A Daily Journal article and to be featured in the Council meeting tonight:
Burlingame police are taking aim at the increasing number of illegal street races in their city with an ordinance that'll also make the races illegal to watch. The ordinance prohibits anyone from gathering within 200 feet of an illegal street race and allows officers to write infraction tickets, which require people to go to court or pay a fine. The Burlingame City Council will discuss the proposed ordinance at its Monday night meeting and will likely give its final approval at its first meeting next month. If we start writing tickets and these people have to start going to court, they'll start realizing they shouldn't be participating,? said Burlingame Police Chief Jack Van Etten. The problem of illegal street racing or sideshows is a growing problem in Burlingame. In 2004, there were five reported incidents of street racing. The number escalated to 14 in 2005, according to a report submitted to the City Council by Van Etten. Historically, we have had street racers in the past on El Camino Real and California Drive. Some of the ones concentrated on recently are frontage roads near the freeways and some industrial areas,? Van Etten said. Some of this year's police reports indicate groups gathering at Kincaid's Restaurant on Bayshore Boulevard, at the Burlingame Golf Center on Anza Boulevard, Bancroft and Adrian roads. The races usually take place between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., according to the reports. Illegal street races happen on an irregular basis. The racers drive quickly from street to street, race for a period of time and leave before police arrive on scene. Police have a hard time catching them because the racers use police scanners and cell phones to communicate with each other and avoid detection. They often use the Internet to arrange their races, according to the report. The number of spectators at each race vary from a handful to a few dozen. Onlookers will block the streets and sidewalks to traffic, forming a racetrack area, Van Etten said. Police are hoping to stop the dangerous races before someone gets injured, Van Etten said. Burlingame is modeling its law on a similar San Diego ordinance.
- Written by Fiona
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