Wichita mandates $250 fine for watching street races, burnouts, donuts and wheelies
In a crackdown on street racing, burnouts, donuts or other exhibitions of speed, Wichita City Hall is going after the people who watch from the sidewalk.
A new ordinance passed Tuesday sets a minimum mandatory fine of $250 for the act of watching a drag race or an illegal car or motorcycle stunt — or being there when someone is getting ready to do one.
Street racing and speed exhibitions are already illegal and have been for decades. The new ordinance is the first time the act of standing by and watching is prohibited.
“The mere presence of spectators at these events fuels the illegal street racing and creates an environment in which these illegal activities can flourish,” the ordinance says.
Unlike previous law, the new ordinance will be enforceable not just on city streets, but also private parking lots.
“I’ve heard a lot of complaints from WaterWalk, which you are aware (of),” council member Brandon Johnson said. “So I appreciate this solution to help out down there, and I also recently saw some of this over at Old Town parking garage when I was up there one night, so I think this is a good solution and definitely a good starting place.”
Council member Jeff Blubaugh said he recent;y spoke about the issue at Goddard High School.
“I was just asking them how many of you have either been a spectator or participated in drag racing and about three-quarters of the kids in the room raised their hands,” he said.
The ordinance is silent on how it would affect any future protests or other First Amendment activities, such as multiple nights of rallies held at 21st and Arkansas last summer in the wake of the George Floyd killing by police in Minnesota.
During that period, the intersection was blocked and several drivers turned donuts in the intersection for hours while hundreds of protesters watched.
Police Capt. Paul Duff, the west side bureau commander who proposed the ordinance, said street racing is a common complaint from neighborhoods and businesses and has caused five deaths since August of 2019.
But police have been hampered by “lax laws,” he said.
The new ordinance cites public safety as the reason for cracking down on onlookers. The penalty for watching is a $250 mandatory minimum fine and could go as high as $1,500.
“’Spectate’ means being present at an illegal motor vehicle speed contest, sideshow, motorcycle stunting or exhibition of speed, or at a location where preparations are being made for such activities, for the purpose of viewing, observing, watching, or witnessing the event as it progresses,” the new ordinance says. “Spectator includes any individual at the location of the event without regard to whether the individual arrived at the event by driving a vehicle, riding as a passenger in a vehicle, walking, or arriving by some other means.”
The penalty for driving in street races or sideshows starts at seven days of house arrest, three days of car impoundment with fees and a $250 fine, Duff said.
The penalty for the third or subsequent violation is 90 days of house arrest, 30 days impoundment and fees, and a $1,500 fine.
The ordinance passed with unanimous support and five of the seven council members — Johnson, Blubaugh, Becky Tuttle and Bryan Frye — thanked Duff for taking on the issue.
“Almost every neighborhood meeting, I hear something about this,” Claycomb said. “ I just want to thank WPD for taking these complaints seriously and developing an ordinance that I think will help make our residents feel safer.”
This story was originally published September 21, 2021 at 3:15 PM.
