Abbott signs legislation aimed at curbing street racing, street takeovers

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed two bills into law to pump the brakes on reckless driving, street racing and street takeovers.

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed two bills into law to pump the brakes on reckless driving, street racing and street takeovers.

The ceremonial signing comes just days after Saturday night saw the second series of street takeovers in Austin in six months.

"If you're doing donuts, we intend to arrest you and put you behind bars," said Abbott at the signing in Fort Worth Wednesday. "The crackdown on illegal street racing and illegal street takeovers is now law in the state of Texas."

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The laws prioritize public safety with immediate action taken against drivers not abiding by the new legislation.

"We have a collective goal to stop this activity and one way of stopping it is by instilling jail time consequences for anybody who violates these laws," said Abbott.

House Bill 1442 gives prosecutors more ways to pursue organized racing and takeovers across the state, while House Bill 2899 will allow law enforcement to impound vehicles racing on the highway or driving reckless.

HB 1442 is set to go into effect Sept. 1, but HB 2899 has been in effect since Abbott signed the law in June.

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"It kind of makes it so if they get caught in the action, it's a risk, it's more of a responsibility like being held. But if they don't get caught in the action then it's kind of the same as that as it is, So if they want to try to do it, and they get caught, then they're going to have to deal with the consequences like everything else," said Austin resident Mike Harris.

Harris has witnessed street takeovers and calls it a danger zone not only for drivers but pedestrians.

"I don't see an issue with passing a bill that's going to restrict people from doing stupid stuff in their cars because there are so many families and people walking, especially later at night, people being drunk. Drunk people aren't too smart, so someone doing a donut, hitting and killing a bunch of people, it's just, and it's a means to an end to stop people from doing stupid stuff," said Harris.

APD responds to street takeovers in Austin

Austin police and DPS responded to a series of street takeovers across Austin. One resulted in serious injuries.

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In February, the Governor announced a statewide task force to bring an end to the illegal activity, but street takeovers have continued.

"That's with everything in life, people were told not to eat fast food. Every day, people do it. People are told to work out and some people do it, so people don't say like certain drugs and other things like, they are going to do it no matter what," said Harris.