Governor Greg Abbott signed two key laws to protect Texans from illegal street racing passed during the 88th Regular Legislative Session.
The legislation, House Bill 1442 and House Bill 2899, enhances penalties for perpetrators of illegal street racing and provides law enforcement and prosecutors additional tools to address these crimes.
“Illegal street racing has become a growing problem, and Texas law enforcement needs new tools to curb illegal street racers whose activities threaten the very safety of everyone around them,” said Governor Abbott. “Just less than a month ago, Fort Worth Police broke up a street takeover and arrested five people involved. Today, we’re here to ceremonially sign two key new laws that will empower police to curtail these illegal street racers. I thank Representative Johnson, Representative Plesa, Senator Bettencourt, and Senator Hall for bringing these two important pieces of legislation to my desk. Together, we are ensuring Texas remains a law and order state and that our law enforcement has the tools they need to secure our streets.”
In February, Governor Abbott announced the launch of a statewide street takeover task force to combat the rise in dangerous street takeovers happening across Texas. Since the task force’s inception, numerous takeover events have been thwarted or stopped in all seven of Texas Highway Patrol Division Regions. Working closely with local law enforcement, DPS has made over 50 arrests, conducted more than 590 traffic stops, and issued over 390 traffic citations associated with illegal street racing across the state.
House Bill 1442 provides law enforcement and prosecutors additional tools to go after organized street racing and street takeovers in Texas and elicit more substantial consequences for the perpetrators of these crimes.
House Bill 2899 allows immediate removal of vehicles used in street racing or a reckless driving exhibition from the road for the safety of other drivers. The bill removes the current requirement that a vehicle be impounded only if there was property damage or someone suffered bodily injury and instead allows impounding if the owner is charged with racing on a highway or reckless driving exhibition.