Gridlock Guy: Brookhaven street racing another ugly COVID throwback
A phenomenon that seemed like a flashback from the sick haze of 2020 has been rearing its ugly head of late.
The Brookhaven Police Department recently arrested 11 people and impounded seven vehicles after a series of Sunday evening street takeovers in August. The events on Aug. 17, 24 and 31 saw dozens of people circle off and block parts of either Ashford Dunwoody Road or Peachtree Road. Video shows drivers cutting doughnuts and doing burnouts, while others watched, egged them on, filmed the shenanigans or shot off fireworks.
Of course, the lawless, selfish, reckless display blocked off the intersections and inhibited travel trapping other travelers trying to get to their destinations on these Sunday nights.
In their Instagram post, the city’s police department warned anyone involved that they would find them. This included spectators.
Naturally, some commenters on the viral post had a smug laugh at such a request. While most who chimed in criticized the behavior on Brookhaven streets, others in the comments section mocked the police for offering what amounted to a smaller punishment for saving them the effort of having to hunt down the lawbreakers. Some wondered, rightfully, about the line between simply getting stuck there and watching the spectacle, versus actually being involved.
This comment gallery showed mild symptoms of the awful fever dream of angst and anarchy from five years ago.
The COVID-19 shutdown in the spring of 2020 not only abruptly brought most of the world to a halt, but it isolated people, galvanized boredom and nearly emptied the roads.
With the streets void of many motorists, some people began to treat them as their personal drag strips and drifting tracks. Street racing and street takeovers became commonplace nationwide and in Atlanta, particularly.
I wrote about this in 2020 after a commandeering of Spaghetti Junction at the height of the shutdown. This could have delayed the delivery of vital supplies (remember when grocery stores were running out of toilet paper and wipes?) and the arrival time of first responders.
Brookhaven has joined other metro Atlanta cities in levying extra penalties for racing and blockades in the last five years. The Georgia Legislature has also passed laws several times in this stretch that have allow for the confiscation of vehicles and the sanctioning of spectators, too.
The City of Atlanta arrested nearly 40 people last fall in a crackdown of such shenanigans.
There are no sanctuary cities for street racers. And the reasons go far beyond simply blocking traffic.
A family mourned the loss of 32-year-old Shantea Reeves, whom alleged street racers hit, killed and then fled. She was stranded on I-20 EB near Moreland Avenue on Aug. 4, 2024 and got hit multiple times.
The most dangerous action in this genre of road terror is drag racing, an act glorified in the popular “The Fast and the Furious” franchise. Multiple souped-up cars race each other at dramatic speeds and in the midst of nonparticipants, who unwillingly act as moving chicanes for these selfish daredevils. Any small mistake, such as what occurred on I-20, can cause devastation.
But the other takeovers pose their own dangers. When myopic thrillseekers decide to illegally close an intersection, they normally do this to allow for a crowd of people to circle one or more vehicles doing doughnuts and burnouts. Drivers mash the gas and brakes in overlapping intervals to create squeals and smoke, drifting right next to the unguarded crowd. One small misstep or loss of control could cause considerable injuries.
These crowds have often included people shooting fireworks — and we all have heard what happens when personal fireworks shows go wrong.
Drivers happening upon an unexpected and unwanted closure can also get aggressive and bringing that ire to an already unruly crowd creates a tinderbox.
There are legal, safer ways to burn rubber and spike that adrenaline. Caffeine and Octane, a highly popular auto showcase, owns Lanier Raceway and they often hold Friday night drifting events for as low as $12. The Sports Car Club of America and variations thereof hold races and sessions at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Sure, these cost money and are an hour away from the city. But they are in legal, safer and more controlled environments. Getting traffic tickets, confiscations and jail time are far more costly. Avoiding injuries and deaths is priceless.
Everyone — from selfish street racers, to impatient commuters — should remember that the roads are ours, not just yours. Chaos unfolds when we forget that.
Doug Turnbull covers the traffic/transportation beat for WXIA-TV (11Alive). His reports appear on the 11Alive Morning News from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and on 11Alive.com. Email Doug at dturnbull@11alive.com.
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