Gwinnett County, GA cracks down on street racing, joins Atlanta, Sandy Springs and others nationally

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA–The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners has approved a new ordinance that will make it more difficult to drag race on Gwinnett County streets.

The ordinance, approved on Tuesday, Oct. 4, allows Gwinnett Police to impound vehicles involved in street racing for up to a month. State law does not address impounding – only fines. The county’s action is on the heels of local cities such as Atlanta and Sandy Springs passing similar ordinances.

In May, Gwinnett Police along with other local police departments made more than 80 arrests on Peachtree Corners Circle and Spalding Drive, leading to at least two dozen impounds.

To crack down on this nationwide problem locally, law enforcement officers use several resources to track down drag racing drivers — including the use of intersection cameras.

Street racing has surged across the nation, causing fatalities as participants took over streets and even highways, live-streaming and taping videos that have gone viral on the internet. Authorities say the events have drawn thousands of spectators who litter where they hold the illegal events.

New York City authorities received more than 1,000 drag racing complaints over six months in 2021— a nearly five-fold increase over the same period in 2019, according to news reports.