A. The Council for the City of Chula Vista finds and declares that pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 23109, motor vehicle speed contests and exhibitions of speed conducted on public streets and highways are illegal.

B. Motor vehicle speed contests and exhibitions of speed are more commonly known as street races or drag races. Streets within the City of Chula Vista have been the site of continuing and escalating illegal street racing over the past several years.

C. Such street racing threatens the health and safety of the public, interferes with pedestrian and vehicular traffic, creates a public nuisance, and interferes with the right of private business owners to enjoy the use of their property within the City of Chula Vista.

D. In the past five years, the City of Chula Vista has experienced 11 collisions with vehicles involved in street racing. Those collisions claimed the lives of 14 community members.

E. The illegal street races occur on a regular basis on various streets within the county of San Diego as well as in Chula Vista. Specifically, racers and spectators gather on these streets late at night and in the early morning hours, blocking the streets and sidewalks to traffic, forming a racetrack area, placing bets, and otherwise encouraging, aiding and abetting the racing process.

F. Illegal street racers accelerate to high speeds without regard to oncoming traffic, pedestrians, or vehicles parked or moving nearby. The racers drive quickly from street to street, race for several hours, and then move to other locations upon the arrival of the police.

G. Those who participate in this illegal activity are very sophisticated, using their cell phones, police scanners, and other electronic devices to communicate with each other to avoid arrest. They also use the Internet to provide information on where to race, and give advice on how to avoid detection and prosecution. Traffic accidents, property crimes, and calls for police service have increased dramatically. In some cases, illegal street races attract hundreds of spectators.

H. The mere presence of spectators at these events fuels the illegal street racing and creates an environment in which these illegal activities can flourish.

I. This chapter targets a very clear, limited population and gives proper notice to individuals as to what activities are lawful and what activities are unlawful. In discouraging spectators, the act of organizing and participating in illegal street races will be discouraged. (Ord. 2894 § 1, 2003).