Cracking down on modified imports
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From: Santa Clara
Cracking down on modified imports
Looks like Cali is playing hard ball against imports.
Under California law, officers can stop and inspect a vehicle if they reasonably suspect that the
engine has illegal modifications.
Under the expanded state-sponsored effort, about $400,000 each will go to police departments in
Sacramento, Riverside, Ontario, Oakland, Irwindale, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno and Stockton
to pay for operations, educational presentations and training.
Here's the link.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/...-15043650c.html
Area motorists beware: If your car is too loud, too low or pumps out too much smog, you face stiff fines in a new crackdown on illegal street racing designed to prevent fatalities and steer young people toward safe, legal raceways.
Also targeted are spectators who show up to watch illegal races, smog shops that OK gross polluting cars and auto parts businesses that install illegal modifications.
The first test case of the new zero-tolerance policy will be the prosecution of Jason Antoine Golson, 22, who is charged with second-degree murder in connection with a fatal street race in Citrus Heights earlier this month. Steve Allen Skattebo, 25, hit a tree and died while racing Golson down Auburn Boulevard on Feb. 2.
Sell It Yourself
California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Frost has inspected the two cars involved for illegal racing modifications and plans to testify as an expert witness on street racing at Golson's trial.
"We have a huge problem in Sacramento since we have extremely high numbers of modified import vehicles," said Frost, who is helping train other CHP officers. "Honestly, I think we've been lucky that we haven't had more street-racing fatalities."
Under California law, officers can stop and inspect a vehicle if they reasonably suspect that the engine has illegal modifications.
Frost spent one recent afternoon patrolling the streets of Carmichael and North Highlands looking for the signs of street racing: a chassis that scrapes the ground, the throaty whirr of a wide exhaust pipe, and racing stickers on the windows.
At a stop on Watt Avenue, Frost asked for more than license, registration and proof of insurance. Like the other 130 officers trained by the Drag-Net program, Frost wanted to get a look under the hood.
He said the 1997 Acura Integra had an illegal air filter, its suspension was too low, and its exhaust system made too much noise. The car's registered owner, who was not present during the stop, will have to keep the car off the street until the state Bureau of Automotive Repairs certifies that the illegal parts have been removed.
Replacing a typical package of illegal modifications and reinstalling stock parts costs an estimated $2,500.
Price is the main reason Misty Arce, 26, hasn't changed anything about her lowered 1994 Honda Del Sol, even though the loud tailpipes and illegally tinted windows have netted her three traffic stops since Thanksgiving, including a citation from Frost.
"Honestly, I don't want to put any more money into it," she said after being pulled over on Walnut Avenue. "I want to get rid of it."
Authorities are banking on responses like Arce's to further tamp down on street racing. Rancho Cordova and the city of Sacramento have passed ordinances barring spectators at illegal street races, with penalties for violators that start at $500 and jump to $1,000 or six months in jail for a repeat offender.
"That's why they street race, to show off. So if there is no one watching, then it may decrease racing," said Sacramento Police Sgt. Michael Cooper, coordinator of the Drag-Net unit.
The drive to wipe out street racing statewide is modeled after a San Diego program started in 2001 when that city recorded 16 deaths and 31 major injuries attributed to street races. During the past two years there have been no street racing deaths.
The California Office of Traffic Safety last year expanded San Diego's program statewide with a $5 million grant to train officers from 75 police agencies to spot after-market racing parts.
"My biggest concern was, 'Oh man, they're going to try and make me a mechanic,' but they show us (what to look for) and I'll be darned if the stuff is not there under the hood," Cooper said.
Under the expanded state-sponsored effort, about $400,000 each will go to police departments in Sacramento, Riverside, Ontario, Oakland, Irwindale, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno and Stockton to pay for operations, educational presentations and training.
The new Drag-Net unit seems to be paying off locally. From October through December, Sacramento police wrote 550 smog and racing citations and towed 35 vehicles. Since January, Davis' five-person auto unit has issued 24 citations for smog violations tied to illegal racing parts. "It's just another tool in our toolbox," said motor officer Rod Rifredi.
Modifying cars for racing, however, remains popular with young people. Jesuit High School junior Michael Lee has spent close to $30,000 souping up his 1995 Nissan 240SX. He says tickets and attention from law enforcement are the cost of his hobby.
"I just see people with lowered cars or exhaust (systems) getting pulled over every day or at least a few times a week," said Lee.
Pajo Bruich, 26, who drives his modified 2003 Nissan 350Z mainly on weekends, thinks targeting street racers is unfair.
"It kind of seems like harassment," he said. "Honestly, you know, it's an innocent thing these kids are doing."
Authorities disagree. A street racing ticket equals two points on your driving record, and sometimes impromptu speed contests turn deadly. Kimberly Marie Wheeler, a single mother from Woodland, was killed when a street racer hit her broadside as she left work last June.
"These are not accidents," said CHP Officer Frost. "They are completely preventable incidents."
Instead of risky races on surface streets, Frost and his colleagues now encourage drivers to use the Sacramento Raceway, where racers can open up the throttle on a quarter-mile track every Wednesday for $8.
"We're trying to come up with a solution to get kids to race on the drag strip, not on the street," said Tony Trimp, who operates the raceway. "We're trying to get into local high schools, but some administrators don't like it because they think it promotes street racing, and I completely disagree. If you can get in there and educate them about it ... it keeps people alive."
This season's first two Wednesday race nights drew more than 1,500 young people who turned out to watch 250 cars compete for the fastest time. While Trimp is thrilled by the turnout, he and authorities want to figure out how to fill the raceway's other 5,500 seats with young people.
Under California law, officers can stop and inspect a vehicle if they reasonably suspect that the
engine has illegal modifications.
Under the expanded state-sponsored effort, about $400,000 each will go to police departments in
Sacramento, Riverside, Ontario, Oakland, Irwindale, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno and Stockton
to pay for operations, educational presentations and training.
Here's the link.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/...-15043650c.html
Area motorists beware: If your car is too loud, too low or pumps out too much smog, you face stiff fines in a new crackdown on illegal street racing designed to prevent fatalities and steer young people toward safe, legal raceways.
Also targeted are spectators who show up to watch illegal races, smog shops that OK gross polluting cars and auto parts businesses that install illegal modifications.
The first test case of the new zero-tolerance policy will be the prosecution of Jason Antoine Golson, 22, who is charged with second-degree murder in connection with a fatal street race in Citrus Heights earlier this month. Steve Allen Skattebo, 25, hit a tree and died while racing Golson down Auburn Boulevard on Feb. 2.
Sell It Yourself
California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Frost has inspected the two cars involved for illegal racing modifications and plans to testify as an expert witness on street racing at Golson's trial.
"We have a huge problem in Sacramento since we have extremely high numbers of modified import vehicles," said Frost, who is helping train other CHP officers. "Honestly, I think we've been lucky that we haven't had more street-racing fatalities."
Under California law, officers can stop and inspect a vehicle if they reasonably suspect that the engine has illegal modifications.
Frost spent one recent afternoon patrolling the streets of Carmichael and North Highlands looking for the signs of street racing: a chassis that scrapes the ground, the throaty whirr of a wide exhaust pipe, and racing stickers on the windows.
At a stop on Watt Avenue, Frost asked for more than license, registration and proof of insurance. Like the other 130 officers trained by the Drag-Net program, Frost wanted to get a look under the hood.
He said the 1997 Acura Integra had an illegal air filter, its suspension was too low, and its exhaust system made too much noise. The car's registered owner, who was not present during the stop, will have to keep the car off the street until the state Bureau of Automotive Repairs certifies that the illegal parts have been removed.
Replacing a typical package of illegal modifications and reinstalling stock parts costs an estimated $2,500.
Price is the main reason Misty Arce, 26, hasn't changed anything about her lowered 1994 Honda Del Sol, even though the loud tailpipes and illegally tinted windows have netted her three traffic stops since Thanksgiving, including a citation from Frost.
"Honestly, I don't want to put any more money into it," she said after being pulled over on Walnut Avenue. "I want to get rid of it."
Authorities are banking on responses like Arce's to further tamp down on street racing. Rancho Cordova and the city of Sacramento have passed ordinances barring spectators at illegal street races, with penalties for violators that start at $500 and jump to $1,000 or six months in jail for a repeat offender.
"That's why they street race, to show off. So if there is no one watching, then it may decrease racing," said Sacramento Police Sgt. Michael Cooper, coordinator of the Drag-Net unit.
The drive to wipe out street racing statewide is modeled after a San Diego program started in 2001 when that city recorded 16 deaths and 31 major injuries attributed to street races. During the past two years there have been no street racing deaths.
The California Office of Traffic Safety last year expanded San Diego's program statewide with a $5 million grant to train officers from 75 police agencies to spot after-market racing parts.
"My biggest concern was, 'Oh man, they're going to try and make me a mechanic,' but they show us (what to look for) and I'll be darned if the stuff is not there under the hood," Cooper said.
Under the expanded state-sponsored effort, about $400,000 each will go to police departments in Sacramento, Riverside, Ontario, Oakland, Irwindale, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno and Stockton to pay for operations, educational presentations and training.
The new Drag-Net unit seems to be paying off locally. From October through December, Sacramento police wrote 550 smog and racing citations and towed 35 vehicles. Since January, Davis' five-person auto unit has issued 24 citations for smog violations tied to illegal racing parts. "It's just another tool in our toolbox," said motor officer Rod Rifredi.
Modifying cars for racing, however, remains popular with young people. Jesuit High School junior Michael Lee has spent close to $30,000 souping up his 1995 Nissan 240SX. He says tickets and attention from law enforcement are the cost of his hobby.
"I just see people with lowered cars or exhaust (systems) getting pulled over every day or at least a few times a week," said Lee.
Pajo Bruich, 26, who drives his modified 2003 Nissan 350Z mainly on weekends, thinks targeting street racers is unfair.
"It kind of seems like harassment," he said. "Honestly, you know, it's an innocent thing these kids are doing."
Authorities disagree. A street racing ticket equals two points on your driving record, and sometimes impromptu speed contests turn deadly. Kimberly Marie Wheeler, a single mother from Woodland, was killed when a street racer hit her broadside as she left work last June.
"These are not accidents," said CHP Officer Frost. "They are completely preventable incidents."
Instead of risky races on surface streets, Frost and his colleagues now encourage drivers to use the Sacramento Raceway, where racers can open up the throttle on a quarter-mile track every Wednesday for $8.
"We're trying to come up with a solution to get kids to race on the drag strip, not on the street," said Tony Trimp, who operates the raceway. "We're trying to get into local high schools, but some administrators don't like it because they think it promotes street racing, and I completely disagree. If you can get in there and educate them about it ... it keeps people alive."
This season's first two Wednesday race nights drew more than 1,500 young people who turned out to watch 250 cars compete for the fastest time. While Trimp is thrilled by the turnout, he and authorities want to figure out how to fill the raceway's other 5,500 seats with young people.
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Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Oakland,CA
I seen this somewhere already.
Stopping street racing is perfectly fine with me, but they encourage track racing and they're not letting us mod our cars. To me, thats just bullshit. I live in Oakland so I don't deal with it as much as some people down in Sac.
Stopping street racing is perfectly fine with me, but they encourage track racing and they're not letting us mod our cars. To me, thats just bullshit. I live in Oakland so I don't deal with it as much as some people down in Sac.
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Joined: Mar 2005
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From: BAY AREA
this is retarded. what happened to modifying cars being a hobby? just because we are lowered and have body kits or a loud exhaust doesnt mean we race every single thing on wheels. we love our cars as much as old men love their hot rods. most of us baby our cars as much as they do. so why should it be any different? this sounds like a pretty prejudice to me because it seems like the "rice rockets" are going to be the main ones singled out.
it sounds like some lame stuff where a cop will pull you over and tell you to pop your hood, but since he cant A) find anything to ticket you for or B) doesnt know what the hekk he's looking at, he'll just give you a loud exhaust ticket so he wont be embarrased.
as far as the loud exhaust stuff, make it fare to all. ive driven around and heard suv's with louder exhausts than my car. which to me is rediculous that we're going to be harrased just by the appearance of our cars.
but it wont stop me. i plan on getting a single exhaust soon. hear me roar PIGS (cops)!
it sounds like some lame stuff where a cop will pull you over and tell you to pop your hood, but since he cant A) find anything to ticket you for or B) doesnt know what the hekk he's looking at, he'll just give you a loud exhaust ticket so he wont be embarrased.
as far as the loud exhaust stuff, make it fare to all. ive driven around and heard suv's with louder exhausts than my car. which to me is rediculous that we're going to be harrased just by the appearance of our cars.
but it wont stop me. i plan on getting a single exhaust soon. hear me roar PIGS (cops)!
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 565
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From: Oakland,CA
I'm also mad that we don't have a voice. As in no one to represent our community to tell them the real truth. Yet, even if we did have a voice, they wouldn't listen to us. It's due to all these idiotic, stupid people that don't think before they do something. I wonder why they think it's cool to follow a movie ( F&F series ) and street race. It just ruins the fun in our hobbies and everything else. I still don't like the fact that a cop can pull you over for an exhaust and automatically assume that you street race. THE WORLD HOLDS NO FREEDOM. ( Or maybe it's just California )
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Joined: Nov 2005
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From: SLZ- yay area
Originally Posted by rudeS2k,Feb 28 2006, 08:28 PM
what about the domestics with their hemis? 
they polute more than our cars...their cars were manifactured when they dont give a crap about air polution (60's-70's). i know they have a rule about older cars not needing to get smog or something like that. IMO if your going to treat people that modify their cars like import tuner get treated why not treat everybody the same way regardless of what they modify (import, hot rods, trucks, bikes, etc).
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From: Driving around idiots in TX
The police in Oakland and San Jose already know about imports. God knows they are used to them... This is just same sh!t different day. SAD (and bullsh!t), but true.
Keep the fart cans off your car and don't do anything stupid and you will be just fine. I have managed to keep relatively clean with a modded car, even before 11-99.
Keep the fart cans off your car and don't do anything stupid and you will be just fine. I have managed to keep relatively clean with a modded car, even before 11-99.
