LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Spurred by the pandemic, Louisville has become a hot spot for street racing events over the last few years.
"During COVID it was probably a little worse. The busier it is downtown, the less likely it is to happen. But, I mean, it's a few times per year," Kerry Stemler said, who lives on the 18th floor of Waterfront Park Place condos. This means he has a front row seat to watch street takeovers and "sideshows" some nights.
"We've noticed that in the past, it'll start small, but it's like someone sent a message out," Stemler said, describing a large event that took place on Sept. 16.
According to two different arrest citations, a caravan of 300 cars met at a parking lot in the Newburg neighborhood, where drivers did burnouts, donuts and may have done some short-distance racing. Police broke that up around 10:20 p.m., but then about 100 cars drove to the lot right under Stemler's balcony and did more of the same.
"It wasn't anything new," Stemler said. Stemler said this has been an annual event on Mexican Independence Day for the last three years or so.
This event was particularly bothersome to Stemler, as he is a Waterfront Park Development Corporation board member. That same night, the park held it's Water Lantern Festival, and many people were parked in the lot that got taken over by street racers.
"I care deeply about that park and want people to use it. It's everyone's park; it’s everyone in this community’s park. But if they don't feel safe coming down here, then they're not going to use it," he said.
Two of the cars used in sideshows that night are now in the LMPD impound lot.
Instances like backing up traffic on the Watterson Expressway in July 2022 led Metro Council to pass the Street Racing Ordinance last October. Under the ordinance, drivers AND people blocking intersections on purpose can be fined $1,000 on first offense, and $2,000 for all subsequent offenses. They can also have their car impounded for up to six months.
After the ordinance, 55 cars have been towed, and 37 people have been arrested. Metro Government could not say how many total dollars have been handed out in fines.
During an interview Monday, one officer on Louisville Metro Police's traffic unit said this ordinance has reversed a trend of people coming to Louisville to do illegal street racing and thinking there are no rules.
"Prevention is very difficult to put a number on prevention," Sgt. Ronald Fey said. "One thing we can -- that we can definitely show -- is the direction it was going prior to this ordinance coming out. And then once this tool is made available, it has cut that number significantly down."
Fey also said four people died in street racing events in the last year.
People cannot be sent to jail for violating a city ordinance, they can only be fined or be notified their car is being towed. People who participate in street racing can be arrested for common driving infractions like reckless driving, driving under the influence, driving without a license etc. The city provided no further clarification on these 37 arrests other than that they were for things "LMPD now classifies as street racing."
An employee in the open records office also said LMPD didn't track arrests related to street racing prior to the ordinance being passed.
While don't know for sure if Louisville is seeing less street racing events, we do know arrests are going up and police are paying more attention. Stemler feels confident we are on the right path.
"I’m going to say yes. I think that tool, the police needed that tool. And I think it’s the most effective tool they could possibly have," Stemler said.
He hopes all Louisville residents realize we need to crack down on street racing if we want downtown to be welcoming to tourists and locals.
"I'm really focused on downtown and how we've changed that perception and make it feel like people want to come here, and be here --our tourism is really growing. And so we have to we have to control this," Stemler said.
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