ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis City Alderman floated the idea on social media of giving groups of drivers a designated area to “cruise”. It’s an effort to cut down on reckless driving and rowdy crowds on the weekend, especially downtown.
"It would look like an environment where you have quite a few police officers, a designated area where young people can park their cars and just cruise on a certain strip, if you will,” 22nd Ward Alderman Jeffrey Boyd said.
Large unruly crowds were recorded downtown climbing on cars and driving recklessly early on Easter Sunday. Boyd floated the idea on Twitter but much of the feedback was negative.
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This isn’t a new concept, there’s been designated zones for “cruisers” in other parts of the city in years past. Boyd said trash was a major issue in previous instances. But the alderman said groups of drivers recently pose a larger threat to the city.
"People today want to do donuts in their cars and sometimes they shoot," Boyd said.
Boyd and neighbors said reckless driving needs to stop. Claude Smith lives downtown and has seen the chaos on several occasions.
"It's a very busy street for that to go on," Smith said. “It's really dangerous. They need to come up with something. Maybe let them go somewhere."
It’s hard for leaders or neighbors to come up with the perfect solution but both know it starts with respect.
"We can all get along if we respect each other,” Boyd said. “The problem with people doing the cruising is they don't have respect, it's all about them. As leaders, it's modifying someone else’s behavior. We can create all the laws we want but we can't control people’s behavior, they are going to do what they are going to do."
SLMPD said they are cracking down on unruly crowds and reckless driving during their Summer Cruising Detail.