Street takeovers and spontaneous nighttime events where muscle car drivers perform donuts in intersections for cheering crowds are becoming increasingly common, NPR reports. In Alabama, the police refer to it as "exhibition driving." Birmingham officer Mark Jones says it's hard to miss. "You can see the smoke from them burning their tires from several blocks away," he says. Police say the phenomenon grew during the pandemic, but it isn't new. Filmmaker Yakpasua Zazaboi encountered it 25 years ago as a young man in Oakland. Californians call the events "sideshows," and he says it helps to understand the original slang. "When you see young fellas pulling up in their cars and they're trying to look cool," he says, "the way that you kind of lean back and towards the side -- it was generally called 'sidin.' " People show off their souped up cars, along with elements of style and fashion. However, sideshows also disrupt traffic, disturb neighbors and endanger lives. Spectators make a game of crowding in as close as they can around the spinning cars, and the resulting collisions are prime viewing on social media.
The problem in Birmingham got so bad, that this spring Police Deputy Chief Michael Pickett launched a special operation dubbed "Knight Rider" after the 1980s-era crime series. Birmingham's version of Knight Rider involves data. The department mapped out where the street takeovers would likely occur and installed rubber speed bumps. Some jurisdictions are trying out harsher penalties. Alabama has increased penalties for the crime of "exhibition driving," allowing police to arrest drivers and impound cars. Pickett says they're also arresting more people for other offenses committed at the shows, including for gun and drug crimes. In May, the city passed an ordinance allowing police to arrest spectators. Since the operation began, police have impounded 26 vehicles and seized 20 guns. The police crackdowns don't impress Zazaboi. He's opposed to sideshows in neighborhoods, which he says are unfair to residents and unnecessarily dangerous. But he says it's practically impossible to stamp out an activity that has such a strong appeal to some younger people.