A proposed state bill increases the penalties for illegal street racing, including potential jail time and up to $3,000 in fines.

Street racing is engrained in the culture of hot rodding, for better or worse. There have been movies glorifying it, television series turning it into an organized game show, and a seemingly endless array of late-night illicit action happening in towns and cities across the country. The largest motorsport organization in the world, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), was formed in the ‘50s to deter this type of behavior. It’s illegal, it’s dangerous, and yet for many the lure of the excitement and action is far too great to ignore. Tennessee is looking to end a growing problem on their streets with House Bill 2814, which would greatly stiffen the penalties for illegal street racing.

State Representative John Gillespie (R-Memphis) sponsored the bill in the state’s House. If passed, it turns street racing from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony, carrying fines up to $3,000 and potentially a prison sentence up to six years. Gillespie cites over 300 arrests for reckless driving and street racing during a six-month period in 2022. Is it a coincidence that Memphis International Raceway closed in 2022, around the same time as the increase in illegal activity?

This isn’t the first bill of its kind to create stiffer penalties, Operation Hermes was an anti-street racing operation carried out by the New York Police Department and the Queens District Attorney’s office in 1994. The task force operated under newly passed laws that aimed at improving the quality of life in New York City, hence marking stiff penalties for street racing. The weekslong operation came into national spotlight when two of the confiscated Mustangs were turned into NYPD cruisers, proudly marked as a trophy-of-sorts from Operation Hermes, and a warning to the community to slowdown and stop illegally racing.

Street racing—not drag racing—isn’t the only automotive mayhem that has been smearing the reputation of the hobby and sport. There is a fast-growing act dubbed street takeovers, or sideshows, sweeping across cities from New York to Los Angeles. It is best described as a group of people blocking an intersection and they do perform burnouts, doughnuts, and other motorized mayhem. It is different than street racing, but certainly no less dangerous.