In the last year, many local residents have noticed a significant increase in erratic behaviors while commuting through the city. Reckless drivers are engaging in a dangerous new activity known as exhibition driving, which has caused a great deal of concern for local officials. While normally a simple nuisance, these activities can also end in tragedy and have resulted in many lethal accidents in the past year as the drivers lost control of their vehicles.
What exactly is exhibition driving?
Exhibition driving is a broad category of activities that you can involve performing dangerous stunts for other people. Such examples can include revving their engines, skidding around corners, and spinning their tires in place to create a smoke-filled burnout. Other, more dangerous instances can also include street racing on public roads, oftentimes in normal traffic or around spectators.
Despite the seemingly innocuous nature of some of these activities, the rise if their popularity has coincided with serious accidents involving injuries and in several instances death. That is why cities throughout Alabama are not taking steps to discourage drivers from participating in these dangerous behaviors.
Public officials are taking steps to encourage safety
Birmingham officials are now seeking to address this issue through new legislation that was passed in April to combat this behavior. Senate Bill 58 targets the erratic behaviors most commonly associated with exhibition driving and makes them a misdemeanor for first-time offenders, and a felony for violations that result in injury to any persons.
The hope is that this new legislation will discourage drivers from engaging in exhibition driving and reduce the number of accidents that are caused by this phenomenon. Fewer accidents mean safer roads for all drivers. Hopefully, this legislation will accomplish what the city is seeking, and drivers will not have to deal with this public nuisance any longer.
