Joining other counties around metro Atlanta, Gwinnett County Police Department is clamping down on illegal street racing, an activity that has recently increased countywide.
The department reported this week it conducted traffic stops for street racing on more than 300 drivers on Friday and Saturday alone.
The traffic stops resulted in 134 traffic tickets, seven felony warrants and three misdemeanor warrants. Officers are cracking down on drivers for a variety of reasons, including car equipment violations, unregistered vehicles and suspended licenses, said Gwinnett police Corp. Collin Flynn.
“You’re talking about groups of people who are extremely well organized from social media and other platforms that make plans to meet in certain areas,” Flynn said. “When they get there, they either cause damage to people’s property by laying drag or participating in these types of street races, which puts not only themselves but other people in harm’s way.”
While the county has considered street racing an issue for a while, it has observed an uptick of the activity in recent months, Flynn said. The department suspects the pandemic led to lower traffic on roadways normally crowded with cars, giving street racers a new place to perform the activity, he said.
The problem isn’t localized to one area, as officers are dispatched to a different part of the county each time they respond to a street racing incident, Flynn said. The people participating in the activity are both residents in Gwinnett and neighboring counties, he said.
In a news release, the department shared a video of its helicopter identifying a group of street racers doing donuts in a Norcross parking lot, with an officer subsequently intervening.
There has been a surge in street racing across metro Atlanta since the start of the pandemic, with city and county officials in DeKalb and Fulton passing laws to crack down on the groups.
Gwinnett County officials are aware of the department increasing its traffic stops, but any legislative action will likely fall on the state’s shoulders, Flynn said. “We are always working with our commissioners, and they’re no stranger to getting some of the complaints from the general public,” Flynn said.
With support from Gov. Brian Kemp, the Georgia House and Senate each passed bills just a few days ago that could roll out new penalties to curb the illegal activity if they win final approval.
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