DEC 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 12

AROUND THE COUNTRY
TAMPA BAY, FL.
New Florida bill enables police to arrest, charge street
racers without witnessing the race.
By Matt Cohen
Tampa Bay Times
TAMPA BAY, FL. — Florida Sen.
Jason Pizzo said he remembers the
look on the faces of the transportation
committee members when he
showed them a gruesome video of
a decapitated woman’s head lying
on the sidewalk.
The video posted to Instagram
showed dead bodies — including
the headless woman — lying on
the ground in Miami Gardens after
a “street takeover” — blocking and
occupying intersections or parking
lots to perform doughnuts and
other car tricks — that had gone
wrong.
“The video resembles the chaos
more likely found after a bombing
in a war zone,” Pizzo, a Democrat
representing parts of Miami-Dade
County, said.
He said showing the video was his
way to illustrate how street races
and takeovers can turn deadly in
Florida.
Street racing and takeovers have
been a part of Tampa Bay’s nightlife
culture for “years and years,”
according to Sgt. Steve Gaskins, a
spokesperson for the Florida Highway
Patrol.
But now, the internet and social
media allow street racers to instantly
show off their speed to large
audiences. In addition, organizers
often use social media to spread
the word about meetups — typically
at gas stations or parking lots. In
many cases, dozens of people in
souped-up rides show up, videos on
Instagram and YouTube show.
Pizzo introduced a bill earlier this
year that was cosponsored by former
Sen. Ray Rodrigues, a Republican
who did not seek reelection this
fall. The bill passed unanimously in
both chambers and was signed by
Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year. It
went into effect on Oct. 1.
Part of the new law adds street
racing and street shows to a list of
exceptions for misdemeanors where
the police don’t have to physically
see the incident take place. That
means just seeing a video showing
one of those incidents allows law
enforcement officers to track down
those involved based on the vehicles,
license plates or people filmed,
Pizzo said.
Violators can be charged with a
first-degree misdemeanor and face
a possible fine between $500 and
$1,000, according to the law’s text.
The violator’s driver’s license also
could be revoked for up to one year.
“People have public profiles that
are showing racing and doughnuts
and tear outs and terrorizing a
neighborhood,” he said. “It’s something
people can do because there
were no police officers there.”
Sometimes, Pizzo said, organizers
and spectators will use their
vehicles to block off intersections
while a driver performs doughnuts.
If someone gets hurt, there is
no way for them to get out, or an
ambulance to get in, he said. That’s
why the new law also targets these
types of takeovers.
Based on arrest reports, the
Gandy Bridge is one of the most
common locations for races in the
Tampa Bay area. Sometimes the
races are planned, and other times
they are random.
According to the reports, they often
start out the same: Two or more
vehicles slow down to pull even
with each other before the sound of
shifting gears and engines purring
as they take off down the highway.
Some videos on Instagram show
cars purportedly zooming down
the road at around 130 miles per
hour. One video on YouTube shows
a driver claiming to hit 208 mph on
the Gandy Bridge.
Dashcam footage from the Florida
Highway Patrol provided to the
Tampa Bay Times shows police
cruisers weaving around traffic
and driving at high speeds as they
try to catch up to the drivers operating
their own vehicles at what
the troopers describe as “unsafe
speeds.”
Gaskins said troopers have operations
from “time to time” targeting
racing. They’ll pick spots to wait
along the Gandy Bridge, anticipating
a race. Other times, troopers
happen across races while driving
around.
Lili Trujillo founded Street Racing
Kills — a national outreach and education
organization that provides
traffic safety courses and reckless
driving prevention presentations —
after her 16-year-old daughter was
killed as a passenger in a California
street race. She said the kind
of speeds drivers engage in while
racing and doing stunts on public
streets is deadly.
“It’s the adrenaline, its the immaturity,
it’s the no fear of dying
because they’re young, it’s the way
of thinking that it’s not going to
happen to me,” Trujillo said. “It’s
fun to them.”
Trujillo said Florida is a hot spot
nationally for street racing and
street takeover events, and there
have been an increasing number of
these incidents since the COVID-19
pandemic began. She said some
people put stimulus checks received
during the pandemic toward souping
up their cars. She also said the
streets were more open during the
pandemic as people stayed home.
And that meant more opportunities
for street events.
Florida isn’t the only state with a
law like this, Trujillo said. She said
there is hesitation in some states
because police believe street racers
will use other means to share footage
that are more difficult to track.
But people will still share their
videos anyway, Trujillo said, because
it’s a chance to get attention.
“I think social media has been a
very big part of it,” Trujillo said. “If
you think about the spectators that
can watch them — they can put it
on social media and get all these
likes.”
Drivers want their cars to look
good for the camera, too, Trujillo
said. That means loud engines,
flashy wheels and eye-catching
wraps. There are dozens of custom
car shops around the Tampa Bay
area. Some of them specialize in
speed and power and want to build
cars for racing, but they say they
distance themselves from those
racing illegally.
Bob Brooks of Vortex Motorsports
says he can tell when a customer
is looking to race on the street. The
business often works with Ferraris,
Lamborghinis and McLarens. Those
cars, he said, are meant for racing
safely on a track with helmets and
instruction. Vortex customizes cars
to increase horsepower and, in turn,
speed. Brooks said he builds cars
meant for proper racing.
So when he sees someone come
to him with a Subaru or a Nissan intending
to race them, he said he can
often tell they’re not the customers
he wants.
“If someone tells me they’re street
racing, I don’t want anything to do
with them,” Brooks said.
“If you do something and you go
out and get killed,” Brooks said he
tells his potential customers in jest,
“I lose a repeat customer.”
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