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 1 New Driving Laws May be Passed — Basic Story

A city council is considering a new law. The law will help make parking lots safer. It will allow police to ticket
drivers in mall parking lots. The target of the law would be drivers who perform car tricks or don't obey rules in
parking lots. Police believe that reckless driving in these areas is a big problem in their town. They hope the
council will pass the new law.
Some teens and young adults do not follow the rules in mall parking lots. They drive dangerously and perform
stunts. Drivers gather in the lots to put on trick shows called "sideshows." The drivers squeal their tires. They
spin donuts. They also do a dangerous stunt called "ghostriding." Drivers set their car in gear and let it roll
through the parking lot. They walk alongside it, or jump on the hood. These tricks are very dangerous to the
many people who watch the shows. In one city, a spectator was killed watching a show in a mall parking lot.
The shows also damage the mall property and impact sales. Sometimes as many as 50 cars join in the shows.
The tires leave marks on the asphalt. Also, they park in fire lanes, roll through stop signs and crosswalks and
play their radios too loudly.
Police feel that sideshows and reckless driving have become a big public safety problem. Unfortunately, police
could not do much about it to stop it. This is because drivers used private parking lots for their shows. Traffic
laws do not apply to private property. All police can do is tell the crowds and drivers to leave. It doesn't help,
because they just go to another parking lot and continue.
Police spoke to the city council about the problem and asked them for help. If the law is passed, police could
write tickets to drivers who break the law. Police could only enforce the law if property owners give them
written permission. Many shoppers are in favor of the new law. They don't like to shop at the mall now because
of all the chaos. They think this would help make it a safer place.

 2 New Driving Laws May be Passed — Full Story

If Sacramento's City Council agrees, police will be able to crack down on traffic scofflaws who use private
parking lots for dangerous stunt driving.
The council considers the law this afternoon, with the prime target being drivers involved in a phenomenon
called "sideshows." Those drivers, usually teenagers and young adults, gather in packs with their cars and
entertain each other by spinning donuts, squealing tires, and doing a stunt called "ghostriding," in which drivers
set their car in gear and let it roll unattended while they jump on the hood or walk alongside.
"Sideshows are performed while a crowd of spectators encircle the participants," said Sacramento Police
Captain Jeff Schiele in a report to the council. "Vehicle sideshow events have begun to emerge as a significant
public safety problem."
Because drivers tend to stage the sideshows on private parking lots like Arden Fair Mall after hours, police can't
enforce traffic laws. "As a result, spectators and participants are merely driven from one private parking lot or
road to another," said Schiele.
If approved by the city council, police would have the same authority they have now on public streets. The
management of Arden Fair Mall is pushing to have the ordinance passed.
About three months ago, about 50 cars showed up at the mall after hours and began a sideshow. "They were
spinning their tires, causing damage to the lot itself," said Steve Reed, head of mall security. He said that when
police come "they basically just run them off because they can't do any vehicle code enforcement."
Other problems in the mall parking lot include drivers rolling through stop signs and crosswalks, and parking in
fire lanes. Sometimes their stereos are cranked up, which often draws customer complaints.
"We're here at an odd hour on purpose to avoid that," said Silva Mier-Magallanez of Stockton as she and her
family walked into Arden Fair on a weekday afternoon. "When we come on the weekends, it's ridiculous. It's
chaotic."
"Right now, there's not much we can do under the law," said Reed. As a retired Sacramento Police officer, Reed
says it's been frustrating. As he spoke with News10, an SUV with the radio cranked up cruised by.
"Hey, turn it down," yelled Reed.
"Our shoppers don't like to hear that stuff," Reed said. "If this ordinance passes, the off-duty officers we use can
write a ticket for noise violations just like they can on the street. And that ticket is a couple hundred bucks."
After a spectator was killed during a sideshow in Oakland, that city passed a similar ordinance. The Sacramento
proposal is modeled after a similar law enacted in Modesto.
The proposal goes to the Sacramento council as an emergency ordinance, going into effect immediately if
passed by a two-thirds majority. Police could only enforce vehicle codes on those properties where owners have
given written permission. So far, Arden Fair's 77 acres is the only property affected but it's expected other
companies may follow suit.
"Wonderful," said Mier-Magallanez when she heard of the new proposed ordinance. "I think it will make a
world of difference."
Another shopper, Larry Hunter of Elk Grove, agreed. "Yeah because it's always so crowded now. Any type of
help, a little bit of regulation, will help out."

 3 asphalt

blacktop, the surface of roads or parking lots

 4 chaos

confusion and disorder

 5 considering

thinking about

 6 donut

A fast, tight circle turn made in a motor vehicle

 7 enforce

to make people obey a law, give a consequence

 8 impact

to have an effect on

 9 permission

to give consent for someone to do something

 10 reckless

dangerous, out of control

 11 spectator

someone who watches something

 12 stunts

acts of skill, tricks

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