Texas Gov. Greg Abbott visited Fort Worth on Wednesday to sign two new laws prohibiting illegal street racing and street takeovers in the state.
Abbott and Tarrant County officials, such as Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and Police Chief Neil Noakes, discussed the two new bills at the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex in Fort Worth.
During a press conference, Abbott said illegal street racing is a “growing problem” throughout Texas.
“Street racing is a dangerous behavior,” Abbott said. “It puts surrounding drivers and pedestrians at substantial risk.”
The two bills come as the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Fort Worth Police Department have responded to an increasing number of calls regarding these street races in the past few years, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn said.
In early-July, five people were arrested following a street takeover incident in Fort Worth and a police chase involving stolen cars, authorities said.
A street takeover occurs when a large crowd of people, many car enthusiasts, block off an intersection, form a circle and watch cars do donuts or perform other tricks.
Instances of illegal street takeovers have happened in Grapevine and Euless.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parkerrelayed a 2020 street race crash that killed residents Ben and Meg Arbour, who had three children.
“These types of incidents are all too common,” Parker said.
The bills are evidence that Fort Worth and the state are 100% committed to public safety, the mayor said.
House Bill 1442 allows the prosecution of offenders of reckless driving exhibitions or highway racing and gives officers the right to seize potential contraband, like firearms or drugs, as a result.
House Bill 2899 allows officers to impound a vehicle used in illegal street racing or certain reckless driving exhibitions, like illegal street takeovers.
HB 2899 went into effect immediately. HB 1442 will go into effect beginning Sept. 1.
The sheriff made it clear that offenders will no longer get off scot-free.
“We want to make it perfectly clear that we’re coming after you,” Waybourn said. “The light will be on at the jailhouse regardless of jail overcrowding. We’ll always have room for them… We’re going to take your car, and we’re going to take your freedom.”
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw echoed Waybourn’s message.
“You do the donuts, you do the time,” McGraw said, adding that the statute of limitations for these Class A misdemeanors is three years.
For Abbott, the two bills will safeguard Texas and Tarrant County from dangerous and illegal street racing.
“As long as I am Governor, we will back the blue, protect our citizens and ensure that law enforcement has the tools they need to secure our streets,” Abbott said.
Abbott also teased his plans for another special legislative session, this time focused on education. He said he was “fully committed” to teacher pay raises and other issues in education.
Matthew Sgroi is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.