Fast & Furious-style street takeover in Chicago prompts legal scrutiny over public nuisance, with calls for stricter laws and penalties.
March 1, 2024
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Fast & Furious-style street takeover in Chicago prompts legal scrutiny over public nuisance, with calls for stricter laws and penalties.
In what appeared to be a reenactment of a scene from the Fast and the Furious movie franchise, stunt car drivers staged a street takeover at the intersection of 103rd Street and California Avenue in the far southwest side Chicago neighborhood of Beverly over the previous weekend. More than 100 people with cars participated, and as cars did donuts around a crowd of people, their tires caused a ring of fire to be set to the street. Luckily, no injuries were reported, but onlookers and neighbors expressed concern and were upset at the brazen display.
When the police arrived, the crew that organized the event was unbothered and even succeeded in blocking Evergreen Park police and public buses from approaching. Chicago Transit Authority buses were forced to park, and there was no alternative route to proceed. When the Chicago Police Department finally broke up the car drifting event, some cars sped off and drove over sidewalks and lawns, causing damage and leaving tire marks. This is not the first occurrence in the City of Chicago, with other illegal car racing and drifting events taking place across the city, particularly on Lower Wacker Drive.
Aside from the various traffic violations of which the participants in these kinds of events are undoubtedly guilty, there is also the issue of the nuisance to the public their actions create. There are public nuisance ordinances in place which they flagrantly flout, this weekend’s event being no exception. The Illinois Compiled Statutes defines “public nuisance” as including “[the obstruction or encroachment] upon public highways, private ways, streets, alleys, commons, landing places, and ways to burying places.” There is no doubt that this situation fits that definition tidily.
If these events persist, the city or any other affected municipality may enact ordinances that tighten the definition of public nuisance to restrict this behavior further. Such ordinances may also allow for harsher punishments against those engaged in this type of conduct. It remains to be seen how these events may reshape public nuisance law, but the increasing frequency with which they are taking place may pressure local leaders to act to prevent harm to their communities.
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