New Street-Race Penalties Urged

After spending a recent night busting street racers in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel on Tuesday proposed new penalties to deter racers and spectators.

“Illegal street racing terrorizes our neighborhoods and kills our children, and we must stop it,” she said at a City Hall news conference.

But some racers and business owners said higher fines, stiffer penalties and more speed bumps won’t stop an activity that has been popular for years on the Valley’s straight and wide streets.

“Street racing is like a drug, man,” said Eddie Perazzo, owner of Hi Speed Motor Sports in Sylmar. “You can’t raise the prices and just hope it will go away.”

Greuel proposed raising the fee paid to reclaim a vehicle impounded for racing from the current $123 to $300 for the first offense and double for each subsequent offense.

Watching an illegal race would become a misdemeanor, carrying up to a year in jail and a maximum $1,000 fine. Spectators now face no jail time and pay no more than a $250 fine.

Greuel’s motion, which council committees will consider after Labor Day, would also direct the city attorney and Los Angeles Police Department to propose a sort of three-strikes bill for street racing that could be promoted in the state Legislature. Vehicles involved three times in racing would be confiscated.

Greuel would also like the city to install speed bumps, rumble strips (dotted or grooved pavement) and other “traffic-calming” devices on Glenoaks Boulevard in Sun Valley, which runs through her council district. She joined police and other agencies there Friday night to witness the racing problem.

But business owners along the boulevard on Tuesday said that slowing midnight racers with speed bumps is not fair to law-abiding drivers who travel during the day.

Standing with Greuel at the news conference was Phil Tabbi, who fondly recalled racing Chevys as a teenager. Now a parent, he suggested that Los Angeles create a sanctioned drag strip.

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Times staff writer Michael Krikorian contributed to this report.