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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | September 27, 2023 09:35 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Frank A. Farry and Sen. Wayne Langerholc, Jr., Sen. Devlin J. Robinson, Sen. Jimmy Dillon |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Crime Package- Putting the Brakes on Street Racing |
| Over the past few years, crime has sadly changed in dramatic ways across the Commonwealth. Growth in technology, social media, economic turmoil, and certain lax prosecutors have led to many Pennsylvanians becoming victims to dangerous and violent crimes. We need to ensure our criminal laws are modernized to ensure that criminals are being punished appropriately and law enforcement has the tools they need to keep their communities safe. This legislation below is another piece to deal with the evolution of crime in Pennsylvania. While street racing might be seen as fun in cool Hollywood action scenes, street racing that happens in our communities is incredibly dangerous. It puts the drivers, spectators, personal property, commerce, and innocent people’s lives on the line. Early in June, an illegal street racing event in Philadelphia led to an incident where a driver struck two state troopers with his vehicle and the driver was ultimately shot. Similar incidents have happened in Bucks and Allegheny Counties. These kinds of tragic incidents need to stop before more people or law enforcement officers are hurt or killed at these events. This incident has sparked the city of Philadelphia to look into their laws related to street racing. I am modeling my legislation after their proposal to deal with these dangerous events. Currently in Title 75, there is a crime for street racing, but I believe it is time we update that law to deal with these incidents. Our legislation would increase the fine from $250 up to $2,000 per violation. On the second violation, the driver’s vehicle will be taken away to stop them from using it in future street races. Many of these illegal races include many different drivers and are usually organized on social media as “meet up” events. Those who organized the event should face penalties for creating and fostering these dangerous events. This bill will also hold the organizers accountable. Please join us in co-sponsoring this legislation so that we can keep our streets safe. |
Introduced as SB998