the beautiful Magic Johnson Community Center in South LA. Representatives from the Departments of Violence and Prevention, Health, Public Works, District Attorney, the CHP Southern Division on Street Racing Enforcement, the Supervisor's Office, and community partners Street Racing Kills, and SAFE collaborated with the community during the two-hour event on this critical topic. If you missed the symposium but would still like to make your voice heard and share ideas for our future symposium, please share it here.
The interactive workshop started with remarks from Supervisor Holly Mitchell, followed by speakers from different city departments. The gathering then broke into small groups so that participants could brainstorm solutions and contribute ideas for a future, more in-depth symposium on street takeovers. A city official led each round table, and community members were given prompts about what changes they would like to see made in their communities. Answers to the prompts were carefully noted and organized by theme. Some ideas discussed by the community included:
Enforcement strategies: Hire more police officers and increase resources for the Speed Racing Task Force, install speed cameras, and create community awareness about laws.
Legislation: Create new laws with teeth, require classes before getting a driver’s license, fine autobody shops that alter vehicles, or tire shops that sell tires to street racers when their tires burn out.
Increasing educational and school programming resources: Bring driver education back into the schools, create mandatory education for youth in schools on the dangers of street racing, provide mental health support for youth, and increase the availability of community programs at parks and schools.
Social media/media messaging: Partner with social media platforms to block or delist posts with specific keywords related to racing, create public service announcements, and create an app where people can report street racing and attach photos and info about the location.
Space for street racing: Create a safe, permanent, affordable racetrack for legal street racing and sideshows.
Government collaboration: Partner with other jurisdictions and knowledgeable community organizations to determine what works, improve collaboration and communication inter-agency-wide, and improve urban planning.
Community Collaboration: Work with communities via town halls, neighborhood watches, and grassroots research on the community’s needs.
Street infrastructure changes: Slow our streets, install speed bumps, fund permanent road infrastructure changes, and narrow super-wide roads through infrastructure changes.
Work with other Agencies: i.e., work with the DMV to require community service before licensing, emphasizing that a car is a privilege.
Overall, the meeting felt very productive. The extensive notes gathered will help the organizers drill down on solutions and find appropriate expert speakers for the Street Racing and Takeover Symposium, scheduled for later this year. We’re counting on the continued participation of local community members to ensure that the approach to addressing takeovers, street racing, and aggressive driving incorporates diverse perspectives and addresses the gaps in care and community issues.
Again, if you could not attend last Saturday’s gathering but would still like to make your voice heard and share ideas for our future symposium, please share them here. Your voice matters, so please take the survey, and let's come together and work towards safer streets for all. We’ll let you know when the date is set for the Street Racing Symposium!