What constitutes a "speed contest?"

[904nm]

Out of the blue I like to occasionally leave from a stop light fast. I won't even go over the speed limit but may floor it up to the PSL. I don't think there is anything illegal in doing that. Then I wondered, what if a car in one of the lanes next to me also did the same thing when the light turned green, and a LEO saw that? How would he determine if we were engaded in a speed contest? Curious to hear from people with law enforcement background.

I'm looking at buying a car that is faster than my company car which I think would look a bit faster pulling away from a light when flooring it (0-60 4.7). That kind of got me wondering because a few times I've had someone next to me also accelerate fast off the line, at the same time I did, out of the blue when neither one of us had any intention of "racing" each other.

I heard you don't need to be going over the PSL to be written up for engaging in a speed contest which is rumored to be an expensive ticket.

[supercowpowers]

The law is very, very vague...

V.C. Section 23109 - Speed Contests

23109. (a) A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway. As used in this section, a motor vehicle speed contest includes a motor vehicle race against another vehicle, a clock, or other timing device. For purposes of this section, an event in which the time to cover a prescribed route of more than 20 miles is measured, but where the vehicle does not exceed the speed limits, is not a speed contest.

It is quite expensive... and might be a pain the ass, too (literally)

(e) (1) A person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 24 hours nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than three hundred fifty-five dollars ($355) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. That person shall also be required to perform 40 hours of community service. The court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months, as provided in paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. The person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that person’s place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the person’s employment, restricted to driving in that person’s scope of employment. This subdivision does not interfere with the court’s power to grant probation in a suitable case.

Apparently they can impound your car, too.

V.C. Section 23109.2 - Vehicle Impoundment: Speed Contests and Reckless Driving

23109.2. (a) (1) Whenever a peace officer determines that a person was engaged in any of the activities set forth in paragraph (2), the peace officer may immediately arrest and take into custody that person and may cause the removal and seizure of the motor vehicle used in that offense in accordance with Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 22650). A motor vehicle so seized may be impounded for not more than 30 days. (2) (A) A motor vehicle speed contest, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 23109.

I don't know what all this means practically but it sounds like nothing to f*ck with. As far as I can see you're correct in that there is no requirement that your vehicle exceed the speed limit to be "racing"; in fact there's no definition of what "racing" against another vehicle exactly is.

[Stealth Stalker]

Curious to hear from people with law enforcement background.

It doesn't appear to be against state law in California to simply peel out. It was a state law in Texas when I was an officer, called "Exhibition of Acceleration," but it was struck down probably five years ago. We called it "squeal and peel", and it didn't require you to exceed the speed limit. While it is no longer a state law, many municipalities still maintain a similar ordinance. I suspect this is probably the case in California too.

If an officer wanted to cite you for "Contest of Speed", he could certainly do so. It's a judgement call on his part, and it will be up to you to convince the judge that it wasn't a contest. The statute only seems to exempt you if you cover at least 20 miles and do not exceed the speed limit, so you probably won't make that one work for you.

[904nm]

I guess to be safe maybe just let off the gas if someone next to you also takes off in a rush...

Here in CA you definitely will get written up for exhibition of speed if you smoke or squeal your tires off the line. When I was in high school I got a flat rear tire on a 5 liter Mustang. I put on the space saver tire. You can probably guess where this is going already... With about 1/4 throttle the space saver lit up. I thought it was amusing and didn't let off the gas for about 200'. When I let off the gas a cruiser came around the corner and flipped on his lights. I got written up for exhibition of speed and speeding at 35 in a 25 despite probably only doing 20 max at the time. I think the charges were a misdemeanor and I plea bargained it down to only the speeding, which was a false charge to begin with. But it was a lot better than fighting the speeding and risk getting hit with the exhibition of speed. Those little space savers sure can make a lot of noise and smoke!

I think the part they use to be able to write you up for peeling out or anything else that looks "racy" is this part of the speed contest code: "(c) A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway, and a person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on any highway."

[JDS]

That's a good question...I do the same thing. ALL the time. I guess I never really thought about it before because I generally just go full-throttle right up to the PSL and then coast, unless of course it's a place where I feel comfortable blatantly speeding anyway. I never really thought about getting ticketed for it before...it's pretty scary to think it could be ticketable. I mean how can they enforce a law that's so vague? Are they going to put a limit on how fast you can accelerate in m/s^2? Anything greater than 0.25 Gs acceleration is illegal? Or are they just going to put something on the books that says "Catching the attention of a Law Enforcement Officer is an offense punishable by a fine of..."

[FoolishOne]

...I generally just go full-throttle right up to the PSL and then coast...

Who are you trying to kid? You expect us to believe that?

[JDS]

There was an "unless" in there!

[TSi+WRX]

Like the others here have said, this is indeed very vague.

Be smart, just don't do it when the situation is risky. If you can't see all sides of the intersection, just don't do it.

Even from a safety/self-preservation standpoint, this is a good idea. Taking off that fast usually means that you're going to be shaving the green awfully close. If someone runs a red or if an emergency vehicle comes blitzing through (which should never happen), that's gonna be quite awful.

Over the last few years, I've gotten more and more selective about how I play as well as who I play with. I pretty much only do consensual and friendly runs now. The possibility of something bad happening when people (particularly someone who you don't know anything about, of their skill level) are driving in an adversarial manner is just too great to ignore, and I'm too old to be that stupid.

[JDS]

If someone runs a red or if an emergency vehicle comes blitzing through (which should never happen), that's gonna be quite awful.

EXACTLY that happened to me last week. I had a green light to cross an intersection from west to east. A house, hedges, and trees completely obstruct the view of the south side of the intersection until you're very nearly in the intersection. Right as I clear the hedge, I see a Miami Beach Fire Rescue true rocketing into the intersection to cross the red, without even slowing down.

Unfortunately I was driving the Land Crusher instead of the VW, so when I nailed the brakes, it slid just far enough into the intersection for their truck to swipe across the nose of my truck...which of course worked out a hell of a lot better for them than for me.

It's a damn good thing that when I saw them, I instantly braked at 10/10ths in a straight line, because a LOT of people will never brake to 10/10ths even in an emergency situation and some will try to swerve away, which of course would roll a truck like that.

[supercowpowers]

It's a damn good thing that when I saw them, I instantly braked at 10/10ths in a straight line, because a LOT of people will never brake to 10/10ths even in an emergency situation and some will try to swerve away, which of course would roll a truck like that.

I learned about ABS in high school, but there seems to be a large number of people who have never taken the initiative to educate themselves about it even though their cars have had it for years. My girlfriends dad tried to tell her to "pump the brakes" in the snow in her '08 Cobalt.