Wednesday, March 3, 2004 | 9:17 a.m.
Hoping to prevent illegal street racing, the Clark County Commission voted Tuesday to outlaw spectators at the races.
Before the 7-0 vote, Metro Police told commissioners that having the throngs of onlookers, many of them teenagers, is what makes the races events. The ordinance, which covers only unincorporated Clark County, makes it a misdemeanor to watch a street race from within 500 feet of the race.
Metro Sgt. Robert Roshak told the commission that while a typical illegal drag race attracts up to 1,200 vehicles, only 10 to 15 percent of those are actually racing cars. The rest carry spectators, many of whom are underage drivers who vandalize property, cars and street signs, police say.
Roshak said drinking, fighting and gang involvement have increased over the past year, and stolen vehicles are showing up abandoned after the races.
Sgt. Keith Bowers told the commission that most races occur late on Friday and Saturday nights in the south or southwest parts of the urban area.
Police try to arrest those racing, but hundreds of cars scatter when police show up, making it difficult for police to catch the handful involved in the race, he said.
"Our current enforcement efforts have been directed at the racers themselves," Bowers said. "It's hard to actually catch the drivers.
"Our department has literally spent thousands of man-hours over the last few years dealing with this problem, and it is still growing."
The new law is based on successful laws passed in Los Angeles and San Diego, where the similar ordinances have made a difference, Bowers said.
"They never see groups of 20 or more cars since their ordinance was passed," he said.
Also supporting the law was Sean Higgins, attorney for Terrible Herbst, which has several gas stations in areas where the races take place. Higgins said when the races are going on, customers cannot get to the Terrible Herbst properties, property is vandalized and other problems occur.
"Literally, our businesses close down during these events," he said. "These people have no regard for personal property."
Not everyone supports the new law, however. Allen Lichtenstein, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said the law is too broad and vague because it could ensnare anyone near an illegal race.
"Very clearly there is a serious problem that needs to be addressed," he said, but added that the new law would not pass constitutional muster. He said similar laws have been ruled unconstitutional in Ohio and Alabama.
"Simply being a spectator on the street is not illegal," Lichtenstein said. "Someone can't simply be arrested out on the street without doing something more."
He said that a person in the vicinity of a race could innocently turn his head and see the cars racing, and could face charges because of that.
Commissioners, three of them attorneys, rejected Lichtenstein's arguments.
"You're not out there to see a parade," said Commissioner Mark James, whose district includes some of the areas frequented by the illegal street racers. "You're out there to see something illegal."
Commissioner Myrna Williams said the illegal racing is "a clear and present danger to people around."
"I happen to be a race car fan," she said. "I can't wait until Sunday (when Las Vegas hosts a NASCAR race). But not this kind of racing."
Clark County staff told the commission that the similar laws in California have successfully passed several court tests.
James asked Lichtenstein to work with the Clark County district attorney's office to craft a possible amendment that would better satisfy the ACLU's legal concerns. Lichtenstein accepted the invitation, but said a lawsuit could throw out the entire law.
However, the police said the laws would eliminate a potentially dangerous practice that attracts criminal behavior. They compared the county ordinance to laws that prohibit watching dogfights or cockfights.
"If you don't have spectators, you don't have a sport," Bowers said.
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