CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — After a delay and some tweaking, downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly's (42nd) auto impoundment ordinance unanimously cleared the Chicago City Council’s Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee heads to the full Council on Wednesday.
The new ordinance will allow Chicago police to seize cars believed to have been involved in dangerous drag racing and stunts.
Under the proposal, police will be able to impound the car even if the driver isn't around.
Reilly, who sponsored the ordinance, said drag racing and vehicular stunts such as drifting are happening in various parts of the city and are a public safety threat. The perpetrators, he said, often capture the events on social media.
“If you look at these videos of the drifting incidents where cars are spinning in circles, they’re almost always surrounded by a couple hundred people in the crowd,” Reilly said. “And then, sometimes, even people inside of the circle [are] lighting fires and shooting off fireworks. It is an absolute recipe for disaster.”
Police often cannot catch the rogue drivers at the scene. The proposed ordinance will allow police to impound the cars they can identify through online videos.
The ordinance passed out of the traffic committee and will go on to the full council meeting on Wednesday.
In one incident last weekend, fireworks were shot or thrown at Chicago police officers trying to break up a crowd.
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