San Francisco installs speed bumps at Sunset District intersection to curb sideshows
SAN FRANCISCO — In a quiet Sunset District neighborhood, the screech of tires and roar of engines has disrupted far more than a peaceful night's sleep. Now, residents are hoping that four new speed bumps at 42nd Avenue and Lawton Street will bring back the calm.
Pastor Abraham Lee, who lives and works nearby, said he was startled awake by a midnight sideshow in May.
"So, the first one woke us up, so it's kind of out of the dead of sleep," Lee said.
That night, dozens gathered for a sideshow, leaving behind skid marks across the intersection. Lee said he's witnessed multiple sideshows at the corner in recent months and saw that many participants went to great lengths to keep their car's identity hidden from license plate readers and officers.
"These folks, they obviously knew what they were doing, they had all their license plates covered up with duct tape and other things, so that even if a photo were taken of their cars, they wouldn't be able to easily identify them," he said.
One video from May captured tire-spinning stunts and crowds of onlookers. Lee said what troubled him most was how young many of the participants appeared. That concern prompted him to reach out to District Supervisor Joel Engardio.
This week, the city responded. Four rubberized speed bumps now mark the intersection, designed to interfere with stunt driving.
"So, these barriers allow for normal traffic flow. It's not going to affect the cars going through the intersection in a normal way," said Engardio. "But if you're going to do donuts, your tires are going to hit that barrier, and it's going to do some damage to your car."
The Sunset is one of six San Francisco districts where the city has installed infrastructure aimed at curbing sideshow activity. In addition to speed bumps, the SFMTA is implementing centerline hardening, flexible posts, and raised bumps to slow or obstruct illegal stunt driving.
Leah, who owns an interior design store just feet from the intersection, knows the damage firsthand. Her building was tagged with graffiti during one sideshow, and during another incident nearby, her vehicle was hit.
"That happened at our house. It smashed into our car, into our garage. So yeah, I mean, it definitely is a possibility that I know of firsthand," she said.
Sideshows reached a peak in San Francisco in 2021, with more than 70 reported incidents. By 2024, that number dropped to at least 15, following new city laws that increased penalties for both drivers and spectators.
Video from the May sideshow shows SFPD units slowly moving in to disperse the crowd and avoid chases or injury.
"So, because the crowd of people was so large, it took a good 10 minutes for them to be able to clear out of that area," he recalled, noting the difficulty of safely breaking up the large crowds.
While Lee is hopeful the speed bumps will have an impact, he said it's the threat to human life, especially the young people watching or participating, that worries him most.
"There's at least 200 kids standing around. If a car loses it, it's going to run through at least 50 of those kids before it gets to our house. That's a lot of bodies that has to get through before it can actually touch us. And I'm more worried about the people that are going to get hurt in the process," Lee said. "It might do something, and I hope it does."