Fremont police are working to stop street racing before the trend grows violent.
Officers said in the past two months, groups ranging in size from 10 to 300 cars have been racing and holding sideshows on Fremont Boulevard and Automall Parkway.
The races are not only illegal but leave behind litter, marked-up roads, torn-up lawns, and put employees of nearby businesses on edge.
Officers with the department’s traffic division said it’s only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or killed.
“They’re basically doing 70, 80 miles an hour on streets not designed for that kind of speed," Fremont police spokesperson Donn Tassano said. "They’re driving where if the general public is down there, they’re not expecting a car to be on the wrong side of the road, so as they come up on that what they see is two sets of headlights coming towards them, no place to go. Crash is going to happen.”
Fremont has not had any dangerous crashes this year as a result of sideshows, but several people were killed six or seven years ago when racing in the area was at its worst.
Police said even watching a street race can result in an arrest.
