Birmingham’s mayor told the City Council on Tuesday that he and other leaders hope to persuade state lawmakers to give police more options to combat the rise in exhibition driving.

Mayor Randall Woodfin said the trend — in which groups shut down traffic to perform donuts, burnouts and other reckless acts in their vehicles — is rising in Birmingham and throughout the country.

“I think we need to send a very clear message that this behavior is illegal; it is dangerous.” Woodfin told councilors, who all agreed that the criminal fad is a significant problem in the city.

Last year, the Legislature passed a law that creates stiffer penalties for those found guilty of exhibition driving. They include:

• Between five and 90 days of imprisonment for first time offenders. A second conviction would mean between 10 days and six months incarceration.
• A Class A misdemeanor, punishable by as much as one year in prison, if an injury or property damage is involved in the incident. If a serious injury is involved, it will be considered a Class C felony, punishable by as much as 10 years in prison. If an incident results in a death, it will be considered a Class B felony, punishable by as much as 20 years in prison.
• Prohibition against driving on state highways from six months to two years, depending on the severity of the offense.

The law also allows authorities to tow and impound a vehicle — or even seize it — if the offender has three or more violations.

The legislation passed in light of several incidents in which people were injured or killed during these gatherings. In December 2022, for example, nearly 20 people were injured after a crash at the intersection of John Rogers Drive and Brownlee Hills Road, according to Birmingham police.

Woodfin told the council on Tuesday that, despite the increased penalties, law enforcement has run into a problem in combating the issue: “For any moving violation, if the officer doesn’t see it, he can’t ticket or tow (the offender). That’s based off state law.”

The mayor said that if state law allowed law enforcement to use camera footage to go after violators, “that changes the game.”

Woodfin said he believes city leaders can work with state lawmakers to get such a law passed by the end of the current legislative session. The Legislature has up to six meeting days left and must adjourn by May 20.

Regardless of whether the proposed change is made, Woodfin said Birmingham police, along with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, have ramped up enforcement on exhibition driving since the area experienced a recent uptick in the offenses. He said police over the weekend of April 12 made five arrests — two for exhibition driving charges and three for felony eluding charges related to exhibition driving. Those arrests included the seizure of multiple firearms as well as a so-called Glock switch, a device that turns a pistol into an automatic weapon.

Woodfin said fewer arrests were made over the weekend of April 19 because police put extra patrols in areas commonly used for exhibition driving.

“What you saw this past weekend was more visibility and suppression,” he told the council.

Property Sale, Other Actions

In other business, the council:

• Approved the sale of city-owned property at 450 Republic Street in the Daniel Payne Industrial Park to Scannell Properties for $1,045,000. According to city staff, the property will be used for development of a 50,000-square-foot office and warehouse facility.
• An agreement for the city to give Be Kind Birmingham Inc. $4,500 to provide basic necessities, including food items, at its pop-up mobile stores free of charge to residents with low incomes.
• Approved giving Birmingham AIDS Outreach $19,999 to provide direct services and supportive programs for the LGBTQ community with a primary focus on youth ages 13 to 20 in the city.

Approved giving The Lovelady Center $5,000 to provide skills training, meals, counseling and temporary housing for local women in need.