No More Donuts in California?

The California Assembly unanimously passed a measure last week reviving the state’s so-called “sideshow” car seizure ordinance that had lapsed earlier this year.

Under SB 67, police will be allowed to seize any vehicle they wish by asserting that it was involved in “reckless driving” on any street or parking lot.

According to state Senator Don Perata (D-East Bay), who authored the bill, sideshows can include any “exhibitions of speed” and “spinning donuts” that usually draw a large crowd of enthusiastic onlookers.

Once a vehicle has been seized, the law would allow the state to impound the vehicle for thirty days and can charge the vehicle’s owner towing, impound, storage, and administrative fees in addition to a fine of up to $1,000.

The ordinance allows the above penalties to be imposed without any finding of guilt by a judge or jury.

Any thoughts on this one?

You can check out the article at: http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/Default.aspx?tabid=525&articleid=7842&articlemid=1524#1524Articles

 

Good!!!

 

If it will keep the idiots from doing it on public roads then cool. As long as it can still be done on a private road and or in a controlled environment for a car show or drag show, then no harm done.

 

Don't act like an ass when you're behind the wheel?

Trying to legislate behavior and morality from behind a desk...
there will always be cocksuckers, literally and figuratively.

 

I dont agree with it. What happend to Innocent until proven guilty?

i want the morons off the road just as much as the next guy, but Due Process isnt something to be stomped on.

 

Without donuts the police will surely lose weight and be able to catch us easier.

 

Wheres the due process? Thats clearly unconstitutional, even in the People's Republic of Cali-forkya.

 

In OR it's considered either careless or reckless (always get em confused).
I've done it in empty parking lots at 1 or 2 AM with no traffic around. The only time I got caught, the cop just wanted me to leave and understood I was just having fun.

It's nice, though, to have the law, so when the idiots start endangering others, there is something to stop them.

 

DITTO

 

Whilst trying to formulate something funny...alas...Nads has beaten me to the punch.

 

Government = Biggest GANG in town

 

LOL-Can't wait for ya to come back down for Roundup!

 

A friend of mine got a ticket in the 90's in downtown Walnut Creek for “exhibitions of speed”. All he did was drive forward when the light turned green in his Datsun 1600 roadster and his engine sounded loud, no tires squeal. The cop that poped him gave him a ticket for the noise but the ticket read “exhibitions of speed”. So should he have lost his noisy car for a month and received a $1000.00 fine?

Correct answer...NO!

 

I agree with Dakota, about being innocent until proven guilty (maybe video evidence for a sideshow type of thing?). But I think that the penalty should be heavier. I mean, you can have your vehicle impounded for 30 days for driving without insurance in california. I honestly think if you're fucking around on a public road, racing, side shows, donuts, drinking, etc. your car should be impounded 'til your hearing, and if found guilty you car should be seized and auctioned, with the proceeds going to a charity of your liking. this may sound a bit out there, but way too many people have forgotten that driving is a privledge, and not a right. And far to many people don't think about the consequences of twisted steel versus human flesh.

just my .o2

 

I agree as well.

 

Falls under 'reckless endangerment' I believe. All they need is the cop's word for that.

 

Looks like BS to me, but there needs to be due process like it has been said, because there's too much trust on the officers part that he/she won't abuse the law. I was accused of "reckless driving" cause my tires chirped from a stoplight once.. They chirped cause my trans was crappy and when it finally went into gear (auto) I had already given it some gas.. Is that really reckless? but with this law it's all up to the officer to decide.

Just recently I was pulled over for speeding, I got a ticket for 16 over.. There is no way possible my '04 Z-71 could ever had made it to 51 mph by the time I had stopped, much less the time he clocked me. I could even prove that the truck can not accelerate that fast, but court costs would have been more than defensive driving. funny thing is 16 is just enough for the next higher ticket fine. a month before that.. my dad got pulled over.. guess how fast he was going?... yup.. 16 over....

that law gives the cops too much power, some will have good judgment, and it won't be abused, but some won't.

 

I have always been scared of "seizure" type laws. That's why I am always ...Yes Sir, No Sir...........

 

they have that law...it's called reckless operation of a motor vehicle. They probably also have "unsafe operation" and of course there's "reckless endangerment."

This flies in the face of Innocent until Proven Guilty...not to mention Unreasonable Search and SEIZURE.

I don't know what impound lot fees are, but I would imagine most of us would have a very, very hard time coming up with 30 day's worth of it to get our car back. Can't pay the fee, you lose the car. That puts the state in the position of selling your vehicle for their profit.

I hate drunk and reckless drivers as much as the next guy...or maybe more, since I was hit by one while cross the street. But writing yet another law to cover what current statutes already cover, and giving the government the power to confiscate your possesions based on the word of one of their employees? Without any kind of trial or oversight? Thanks, no, I'll stick with the stodgy old ways of doing business. You know...the way Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Adams et al set it up.

-Brad

 

Trouble is, all it takes is one dishonest cop and you're fucked.

I wouldn't say all cops are dishonest, it's an exception to the rule, but in this general area we've had:

A police chief had stolen property turn up at his residence;

A sherriff arrested on abuse of power and theft, his undersherriff resigned, 4 other officers up on charges, a mysterious fire of unknown causes burned a building with department equipment and a personal vehicle in it which started the investigation.

A small town police department was working with another small town department that did not have enough officers and some of the officers were double-billing their time to both towns. Another officer who tried to blow the whistle was set up with drugs in his locker.

A county sherriff and his sister in the administrative department conspired to get him paid for numerous extra days off


That's all just the last 12 months or so.

It's not hard to see one bad cop pull you over and sieze your car so he can bid on it at the public auction. Due process? what's that?

On the bright side it's California. Learn some spanish and claim to be an illegal alien, you'll probably get off with a warning.


I had a ticket about 8 years ago in a small town where I was going like 35 in a 30... it's like 1:00 am, no one's around, and the car was a beater that someone had changed the rearend in and never corrected the speedo gears. My ticket was for like 46 MPH... yep, 16 over. I timed the car later. No way it was going that fast. I've never driven through that town since, either.

I always pay a lawyer and fight the ticket, normally it gets knocked down to a non-point offense and the savings in car insurance are worth it.

 

Right on! There is not a weekend that passes that you can't see new "donut” marks in the streets and intersections in my neighborhood. It is no fun to get awaken in the middle of the night by some teenager spinning donuts across the sidewalk in front of your house.

I like spirited driving just as much as the next guy, but the donut "craze" around here is WAY out of control.

Mike

 

Blame NASCAR!

 

The particular CA law that the Arkansas fellar mentioned was established as an effort to combat the ricer wars, which I wholeheartedly agree with. For the kids doing 75 in a 35 a block from my house who "accidentally" ran over--and subsequently dragged 50 yards--an elderly lady in a motorized wheelchair (as her 12yr-old grandson watched from across the street) while exhibiting their Acura's speed against a Civic's, confiscation of their vehicle is a moot point.

I realize the difference between chirping your tires due to a wornout clutch and street racing, and I also realize that both can fall under the aforementioned law. Nevertheless, knowing why, and more importantly, for whom the law was enacted, I'm not complaining.

 

I want to see the idiots off the road as much as the next guy..BUT..think about it. You are completely at the mercy of the cop. As in every profession there are good ones and bad ones. The next time you turn a corner and you locker rearend chirps the tires you could end up with your rod being impounded before you even get to tell the real story. Here in CA the tow yard gets the car for the tow and storage fees if you don't pay them. The cops charge a fee for a release to the yard, can't get it out without one. 30 days will cost about a grand depending where it's at. My son worked for a tow company in Antioch several years ago and saw it alot. THe owners and employees got some real good deals on cars. Pistol packin Don Perata does it again to us......He is a real ARROGANT ASS!

 

Well. If you are in the fast lane of the Eastbound 105 fwy, around Crenshaw there are several sets of donut marks. Spinning donuts on the freeway is SO stupid that even I can support what seems like a Draconian law like this. Like I said, spinning donuts in the FAST LANE of one of the fastest running freeways in So Cal? Since we are not allowed to shoot people for stupidity, this will have to do. Gives Hoodlums a bad name, doncha know?

 

No due process? Did Chairman Mao take over California?

 

Sir, is a term of respect earned,Officer is a term for respect demanded.Yes officer, no officer. I sure don't give them any more than I have to.

 

That's funny coming from a guy who almost killed an old man in the bowling alley parking lot in Paso!

 

Ummm.... so, can they impound your car if you have a video of it doing burnouts or donuts on the internet?

 

No complaints here. As for due process...in this minor shit, I'd rather not see my tax dollars wasted on every single "donut" case going to court.

I'm sure the confiscation can be appealed anyway.