Fife passes law targeting that which street racers hold dear: their cars
The Fife City Council unanimously passed legislation to impound cars participating in illegal street-racing events.
The ordinance gives the police department the power to impound a vehicle after the driver has already been convicted of watching or participating in street racing.
The law became effective immediately.
Fife and other Pierce County cities have struggled to combat a recent uptick in street racing. Fife Police Chief Pete Fisher said up to 300 cars at a time will come into the city’s industrial district.
“I really hope we don’t have to implement this, and that the law itself is enough of a deterrent,” Fisher told The News Tribune.
The city of 10,000 is the first in Pierce County to pass such a strict measure against street racing.
Fife passed a law in February 2020 making it illegal to watch or participate in illegal street racing in “no racing zones,” which include Industry Drive East, Frank Albert Road East and 8th Street East from 54th Avenue East to 62nd Avenue East.
The empty, large warehouse and industrial parking lots are enticing to street racers who rapidly accelerate, swerve, weave or drift, Fisher said.
Puyallup, Sumner, Kent, Renton and Auburn have passed similar laws, known as “SOAR,” or “Stay Out of Areas of Racing.” If convicted, a racer can be banned from those areas for a time by a judge.
Since enacting the street-racing law, Fife police have made 43 arrests, 11 of which are still active bans from Fife’s SOAR zones,Fisher said. The courts decide the length of SOAR violations.
Under the impound law, after an initial arrest and conviction, if the offender is found in Fife violating the SOAR infraction, their car can be impounded by police.
The impounds start at 15 days for the first violation and up to 30 days for each subsequent SOAR violation.
“Their cars are a big portion of their identity. They put in a lot of work into their car. Losing a car for 15 to 30 days would hurt, and costs associated with that are extremely expensive,” Fisher said.
Pierce County police departments believe the uptick in calls for “burn outs,” “doughnuts” and “reckless driving” are due to stricter laws in South King County cities pushing the events into Pierce County.
Fisher said the city has received enormous support from residents to crack down on street racing.
“They are glad the council is addressing this issue, and we’ve had nothing but support,” he said.
Street racing events have caused injury and fatalities in the Puget Sound. Two women were killed after being struck at a November car meetup in Auburn.
A Tacoma incident on Jan. 23 highlighted the increase in illegal street racing in Pierce County.
Police responded to a street-racing call where about 100 people gathered on South 9th Street and Pacific Avenue while cars did doughnuts.
One responding Tacoma officer, Khanh Phan, revved the engine of his patrol SUV and drove forward, running over at least one person and injuring six.
“This is geared toward stopping illegal street racing and keeping those who engage in this activity safe,” Fisher said. “We want to keep people from getting people killed or seriously injured and prevent property damage and hope to prevent these events from happening in Fife.”
