AB 2807: Vehicles: sideshows and street takeovers.
- Session Year: 2023-2024
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2024-09-23
Current Status:
Passed
(2024-09-23: Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 503, Statutes of 2024.)
Introduced
In Committee
First Chamber
In Committee
Second Chamber
Enacted
What does this bill do?
The bill clarifies that a “sideshow” — an event where two or more people block or impede traffic to perform car stunts, speed contests, or reckless driving for spectators — is also called a “street takeover.” It applies to people convicted of motor vehicle exhibitions of speed and lets a judge suspend or limit their driver’s license when the offense occurred as part of such a sideshow.
The summary is provided by generative AI which can make mistakes. For original language, please view the details in the table below.
Existing law prohibits a person from engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or aiding or abetting in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway. Upon conviction, existing law punishes a person by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than $500, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2025, authorizes the court to order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to 6 months and restrict the persons operation of a motor vehicle for the purposes of their employment if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow, as defined. Existing law requires the court to consider a persons hardships, as specified, when deciding to either suspend or restrict a drivers license.
This bill would clarify that a sideshow is also known as a street takeover.
Existing law prohibits a person from engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or aiding or abetting in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway. Upon conviction, existing law punishes a person by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than $500, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2025, authorizes the court to order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to 6 months and restrict the persons operation of a motor vehicle for the purposes of their employment if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow, as defined. Existing law requires the court to consider a persons hardships, as specified, when deciding to either suspend or restrict a drivers license.
This bill would clarify that a sideshow is also known as a street takeover.
Existing law prohibits a person from engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or aiding or abetting in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway. Upon conviction, existing law punishes a person by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than $500, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2025, authorizes the court to order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to 6 months and restrict the persons operation of a motor vehicle for the purposes of their employment if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow, as defined. Existing law requires the court to consider a persons hardships, as specified, when deciding to either suspend or restrict a drivers license.
This bill would clarify that a sideshow is also known as a street takeover.
Existing law prohibits a person from engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or aiding or abetting in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on any a highway. Upon conviction, existing law punishes a person by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than $500, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2025, authorizes the court to order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to 6 months and restrict the persons operation of a motor vehicle for the purposes of their employment if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow, as defined. Existing law requires the court to consider a persons hardships, as specified, when deciding to either suspend or restrict a drivers license. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend or restrict a drivers license as ordered by the court.
This bill would authorize the court to increase the fine for a person who engages in, among other things, a motor vehicle speed contest or a sideshow by up to $1,000 if the person also committed other specified violations, including, among other offenses, false imprisonment or child endangerment. The bill would also clarify that a sideshow is also known as a street takeover. By imposing an additional requirement on local prosecutors, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.This bill would clarify that a sideshow is also known as a street takeover.
Existing law prohibits a person from engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or aiding or abetting in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on any highway. Upon conviction, existing law punishes a person by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than $500, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2025, authorizes the court to order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to 6 months and restrict the persons operation of a motor vehicle for the purposes of their employment if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow, as defined. Existing law requires the court to consider a persons hardships, as specified, when deciding to either suspend or restrict a drivers license. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend or restrict a drivers license as ordered by the court.
This bill would authorize the court to increase the fine for a person who engages in, among other things, a motor vehicle speed contest or a sideshow by up to $1,000 if the person also committed other specified violations, including, among other offenses, false imprisonment or child endangerment. The bill would also clarify that a sideshow is also known as a street takeover. By imposing an additional requirement on local prosecutors, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law subjects a person convicted of a felony for a violation of a provision of the Vehicle Code to a fine of at least $1,000 and at most $10,000, or imprisonment for a specified term, or both, unless otherwise provided.This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.Existing law subjects a person convicted of a felony for a violation of a provision of the Vehicle Code to a fine of at least $1,000 and at most $10,000, or imprisonment for a specified term, or both, unless otherwise provided.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.
(a)A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility. As used in this section, a motor vehicle speed contest includes a motor vehicle race against another vehicle, a clock, or other timing device. For purposes of this section, an event in which the time to cover a prescribed route of more than 20 miles is measured, but in which the vehicle does not exceed the speed limit, is not a speed contest.
(b)A person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(c)A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, and a person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(d)A person shall not, for the purpose of facilitating or aiding or as an incident to a motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition upon a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, in any manner obstruct or place a barricade or obstruction or assist or participate in placing a barricade or obstruction upon a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(e)(1)A person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 24 hours nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than three hundred fifty-five dollars ($355) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. That person shall also be required to perform 40 hours of community service. The court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months, as provided in paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. The persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment. This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(2)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and that violation proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, the person convicted shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months or by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(f)(1)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) for an offense that occurred within five years of the date of a prior offense that resulted in a conviction of a violation of subdivision (a), that person shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than four days nor more than six months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2)If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(3)If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes serious bodily injury, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (f) of Section 243 of the Penal Code, to a person other than the driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be imprisoned in the state prison, or in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than one year, and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(4)The court shall order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle of a person convicted under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) suspended for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. In lieu of the suspension, the persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment.
(5)This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(g)If the court grants probation to a person subject to punishment under subdivision (f), in addition to subdivision (f) and any other terms and conditions imposed by the court, which may include a fine, the court shall impose as a condition of probation that the person be confined in a county jail for not less than 48 hours nor more than six months. The court shall order the persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle to be suspended for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352 or restricted pursuant to subdivision (f).
(h)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and the vehicle used in the violation is registered to that person, the vehicle may be impounded at the registered owners expense for not less than 1 day nor more than 30 days.
(i)(1)A person who violates subdivision (b), (c), or (d) shall upon conviction of that violation be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2)(A)(i)Commencing July 1, 2025, the court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months for a person who violates subdivision (c), as provided in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352, only if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow.
(ii)For purposes of this section, sideshow is defined as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators. A sideshow is also known as a street takeover.
(B)A persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment.
(C)If the court is considering suspending or restricting the privilege to operate a motor vehicle pursuant to this paragraph, the court shall also consider whether a medical, personal, or family hardship exists that requires a person to have a drivers license for such limited purpose as the court deems necessary to address the hardship. This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(j)If a persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle is restricted by a court pursuant to this section, the court shall clearly mark the restriction and the dates of the restriction on that persons drivers license and promptly notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of the terms of the restriction in a manner prescribed by the department. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall place that restriction in the persons records in the Department of Motor Vehicles and enter the restriction on a license subsequently issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to that person during the period of the restriction.
(k)The court may order that a person convicted under this section, who is to be punished by imprisonment in a county jail, be imprisoned on days other than days of regular employment of the person, as determined by the court.
(l)For purposes of this section, offstreet parking facility has the same meaning as in subdivision (c) of Section 12500.
(m)This section shall be known and may be cited as the Louis Friend Memorial Act.
(a)A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility. As used in this section, a motor vehicle speed contest includes a motor vehicle race against another vehicle, a clock, or other timing device. For purposes of this section, an event in which the time to cover a prescribed route of more than 20 miles is measured, but in which the vehicle does not exceed the speed limit, is not a speed contest.
(b)A person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(c)A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, and a person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(d)A person shall not, for the purpose of facilitating or aiding or as an incident to a motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition upon a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, in any manner obstruct or place a barricade or obstruction or assist or participate in placing a barricade or obstruction upon a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(e)(1)A person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 24 hours nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than three hundred fifty-five dollars ($355) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. That person shall also be required to perform 40 hours of community service. The court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months, as provided in paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. The persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment. This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(2)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and that violation proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, the person convicted shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months or by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(f)(1)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) for an offense that occurred within five years of the date of a prior offense that resulted in a conviction of a violation of subdivision (a), that person shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than four days nor more than six months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2)If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(3)If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes serious bodily injury, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (f) of Section 243 of the Penal Code, to a person other than the driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be imprisoned in the state prison, or in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than one year, and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(4)The court shall order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle of a person convicted under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) suspended for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. In lieu of the suspension, the persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment.
(5)This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(g)If the court grants probation to a person subject to punishment under subdivision (f), in addition to subdivision (f) and any other terms and conditions imposed by the court, which may include a fine, the court shall impose as a condition of probation that the person be confined in a county jail for not less than 48 hours nor more than six months. The court shall order the persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle to be suspended for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352 or restricted pursuant to subdivision (f).
(h)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and the vehicle used in the violation is registered to that person, the vehicle may be impounded at the registered owners expense for not less than 1 day nor more than 30 days.
(i)(1)A person who violates subdivision (b), (c), or (d) shall upon conviction of that violation be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2)(A)(i)Commencing July 1, 2025, the court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months for a person who violates subdivision (c), as provided in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352, only if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow.
(ii)For purposes of this section, sideshow is defined as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators. A sideshow is also known as a street takeover.
(B)A persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment.
(C)If the court is considering suspending or restricting the privilege to operate a motor vehicle pursuant to this paragraph, the court shall also consider whether a medical, personal, or family hardship exists that requires a person to have a drivers license for such limited purpose as the court deems necessary to address the hardship. This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(j)If a persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle is restricted by a court pursuant to this section, the court shall clearly mark the restriction and the dates of the restriction on that persons drivers license and promptly notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of the terms of the restriction in a manner prescribed by the department. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall place that restriction in the persons records in the Department of Motor Vehicles and enter the restriction on a license subsequently issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to that person during the period of the restriction.
(k)The court may order that a person convicted under this section, who is to be punished by imprisonment in a county jail, be imprisoned on days other than days of regular employment of the person, as determined by the court.
(l)For purposes of this section, offstreet parking facility has the same meaning as in subdivision (c) of Section 12500.
(m)This section shall be known and may be cited as the Louis Friend Memorial Act.
(a)(1)A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(2)As facility. As used in this section, a motor vehicle speed contest includes a motor vehicle race against another vehicle, a clock, or other timing device.
(3)For device. For purposes of this section, an event in which the time to cover a prescribed route of more than 20 miles is measured, but in which the vehicle does not exceed the speed limits, limit, is not a speed contest.
(b)A person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(c)A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, and a person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(d)A person shall not, for the purpose of facilitating or aiding or as an incident to a motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition upon a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, in any manner obstruct or place a barricade or obstruction or assist or participate in placing a barricade or obstruction upon a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(e)(1)A person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 24 hours nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than three hundred fifty-five dollars ($355) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. That person shall also be required to perform 40 hours of community service. The court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months, as provided in paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. The persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment. This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(2)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and that violation proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, the person convicted shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months or by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(f)(1)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) for an offense that occurred within five years of the date of a prior offense that resulted in a conviction of a violation of subdivision (a), that person shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than four days nor more than six months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2)If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(3)If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes serious bodily injury, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (f) of Section 243 of the Penal Code, to a person other than the driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be imprisoned in the state prison, or in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than one year, and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(4)The court shall order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle of a person convicted under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) suspended for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. In lieu of the suspension, the persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment.
(5)This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(g)If the court grants probation to a person subject to punishment under subdivision (f), in addition to subdivision (f) and any other terms and conditions imposed by the court, which may include a fine, the court shall impose as a condition of probation that the person be confined in a county jail for not less than 48 hours nor more than six months. The court shall order the persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle to be suspended for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352 or restricted pursuant to subdivision (f).
(h)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and the vehicle used in the violation is registered to that person, the vehicle may be impounded at the registered owners expense for not less than 1 day nor more than 30 days.
(i)(1)A person who violates subdivision (b), (c), or (d) shall upon conviction of that violation be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2)(A)(i)Commencing July 1, 2025, the court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months for a person who violates subdivision (c), as provided in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352, only if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow.
(ii)For purposes of this section, sideshow is defined as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators. A sideshow is also known as a street takeover.
(B)A persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment.
(C)If the court is considering suspending or restricting the privilege to operate a motor vehicle pursuant to this paragraph, the court shall also consider whether a medical, personal, or family hardship exists that requires a person to have a drivers license for such limited purpose as the court deems necessary to address the hardship. This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(j)If a persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle is restricted by a court pursuant to this section, the court shall clearly mark the restriction and the dates of the restriction on that persons drivers license and promptly notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of the terms of the restriction in a manner prescribed by the department. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall place that restriction in the persons records in the Department of Motor Vehicles and enter the restriction on a license subsequently issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to that person during the period of the restriction.
(k)The court may order that a person convicted under this section, who is to be punished by imprisonment in a county jail, be imprisoned on days other than days of regular employment of the person, as determined by the court.
(l)For purposes of this section, offstreet parking facility has the same meaning as in subdivision (c) of Section 12500.
(m)This section shall be known and may be cited as the Louis Friend Memorial Act.
(a)(1)A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(2)As used in this section, a motor vehicle speed contest includes a motor vehicle race against another vehicle, a clock, or other timing device.
(3)For purposes of this section, an event in which the time to cover a prescribed route of more than 20 miles is measured, but in which the vehicle does not exceed the speed limits, is not a speed contest.
(b)A person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(c)A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, and a person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(d)A person shall not, for the purpose of facilitating or aiding or as an incident to a motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition upon a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, in any manner obstruct or place a barricade or obstruction or assist or participate in placing a barricade or obstruction upon a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(e)(1)A person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 24 hours nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than three hundred fifty-five dollars ($355) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. That person shall also be required to perform 40 hours of community service. The court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months, as provided in paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. The persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment. This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(2)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and that violation proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, the person convicted shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months or by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(f)(1)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) for an offense that occurred within five years of the date of a prior offense that resulted in a conviction of a violation of subdivision (a), that person shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than four days nor more than six months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2)If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(3)If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes serious bodily injury, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (f) of Section 243 of the Penal Code, to a person other than the driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be imprisoned in the state prison, or in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than one year, and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(4)The court shall order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle of a person convicted under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) suspended for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. In lieu of the suspension, the persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment.
(5)This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(g)If the court grants probation to a person subject to punishment under subdivision (f), in addition to subdivision (f) and any other terms and conditions imposed by the court, which may include a fine, the court shall impose as a condition of probation that the person be confined in a county jail for not less than 48 hours nor more than six months. The court shall order the persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle to be suspended for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352 or restricted pursuant to subdivision (f).
(h)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and the vehicle used in the violation is registered to that person, the vehicle may be impounded at the registered owners expense for not less than one 1 day nor more than 30 days.
(i)(1)A person who violates subdivision (b), (c), or (d) shall upon conviction of that violation be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2)(A)(i)Commencing July 1, 2025, the court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months for a person who violates subdivision (c), as provided in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352, only if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow.
(ii)For purposes of this section, sideshow is defined as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators. A sideshow is also known as a street takeover.
(B)A persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment.
(C)If the court is considering suspending or restricting the privilege to operate a motor vehicle pursuant to this paragraph, the court shall also consider whether a medical, personal, or family hardship exists that requires a person to have a drivers license for such limited purpose as the court deems necessary to address the hardship. This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(j)If a persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle is restricted by a court pursuant to this section, the court shall clearly mark the restriction and the dates of the restriction on that persons drivers license and promptly notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of the terms of the restriction in a manner prescribed by the department. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall place that restriction in the persons records in the Department of Motor Vehicles and enter the restriction on a license subsequently issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to that person during the period of the restriction.
(k)The court may order that a person convicted under this section, who is to be punished by imprisonment in a county jail, be imprisoned on days other than days of regular employment of the person, as determined by the court.
(l)The court may increase the fine, or assess a fine if there is not already a fine, for a violation of a provision of this section by an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a person who, while violating this section, also violated one or more of the following sections:(1)Section 69 of the Penal Code.(2)Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 148 of the Penal Code.(3)Section 236 of the Penal Code.(4)Section 272 of the Penal Code.(5)Section 273a of the Penal Code.(6)Section 404.6 of the Penal Code.(7)Section 594 of the Penal Code.(8)Section 25850 of the Penal Code.(9)Section 23152 or 23153 of the Vehicle Code.(m)(l)For purposes of this section, offstreet parking facility has the same meaning as in subdivision (c) of Section 12500.
(n)(m)This section shall be known and may be cited as the Louis Friend Memorial Act.
SEC. 2.No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.(a)(1)A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility. As
(2)As used in this section, a motor vehicle speed contest includes a motor vehicle race against another vehicle, a clock, or other timing device. For
(3)For purposes of this section, an event in which the time to cover a prescribed route of more than 20 miles is measured, but in which the vehicle does not exceed the speed limits, is not a speed contest.
(b)A person shall not aid or abet in any a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(c)A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, and a person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on any a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(d)A person shall not, for the purpose of facilitating or aiding or as an incident to any a motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition upon a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, in any manner obstruct or place a barricade or obstruction or assist or participate in placing a barricade or obstruction upon a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(e)(1)A person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 24 hours nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than three hundred fifty-five dollars ($355) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. That person shall also be required to perform 40 hours of community service. The court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months, as provided in paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. The persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment. This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(2)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and that violation proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, the person convicted shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months or by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(f)(1)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) for an offense that occurred within five years of the date of a prior offense that resulted in a conviction of a violation of subdivision (a), that person shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than four days nor more than six months, months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2)If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(3)If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes serious bodily injury, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (f) of Section 243 of the Penal Code, to a person other than the driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be imprisoned in the state prison, or in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than one year, and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(4)The court shall order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle of a person convicted under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) suspended for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. In lieu of the suspension, the persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment.
(5)This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(g)If the court grants probation to a person subject to punishment under subdivision (f), in addition to subdivision (f) and any other terms and conditions imposed by the court, which may include a fine, the court shall impose as a condition of probation that the person be confined in a county jail for not less than 48 hours nor more than six months. The court shall order the persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle to be suspended for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352 or restricted pursuant to subdivision (f).
(h)If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and the vehicle used in the violation is registered to that person, the vehicle may be impounded at the registered owners expense for not less than one day nor more than 30 days.
(i)(1)A person who violates subdivision (b), (c), or (d) shall upon conviction of that violation be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2)(A)(i)Commencing July 1, 2025, the court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months for a person who violates subdivision (c), as provided in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352, only if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow. For
(ii)For purposes of this section, sideshow is defined as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, facility for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators. A sideshow is also known as a street takeover.
(B)The A persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that persons place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the persons employment, restricted to driving in that persons scope of employment.
(C)If the court is considering suspending or restricting the privilege to operate a motor vehicle pursuant to this paragraph, the court shall also consider whether a medical, personal, or family hardship exists that requires a person to have a drivers license for such limited purpose as the court deems necessary to address the hardship. This subdivision does not interfere with the courts power to grant probation in a suitable case.
(j)If a persons privilege to operate a motor vehicle is restricted by a court pursuant to this section, the court shall clearly mark the restriction and the dates of the restriction on that persons drivers license and promptly notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of the terms of the restriction in a manner prescribed by the department. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall place that restriction in the persons records in the Department of Motor Vehicles and enter the restriction on a license subsequently issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to that person during the period of the restriction.
(k)The court may order that a person convicted under this section, who is to be punished by imprisonment in a county jail, be imprisoned on days other than days of regular employment of the person, as determined by the court.
(l)The court may increase the fine, or assess a fine if there is not already a fine, for a violation of a provision of this section by an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a person who, while violating this section, also violated one or more of the following sections:
(1)Section 69 of the Penal Code.
(2)Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 148 of the Penal Code.
(3)Section 236 of the Penal Code.
(4)Section 272 of the Penal Code.
(5)Section 273a of the Penal Code.
(6)Section 404.6 of the Penal Code.
(7)Section 594 of the Penal Code.
(8)Section 25850 of the Penal Code.
(9)Section 23152 or 23153 of the Vehicle Code.
(l)(m)For purposes of this section, offstreet parking facility has the same meaning as in subdivision (c) of Section 12500.
(m)(n)This section shall be known and may be cited as the Louis Friend Memorial Act.
SEC. 2.No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
SECTION 1.Section 42000 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:42000.Unless a different penalty is expressly provided by this code, a person convicted of a felony for a violation of a provision of this code shall be punished by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or by both that fine and imprisonment.Unless a different penalty is expressly provided by this code, every a person convicted of a felony for a violation of any a provision of this code shall be punished by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or by both such that fine and imprisonment.
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| Sep 23, 2024 | Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 503, Statutes of 2024. |
| Sep 23, 2024 | Approved by the Governor. |
| Sep 11, 2024 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m. |
| Aug 30, 2024 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 77. Noes 0.). |
| Aug 30, 2024 | In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. |
| Aug 29, 2024 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0.). |
| Aug 5, 2024 | Ordered to third reading. |
| Aug 5, 2024 | From Consent Calendar. |
| Jul 3, 2024 | Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. |
| Jul 2, 2024 | From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (July 2). |
| Jun 12, 2024 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on PUB S. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (June 11). Re-referred to Com. on PUB S. |
| Jun 3, 2024 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on TRANS. |
| May 22, 2024 | Referred to Coms. on TRANS. and PUB S. |
| May 9, 2024 | In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. |
| May 9, 2024 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 66. Noes 0. Page 5152.) |
| Apr 22, 2024 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Apr 18, 2024 | Withdrawn from committee. |
| Apr 18, 2024 | Ordered to second reading. |
| Apr 18, 2024 | Assembly Rule 96 suspended. |
| Apr 16, 2024 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (April 15). Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. |
| Apr 4, 2024 | Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. |
| Apr 3, 2024 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. Read second time and amended. |
| Mar 19, 2024 | Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. |
| Mar 18, 2024 | Referred to Coms. on TRANS. and PUB. S. |
| Mar 18, 2024 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. Read second time and amended. |
| Feb 16, 2024 | From printer. May be heard in committee March 17. |
| Feb 15, 2024 | Read first time. To print. |
|
Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 2024 | AB 2807 Villapudua Concurrence in Senate Amendments | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| Aug 29, 2024 | Assembly 3rd Reading AB2807 Villapudua By Newman | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| Jul 2, 2024 | Do pass and be ordered to the Consent Calendar | Senate Standing Committee on Public Safety |
Passed |
|
| Jun 11, 2024 | Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Public Safety] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar | Senate Standing Committee on Transportation |
Passed |
|
| May 9, 2024 | AB 2807 Villapudua Assembly Third Reading | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| Apr 15, 2024 | Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Public Safety] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar | Assembly Standing Committee on Transportation |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| California Contract Cities Association | ** Support | |
| League Of California Cities | ** Support | |
| Riverside County Sheriff's Office | ** Support |
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
CSA1 Bill Id:AB 2807
Author:(Villapudua)
As Amended Ver:June 3, 2024
Majority vote
SUMMARY
Clarifies that vehicle sideshows are also known as "street takeovers".
Senate Amendments
Are technical and clarifying in nature.
COMMENTS
In the 1980s in Oakland, California, a new tradition took hold in mall parking lots: sideshows. The original sideshows were just meant to show off cars, but they developed into larger events under Oakland's unique hyphy culture in the 1990s. These events involve customized cars and hyphy music, an Oakland slang term meaning "hyperactive" that was coined by Rapper Keak da Sneak and popularized by E-40's song, "Hyphy".
According to an interview by KQED with Sean Kennedy, a multimedia producer and local hip-hop historian in Oakland, sideshows began to change when guys with cheap cars started doing stunts to gain attention. These stunts include doing donuts (360 degree tire burnouts) and ghost riding the whip (exiting a moving vehicle and dancing beside and around it). Kennedy has noted that these sideshows have a nomadic, extra-legal element to them, as people often bring guns and sell drugs at the shows.
As sideshows grew in popularity and moved out of mall parking lots and onto streets, highways and bridges, the city of Oakland began to pass ordinances making spectating at a sideshow a criminal offense. After the death of U'kendra K. Johnson, a 22-year old woman who was killed by a sideshow driver fleeing police in Oakland, the Legislature passed SB 1489 (Perata), Chapter 411, Statutes of 2002, also known as the U'kendra K. Johnson Memorial Act, which granted law enforcement the ability to impound a vehicle for reckless driving.
During the COVID 19 pandemic lockdowns, cities saw an increase in street racing and sideshows, in part because there were fewer vehicles on the road. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to 25,953 calls involving a motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition of speed in 2020, nearly 3,500 more calls than the prior year. In 2020, CHP cited 341 individuals with a violation of motor vehicle exhibition of speed, 141 more than the year before.
Citations and calls reporting speed racing and motor vehicle exhibitions of speed have continued to grow. In 2022, CHP received over 31,000 calls involving a motor vehicle speed contest or motor vehicle exposition of speed. That number dropped to 27,265 in 2023. CHP issued 1487 citations for the two violations in 2022 and 2023.
One of the common charges brought against individuals participating in a sideshow is engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway. This section has been interpreted by the courts to include the act of burning or squealing tires allowing them to lose traction, or performing a "wheelie" on a motorcycle. A motor vehicle exhibition of speed could be as minor as revving an engine or hitting the gas too quickly after running a light.
In 2021 the Legislature passed AB 3 (Fong), Chapter 611 which provided the ability to suspend a person's driver's license if they were convicted of a motor vehicle exhibition of speed and that charge stemmed from their participation in a motor vehicle sideshow. The bill defined in statute a sideshow as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway, for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators.
While sideshow is the more popular term, law enforcement from southern California refers to the events as "street takeovers." AB 74 (Muratsuchi) of 2023, sponsored by the Los Angeles Police Department, would have created a new crime of "street takeover" that had the same elements of the crime as a sideshow established under AB 3. That bill died in this committee.
This bill recognizes the southern California slang for sideshow in code by recognizing that sideshows are also referred to as street takeovers.
According to the Author
"The surge in dangerous sideshow related activities seen throughout our state is creating unnecessary risks to public safety and infrastructure. AB 2807 will address this issue and ensure we are holding those engaging in these reckless activities accountable by clearly defining these types of activities within current law."
Arguments in Support
According to the League of California Cities, "Vehicle sideshows and street takeovers are dangerous events where public spaces are taken over to engage in reckless driving behavior and stunts that pose a danger to drivers and pedestrian bystanders who often gather to watch the events. These events threaten the safety of those involved as well as cause noise pollution, traffic obstructions, and property damage. These events often invite other ancillary criminal activity including illicit use of drugs and alcohol as well as outbreaks of violence. This bill would align differing terminology across the state recognizing that the more popular Northern California term of a sideshow is the same as the Southern California term of street takeover and that both terms refer to the same event. Both are classified as a criminal offense of engaging in an exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility."
Arguments in Opposition
No opposition on file.
FISCAL COMMENTS
This bill was keyed non-fiscal by Legislative Counsel.
VOTES:
ASM TRANSPORTATION: 15-0-0
YES: Wilson, Davies, Aguiar-Curry, Berman, Juan Carrillo, Hart, Hoover, Jackson, Lowenthal, Papan, Sanchez, Ting, Wallis, Ward, Wicks
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 66-0-14
YES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, Dixon, Essayli, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Friedman, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Hart, Holden, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Lowenthal, Maienschein, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rendon, Reyes, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Robert Rivas
ABS, ABST OR NV: Bains, Cervantes, Megan Dahle, Flora, Gabriel, Grayson, Haney, Low, Mathis, Stephanie Nguyen, Petrie-Norris, Luz Rivas, Ting, Wallis
SENATE FLOOR: 40-0-0
YES: Allen, Alvarado-Gil, Archuleta, Ashby, Atkins, Becker, Blakespear, Bradford, Caballero, Cortese, Dahle, Dodd, Durazo, Eggman, Glazer, Gonzalez, Grove, Hurtado, Jones, Laird, Limón, McGuire, Menjivar, Min, Newman, Nguyen, Niello, Ochoa Bogh, Padilla, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Seyarto, Skinner, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Umberg, Wahab, Wiener, Wilk
UPDATED
VERSION: June 3, 2024
CONSULTANT: David Sforza / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN: 0004995
SENATE RULES COMMITTEE Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 | AB 2807 |
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2807
Author: Villapudua (D)
Amended: 6/3/24 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: 15-0, 6/11/24
AYES: Cortese, Niello, Allen, Archuleta, Becker, Blakespear, Dahle, Dodd, Gonzalez, Limón, Newman, Nguyen, Portantino, Seyarto, Umberg
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 5-0, 7/2/24
AYES: Wahab, Seyarto, Bradford, Skinner, Wiener
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 66-0, 5/9/24 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Vehicles: sideshows and street takeovers
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST:
This bill would clarify that a “sideshow” is also known as a “street takeover.”
ANALYSIS: Existing law defines a sideshow as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility for the purposes of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed or reckless driving, for spectators (Vehicle Code 23109).
This bill provides that the same events present in a sideshow are also present in a street takeover.
Comments
- Author’s Statement. According to the author, “The surge in dangerous sideshow related activities seen throughout our state is creating unnecessary risks to public safety and infrastructure. AB 2807 will address this issue and ensure we are holding those engaging in these reckless activities accountable by clearly defining these types of activities within current law.”
- A Regional Matter: Though these events are defined in statute as sideshow, law enforcement in Southern California refers to such events as street takeovers. Recognizing street takeover as a sideshow acknowledges differences in regional dialects.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 7/8/24)
California Contract Cities Association
League of California Cities
Riverside County Sheriff's Office
OPPOSITION: (Verified 7/8/24)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 66-0, 5/9/24
AYES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, Dixon, Essayli, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Friedman, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Hart, Holden, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Lowenthal, Maienschein, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rendon, Reyes, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Robert Rivas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bains, Cervantes, Megan Dahle, Flora, Gabriel, Grayson, Haney, Low, Mathis, Stephanie Nguyen, Petrie-Norris, Luz Rivas, Ting, Wallis
Prepared by: Benjamin O'Brien-Hokanson / TRANS. / (916) 651-4121
8/7/24 15:34:33
**** END ****
SENATE RULES COMMITTEE Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 | AB 2807 |
CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2807
Author: Villapudua (D)
Amended: 6/3/24 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: 15-0, 6/11/24
AYES: Cortese, Niello, Allen, Archuleta, Becker, Blakespear, Dahle, Dodd, Gonzalez, Limón, Newman, Nguyen, Portantino, Seyarto, Umberg
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 5-0, 7/2/24
AYES: Wahab, Seyarto, Bradford, Skinner, Wiener
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 66-0, 5/9/24 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Vehicles: sideshows and street takeovers
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST:
This bill would clarify that a “sideshow” is also known as a “street takeover.”
ANALYSIS: Existing law defines a sideshow as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility for the purposes of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed or reckless driving, for spectators (Vehicle Code 23109).
This bill provides that the same events present in a sideshow are also present in a street takeover.
Comments
- Author’s Statement. According to the author, “The surge in dangerous sideshow related activities seen throughout our state is creating unnecessary risks to public safety and infrastructure. AB 2807 will address this issue and ensure we are holding those engaging in these reckless activities accountable by clearly defining these types of activities within current law.”
- A Regional Matter: Though these events are defined in statute as sideshow, law enforcement in Southern California refers to such events as street takeovers. Recognizing street takeover as a sideshow acknowledges differences in regional dialects.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 7/8/24)
California Contract Cities Association
League of California Cities
Riverside County Sheriff's Office
OPPOSITION: (Verified 7/8/24)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 66-0, 5/9/24
AYES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, Dixon, Essayli, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Friedman, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Hart, Holden, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Lowenthal, Maienschein, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rendon, Reyes, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Robert Rivas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bains, Cervantes, Megan Dahle, Flora, Gabriel, Grayson, Haney, Low, Mathis, Stephanie Nguyen, Petrie-Norris, Luz Rivas, Ting, Wallis
Prepared by: Benjamin O'Brien-Hokanson / TRANS. / (916) 651-4121
7/31/24 15:30:53
**** END ****
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Aisha Wahab, Chair
2023 - 2024 Regular
Bill No: AB 2807 Hearing Date: July 2, 2024
Author: | Villapudua | ||
Version: | June 3, 2024 | ||
Urgency: | No | Fiscal: | No |
Consultant: | MK | ||
Subject: Vehicles: sideshows and street takeovers
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: AB 74 (Muratsuchi) Failed Assm. Trans. 2023
AB 822 (Alanis) not heard ACoPS 2023
AB 2000 (Gabriel) Chapter 436, Stats. 2022
AB 3 (Fong) Chapter 106, Stats. 2021
AB 410 (Nazarian) failed Assem. Public Safety 2019
SB 699 (Galgiani) amended out in Assembly 2017
SB 67 (Perata) Chapter 727, Stats. 2007
AB 1325 (Vargas) Chapter 475, Stats. 2005
SB 1541 (Margett) Chapter 595, Stats. 2004
AB 985 (Vargas) - failed Senate Public Safety 2004
AB 1341 (Para) - 6/9/04 version, failed Sen Public Safety 2004
AB 2440 (Shirley Horton) - held Assembly Appropriations 2004
SB 1489 (Perata) Chapter 411, Stats. 2002
SB 2087 (Soto) - died on inactive file Senate Floor 2002
AB 2288 (Aguiar) Chapter 884, Stats. 1996
SB 833 Chapter 922, Stats. 1995
SB 1738 Chapter1221, Stats. 1994
AB 5 Chapter 3, Stats.1959
Support: California Contract Cities Association; League of California Cities
Opposition: None known
Assembly Floor Vote: 66 - 0
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to provide that vehicle sideshows are also known as street takeovers.
Existing law provides that a person shall not engage in an exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility. (Vehicle Code § 23109)
Existing law defines “exhibition of speed” as accelerating or driving at a rate of speed that is dangerous and unsafe in order to show off or make an impression on someone else. (People v. Grier (1964) 226 Cal.App.2d 360, 364.)
Existing law authorizes a court to order the suspension of a driver’s license for 90 days to six months for a person convicted of engaging in an exhibition of speed that was part of a sideshow. (Vehicle Code § 23109)
Existing law defines “sideshow” to mean an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators. (Vehicle Code § 23109)
Existing law allows a peace officer to immediately arrest and take into custody a person engaged in an exhibition of speed, and to remove and impound the vehicle used in the offense for up to 30 days. (Vehicle Code § 23109.2)
Existing law provides that a person shall not aid or abet in an exhibition of speed on any highway or in an offstreet parking facility, or, for the purpose of facilitating or aiding or as an incident to any exhibition of speed, in any manner, obstruct or place a barricade or obstruction or assist or participate in placing a barricade or obstruction on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility. (Vehicle Code § 23109)
This bill clarifies that a “sideshow” is also known as a “street takeover.”
COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
The surge in dangerous sideshow related activities seen throughout our state is creating unnecessary risks to public safety and infrastructure. AB 2807 will address this issue and ensure we are holding those engaging in these reckless activities accountable by clearly defining these types of activities within current law.
2. Sideshows
Individuals who participate in a sideshow can be charged with engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway, which has been interpreted by the courts to include the acts of burning or squealing tires, allowing them to lose traction, performing wheelies, or revving an engine or hitting the gas too quickly after running a light. Last year the Legislature passed AB 3 (Fong), Chapter 611, Statutes of 2021, which provided the ability to suspend a person’s driver’s license if they were convicted of a motor vehicle exhibition of speed and that charge stemmed from their participation in a motor vehicle sideshow.
Prosecutors are given the discretion to charge a motor vehicle exhibition of speed as a misdemeanor or an infraction as a result of the different types of acts of severity that could be charged as a motor vehicle exhibition of speed. If the crime is a misdemeanor, they can serve up to 90 days in jail, and receive a fine of nearly $500 after accounting for all of the fees attached to the $100 base fine. If the crime is charged as an infraction, the fine is closer to $400. A driver will also receive two violation points on their license, and traffic violator school is not an option. An individual is considered a negligent operator if they receive 4 or more points in 12 months, 6 in 24 months, or 8 in 36 months. DMV is given the authority to suspend someone’s license if they are determined to be a negligent operator.
3. Street takeover
In the 1980s in Oakland, California, a new tradition took hold in mall parking lots: sideshows. The original sideshows were just meant to show off cars, but they developed into larger events under Oakland’s unique hyphy culture in the 1990s. These events involve customized cars and hyphy music, an Oakland slang term meaning “hyperactive” that was coined by Rapper Keak da Sneak and popularized by E-40’s song, “Hyphy”.
According to an interview by KQED with Sean Kennedy, a multimedia producer and local hip-hop historian in Oakland, sideshows began to change when guys with cheap cars started doing stunts to gain attention. These stunts include doing donuts (360 degree tire burnouts) and ghost riding the whip (exiting a moving vehicle and dancing beside and around it). Kennedy has noted that these sideshows have a nomadic, extra-legal element to them, as people often bring guns and sell drugs at the shows.
As sideshows grew in popularity and moved out of mall parking lots and onto streets, highways and bridges, the city of Oakland began to pass ordinances making spectating at a sideshow a criminal offense. After the death of U’kendra K. Johnson, a 22-year old woman who was killed by a sideshow driver fleeing police in Oakland, the Legislature passed SB 1489 (Perata), Chapter 411, Statutes of 2002, also known as the U’kendra K. Johnson Memorial Act, which granted law enforcement the ability to impound a vehicle for reckless driving.
During the COVID 19 pandemic lockdowns, cities saw an increase in street racing and sideshows, in part because there were fewer vehicles on the road. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to 25,953 calls involving a motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition of speed in 2020, nearly 3,500 more calls than the prior year. In 2020, CHP cited 341 individuals with a violation of motor vehicle exhibition of speed, 141 more than the year before.
Citations and calls reporting speed racing and motor vehicle exhibitions of speed have continued to grow. In 2022, CHP received over 31,000 calls involving a motor vehicle speed contest or motor vehicle exposition of speed. That number dropped to 27,265 in 2023. CHP issued 1487 citations for the two violations in 2022 and 2023.
One of the common charges brought against individuals participating in a sideshow is engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway. This section has been interpreted by the courts to include the act of burning or squealing tires allowing them to lose traction, or performing a “wheelie” on a motorcycle. A motor vehicle exhibition of speed could be as minor as revving an engine or hitting the gas too quickly after running a light.
In 2021 the Legislature passed AB 3 (Fong), Chapter 611 which provided the ability to suspend a person’s driver’s license if they were convicted of a motor vehicle exhibition of speed and that charge stemmed from their participation in a motor vehicle sideshow. The bill defined in statute a sideshow as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway, for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators.
While sideshow is the more popular term, law enforcement from southern California refers to the events as “street takeovers.” AB 74 (Muratsuchi) of 2023, sponsored by the Los Angeles Police Department, would have created a new crime of “street takeover” that had the same elements of the crime as a sideshow established under AB 3. That bill failed in Assembly Transportation Committee.
This bill recognizes the southern California slang for sideshow in code by recognizing that sideshows are also referred to as street takeovers.
4. Argument in Support
The Contract Cities Association supports this bill stating:
Over the last few years our organization has consistently advocated for practical and punitive measures to address the uptick in sideshows, reckless driving, and street racing in our communities. The dangerous, life-threatening activity is a serious public safety concern for many of our member cities. According to new Los Angeles Police Department data, reports of illegal street races and takeovers/sideshows increased in Los Angeles during the first months of 2024. Over 176 street races were reported between January and March, a 50% increase from 2023. We applaud Assemblymember Villapudua for introducing legislation that recognizes the differences in regional dialects across California and aligns terminology, which will ultimately help the State hold individuals that engage in sideshows/street takeovers accountable.
-- END –
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Senator Dave Cortese, Chair
2023 - 2024 Regular
Bill No: AB 2807 Hearing Date: 6/11/2024
Author: | Villapudua | ||
Version: | 6/3/2024 Amended | ||
Urgency: | No | Fiscal: | No |
Consultant: | Bob Franzoia | ||
SUBJECT: Vehicles: sideshows and street takeovers
DIGEST: This bill would clarify that a “sideshow” is also known as a
“street takeover.”
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
- Defines a sideshow as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility for the purposes of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed or reckless driving, for spectators (VHC 23109).
This bill:
- Would provide that the same events present in a sideshow are also present in a street takeover.
COMMENTS:
- Author’s Statement. According to the author, “The surge in dangerous sideshow related activities seen throughout our state is creating unnecessary risks to public safety and infrastructure. AB 2807 will address this issue and ensure we are holding those engaging in these reckless activities accountable by clearly defining these types of activities within current law.”
- A Regional Matter: Though these events are defined in statute as sideshow, law enforcement in Southern California refers to such events as street takeovers. Recognizing street takeover as a sideshow acknowledges differences in regional dialects.
Related Legislation:
AB 1978 (Fong, 2024). Would provide that a peace officer, who arrests a person who, for the purpose of aiding and abetting speed contests and exhibitions of speed, obstructs or places a barricade or assists or participates in placing a barrier or obstruction, is authorized to impound the vehicle used to commit the violation without taking the person into custody. AB 1978 was re-referred to the Senate Rules Committee.
AB 2186 (Fong, 2024). Would provide that a peace officer may immediately arrest and may impound a vehicle if the person was engaged in a motor vehicle speed contest, reckless driving, or an exhibition of speed that occurs in an off-street parking facility. AB 2186 was re-referred to the Senate Rules Committee.
AB 3085 (Gipson, 2024). Would expand the list of offenses for which a peace officer may impound a vehicle involved in a speed contest or exhibition of speed pursuant to a warrant or order issued by a magistrate. AB 3085 is pending hearing in this committee.
AB 74 (Muratsuchi, 2023). Sponsored by the Los Angeles Police Department, would have, among other things, created a new crime of street takeover that comprised the same events present in a sideshow. AB 74 died in the Assembly Transportation Committee.
AB 3 (Fong, Chapter 611, Statutes of 2021). Defined sideshow as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway, for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators. (VHC 23109)
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday,
June 5, 2024.)
SUPPORT:
League of California Cities
OPPOSITION:
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The League of California Cities is in support, stating this bill would align differing terminology across the state recognizing that the more popular Northern California term of a sideshow is the same as the Southern California term of street takeover and that both terms refer to the same event. Both are classified as a criminal offense of engaging in an exhibition of speed on a highway or in an off-street parking facility.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: None Received
-- END --
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
ATR Bill Id:AB 2807
Author:(Villapudua)
As Amended Ver:April 3, 2024
Majority vote
SUMMARY
Clarifies that vehicle sideshows are also known as street takeovers.
COMMENTS
In the 1980s in Oakland, California, a new tradition took hold in mall parking lots: sideshows. The original sideshows were just meant to show off cars, but they developed into larger events under Oakland's unique hyphy culture in the 1990s. These events involve customized cars and hyphy music, an Oakland slang term meaning "hyperactive" that was coined by Rapper Keak da Sneak and popularized by E-40's song, "Hyphy".
According to an interview by KQED with Sean Kennedy, a multimedia producer and local hip-hop historian in Oakland, sideshows began to change when guys with cheap cars started doing stunts to gain attention. These stunts include doing donuts (360 degree tire burnouts) and ghost riding the whip (exiting a moving vehicle and dancing beside and around it). Kennedy has noted that these sideshows have a nomadic, extra-legal element to them, as people often bring guns and sell drugs at the shows.
As sideshows grew in popularity and moved out of mall parking lots and onto streets, highways, and bridges, the city of Oakland began to pass ordinances making spectating at a sideshow a criminal offense. After the death of U'kendra K. Johnson, a 22-year old woman who was killed by a sideshow driver fleeing police in Oakland, the Legislature passed SB 1489 (Perata), Chapter 411, Statutes of 2002, also known as the U'kendra K. Johnson Memorial Act, which granted law enforcement the ability to impound a vehicle for reckless driving.
During the COVID 19 pandemic lockdowns, cities saw an increase in street racing and sideshows, in part because there were fewer vehicles on the road. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to 25,953 calls involving a motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition of speed in 2020, nearly 3,500 more calls than the prior year. In 2020, CHP cited 341 individuals with a violation of motor vehicle exhibition of speed, 141 more than the year before.
Citations and calls reporting speed racing and motor vehicle exhibitions of speed have continued to grow. In 2022, CHP received over 31,000 calls involving a motor vehicle speed contest or motor vehicle exposition of speed. That number dropped to 27,265 in 2023. CHP issued 1487 citations for the two violations in 2022 and 2023.
One of the common charges brought against individuals participating in a sideshow is engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway. This section has been interpreted by the courts to include the act of burning or squealing tires allowing them to lose traction, or performing a "wheelie" on a motorcycle. A motor vehicle exhibition of speed could be as minor as revving an engine or hitting the gas too quickly after running a light.
In 2021 the Legislature passed AB 3 (Fong), Chapter 611 which provided the ability to suspend a person's driver's license if they were convicted of a motor vehicle exhibition of speed and that charge stemmed from their participation in a motor vehicle sideshow. The bill defined in statute a sideshow as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway, for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators.
While sideshow is the more popular term, law enforcement from southern California refers to the events as "street takeovers." AB 74 (Muratsuchi) of 2023, sponsored by the Los Angeles Police Department, would have created a new crime of "street takeover" that had the same elements of the crime as a sideshow established under AB 3. That bill died in this committee.
This bill recognizes the southern California slang for sideshow in code by recognizing that sideshows are also referred to as street takeovers.
According to the Author
No author statement provided.
Arguments in Support
None on file.
Arguments in Opposition
None on file.
FISCAL COMMENTS
This bill was keyed non-fiscal by Legislative Counsel
VOTES
ASM TRANSPORTATION: 15-0-0
YES: Wilson, Davies, Aguiar-Curry, Berman, Juan Carrillo, Hart, Hoover, Jackson, Lowenthal, Papan, Sanchez, Ting, Wallis, Ward, Wicks
UPDATED
VERSION: April 3, 2024
CONSULTANT: David Sforza / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN: 0002757
Date of Hearing: April 15, 2024
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Lori D. Wilson, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2807 (
Author:Villapudua) – As Amended Ver:April 3, 2024
SUBJECT: Vehicles: sideshows and street takeovers
SUMMARY: Clarifies that vehicle sideshows are also known as street takeovers.
EXISTING LAW:
- Provides that a person shall not engage in an exhibition of speed on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility. (Vehicle Code Section (VEH) 23109)
- Defines “exhibition of speed” as accelerating or driving at a rate of speed that is dangerous and unsafe in order to show off or make an impression on someone else. (People v. Grier (1964) 226 Cal.App.2d 360, 364.)
- Authorizes a court to order the suspension of a driver’s license for 90 days to six months for a person convicted of engaging in an exhibition of speed that was part of a sideshow. (VEH 23109)
- Defines “sideshow” to mean an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility, for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators. (VEH 23109)
- Allows a peace officer to immediately arrest and take into custody a person engaged in an exhibition of speed, and to remove and impound the vehicle used in the offense for up to 30 days. (VEH 23109.2)
- Provides that a person shall not aid or abet in an exhibition of speed on any highway or in an offstreet parking facility, or, for the purpose of facilitating or aiding or as an incident to any exhibition of speed, in any manner, obstruct or place a barricade or obstruction or assist or participate in placing a barricade or obstruction on a highway or in an offstreet parking facility. (VEH 23109)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
In the 1980s in Oakland, California, a new tradition took hold in mall parking lots: sideshows. The original sideshows were just meant to show off cars, but they developed into larger events under Oakland’s unique hyphy culture in the 1990s. These events involve customized cars and hyphy music, an Oakland slang term meaning “hyperactive” that was coined by Rapper Keak da Sneak and popularized by E-40’s song, “Hyphy”.
According to an interview by KQED with Sean Kennedy, a multimedia producer and local hip-hop historian in Oakland, sideshows began to change when guys with cheap cars started doing stunts to gain attention. These stunts include doing donuts (360 degree tire burnouts) and ghost riding the whip (exiting a moving vehicle and dancing beside and around it). Kennedy has noted that these sideshows have a nomadic, extra-legal element to them, as people often bring guns and sell drugs at the shows.
As sideshows grew in popularity and moved out of mall parking lots and onto streets, highways and bridges, the city of Oakland began to pass ordinances making spectating at a sideshow a criminal offense. After the death of U’kendra K. Johnson, a 22-year old woman who was killed by a sideshow driver fleeing police in Oakland, the Legislature passed SB 1489 (Perata), Chapter 411, Statutes of 2002, also known as the U’kendra K. Johnson Memorial Act, which granted law enforcement the ability to impound a vehicle for reckless driving.
During the COVID 19 pandemic lockdowns, cities saw an increase in street racing and sideshows, in part because there were fewer vehicles on the road. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to 25,953 calls involving a motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition of speed in 2020, nearly 3,500 more calls than the prior year. In 2020, CHP cited 341 individuals with a violation of motor vehicle exhibition of speed, 141 more than the year before.
Citations and calls reporting speed racing and motor vehicle exhibitions of speed have continued to grow. In 2022, CHP received over 31,000 calls involving a motor vehicle speed contest or motor vehicle exposition of speed. That number dropped to 27,265 in 2023. CHP issued 1487 citations for the two violations in 2022 and 2023.
One of the common charges brought against individuals participating in a sideshow is engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway. This section has been interpreted by the courts to include the act of burning or squealing tires allowing them to lose traction, or performing a “wheelie” on a motorcycle. A motor vehicle exhibition of speed could be as minor as revving an engine or hitting the gas too quickly after running a light.
In 2021 the Legislature passed AB 3 (Fong), Chapter 611 which provided the ability to suspend a person’s driver’s license if they were convicted of a motor vehicle exhibition of speed and that charge stemmed from their participation in a motor vehicle sideshow. The bill defined in statute a sideshow as an event in which two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway, for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators.
While sideshow is the more popular term, law enforcement from southern California refers to the events as “street takeovers.” AB 74 (Muratsuchi) of 2023, sponsored by the Los Angeles Police Department, would have created a new crime of “street takeover” that had the same elements of the crime as a sideshow established under AB 3. That bill died in this committee.
This bill recognizes the southern California slang for sideshow in code by recognizing that sideshows are also referred to as street takeovers.
Related legislation: AB 1978 (V. Fong) of 2024 would authorize a peace officer to impound a vehicle without taking the driver into custody for aiding and abetting speed contests and exhibitions of speed. That bill passed out of Assembly Public Safety Committee and is pending before this committee.
AB 2186 (V. Fong) of 2024 would allow a peace officer to arrest a person and impound a vehicle if the person was engaged in an exhibition of speed that occurs in an offstreet parking facility. AB 2186 is pending hearing in this committee.
AB 3085 (Gipson) of 2024 authorizes a magistrate judge to allow for a pre-conviction impoundment of a vehicle engaged in a motor vehicle speed contest or motor vehicle exhibition of speed for up to 30 days. That bill is pending before this committee.
AB 74 (Muratsuchi), of the 2023 would have provided that a vehicle used in a sideshow or street takeover is a public nuisance which may be subject to forfeiture. AB 74 failed passage in Assembly Transportation Committee.
AB 822 (Alanis), of 2023 would include engaging in a motor vehicle speed contest or an exhibition of speed as offenses for which a peace officer may impound a vehicle pursuant to a court warrant. The hearing was cancelled at the request of the author in Assembly Public Safety Committee.
AB 2000 (Gabriel), Chapter 436, Statutes of 2022, made it a crime for a person to engage in a motor vehicle speed contest in an offstreet parking facility or an exhibition of speed in an offstreet parking facility, or to aid or abet therein.
AB 3 (V. Fong), Chapter 611, Statutes of 2021, allows a court to suspend a person’s driver’s license if they were convicted of a motor vehicle exhibition of speed and that charge stemmed from their participation in a motor vehicle sideshow.
AB 1407 (Friedman), of 2019 would have required a vehicle that is determined to have been involved in a speed contest to be impounded for 30 days, as specified. AB 1407 was vetoed.
AB 410 (Nazarian), of 2019 would have allowed a vehicle to be impound based on a declaration submitted by a police officer that a vehicle was involved in a motor vehicle sideshow. AB 410 failed passage in Assembly Public Safety Committee.
AB 2876 (Jones-Sawyer), Chapter 592, Statutes of 2018, clarifies that the protections against unreasonable seizures provided by the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution apply even when a vehicle is removed pursuant to an authorizing statute.
AB 2175 (Aguiar-Curry), Chapter 314, Statutes of 2018, among other things, allows impoundment of a vessel when an officer has probable cause to believe it was used in the commission of a crime.
AB 353 (Cedillo), Chapter 653, Statutes of 2011, requires law enforcement officers conducting a sobriety checkpoint to make reasonable attempts to identify the registered owner of a vehicle being driven by a person under the influence, and to release the vehicle to the owner or to obtain the owner’s consent to release the vehicle to a licensed driver by the end of the checkpoint.
SB 67 (Perata), Chapter 727, Statutes of 2007, reenacted provisions that were allowed to sunset that provide for vehicle impoundments when a person is arrested for reckless driving, exhibition of speed, or a speed contest.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Riverside County Sheriff’s Office
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: David Sforza / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
Discussed in Hearing
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Bill Author
Bill Co-Author(s):