Recently, Tacoma has seen an increase in illegal street racing, causing concern for residents, businesses, and city leaders. In addition to the high-speed displays from drivers, crowds of spectators watching and filming the racing events have been making it even more challenging for emergency response personnel to assist with these incidents.
At last week’s city council study session, Tacoma Police Department Assistant Chief, Ed Wade stated, “Between January of 2021 and 2022, there’s a 4.4 percent increase in street racing related activities. However, if you take into consideration, January and February of 2020 to January and February of 2022, there’s been an increase of 114 percent for these types of calls.”
Last year, city council passed an ordinance against the illegal speed exhibitions taking place across the city, in addition to focusing on “squealing the tires of a motor vehicle while it is stationary or in motion, rapid acceleration, rapid swerving or weaving, drifting, producing smoke from tire slippage, or leaving visible tire acceleration marks on the surface of the highway or ground.” Council members are now considering a proposal that would make it illegal for bystanders to gather and watch street racing in an effort to prevent anyone from getting hurt or killed during the dangerous events.
During last week’s council meeting, Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, also shared her own recent encounter with street racing after she found herself trapped behind a dangerous and ongoing display of reckless drivers and spectators in South Tacoma. With police unable to quickly reach the scene due to other emergencies taking place, Woodards feared that people would be injured or worse before law enforcement could get there.
“I was stuck there for an hour. And it happens for hours,” she stated. “After the cops came and they were standing over the bridge looking down, eventually they started to break up and then they all drove off together and I went back up and around and talked to those police officers. Those spectators were taunting our police officers. They were waving at them, trying to get them to respond. That is unacceptable.”
Regarding the proposed ordinance to crack down on bystanders, Mayor Woodards said, “My goal is always to make sure everybody is heard to the point that maybe the ordinance can reflect some of everyone’s thoughts so that everybody can agree.”
As the meeting came to a close, council members noted that more research on the ordinance will be necessary and they hope to gain input from the City of Kent, who recently enforced their own street racing laws after experiencing a substantial increase in illegal racing events. Tacoma city council hopes to speak with Kent officials before the next study session taking place later this month. Stay tuned for more updates in the weeks ahead.
