Car Used in Sept. 19 Mission Sideshow Gets Towed

Sideshows have been a recurring headache in the Mission District, so it’s good to see SFPD stepping up enforcement. Police towed the car of a Pittsburg man they say took part in a sideshow in San Francisco last month.

The car was seen doing dangerous driving stunts on Sept. 19 in the Mission District. Police say photos show the driver hanging out of the sunroof holding a traffic cone while his car spun donuts in the street. A new California law that took effect last week imposes harsher punishment for sideshow participants, allowing courts to suspend a driver’s license for up to six months.

Bay Area police departments have been trying to intercept these events more aggressively across the board — issuing fines, towing cars, and occasionally making arrests. Fairfield now fines spectators $1,000 under a new city ordinance, and Vallejo passed a similar law to curb what its leaders call “street terrorism.” “They are spinning donuts, disrupting our citizens, throwing fireworks at our officers, throwing bottles — it’s been a problem,” Vallejo Police Captain Jason Potts told Fox KTVU.

Another bill signed by Gov. Newsom, AB 3, extends the same license-suspension penalty statewide for sideshow and illegal street racing convictions (San Francisco Chronicle).

Sideshows tend to happen late at night, when tire screeching is least welcome, and they leave behind the same telltale donut marks on the pavement every time. Between the new state law and the local crackdowns, the risk-to-reward math for participants just got noticeably worse.