Oakland City Council
December 6, 2022

Background
There is no established best practice or evidence of effective engineering treatments to prevent this type of dangerous driving behavior, and any of the hundreds of intersections in Oakland are theoretically a potential location for sideshows, “donuts” or stunt driving. The City of Oakland has been working with agencies throughout the region to develop, test and implement strategies to mitigate this growing concern.

Because there are no established best-practice strategies to prevent sideshows, the City has embarked on an inter-departmental pilot led by the Oakland Police Department (OPD) and the City Administrator’s Ofce with support from the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) to see if we can implement engineering strategies to support enforcement efforts at some of the most impacted intersections in Oakland.

Transportation → Topics → Supporting City Sideshow Prevention Efforts with Pilot Engineering Treatments at Heavily Impacted Locations
Supporting City Sideshow Prevention
Efforts with Pilot Engineering Treatments
at Heavily Impacted Locations
Sideshows and related dangerous driving behaviors including “donuts” are a signicant safety and quality of life concern for Oakland residents – as well as the region, are impacting our streets, and are a vexing challenge for local governments.

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This work was discussed as part of the Mayor’s Town Hall in April 2021, which included a presentation on OakDOT’s sideshow pilot by OakDOT Assistant Director Fred Kelley.

Pilot Projects
Updated: March, 2022
The pilot focuses on installing engineering treatments to try to prevent sideshows/donuts/dangerous driving at locations identied as heavily impacted by OPD, depicted in the map below. The 10 locations identied by OPD and the current status for each are as follows:
. 35 Avenue/MacArthur: OakDOT’s installation of hardened centerlines and Botts’ dots was completed on July 9, 2021.
. Fairfax/Foothill: OakDOT's installation of hardened centerlines and Botts’ dots was completed August 18th, 2021.
. High/MacArthur: OakDOT's installation of hardened centerlines and Botts’ dots was completed October 15th, 2021.
. *42 Avenue/International Blvd: OakDOT is working on a revised proposal that includes hardened centerlines for Caltrans review that is consistent with their allowed materials (this is their right-of-way) . *42 Avenue under I-880 (known as “the Pit”): OakDOT will be addressing this location after 42nd Avenue/International Boulevard.

Proposed treatments will be sent to Caltrans for approval. . 106 Ave/MacArthur: installation planned for late Spring . 55 Ave/Foothill: installation planned for late Spring . 82 Ave/MacArthur: installation planned for late Spring . Seminary Ave/MacArthur: installation planned for late Spring. . *82 Ave/International: Intersection in Caltrans right-of-way with treatments subject to state approval
*Intersection in Caltrans right-of-way with treatments subject to state approval
In addition to the above ten intersections, the District 4 Council ofce specically identied two more locations for sideshow prevention th
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improvements as a part of trafc safety earmarks in Oakland’s 2021-2023 biennial budget. Those additional locations are MacArthur/Coolidge and MacArthur/Fruitvale and are also represented in the map, below. The status of those earmarks is detailed in this table on the above webpage, and analysis is underway re: what would be feasible.

Map of Pilot and Earmarked Sideshow Prevention Treatment Locations updated March 2022
Treatments
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Hardened centerline treatment with safe-hit posts
Hardened Centerlines are mini rubber speed bumps, plastic curb, and delineators placed on the top of street centerlines. This treatment works to reduce the area in the intersection for dangerous driving behaviors, and often has broader safety co-benets.

Hardened centerline treatment extending into the intersection They reduce vehicle speeds while turning, when crashes – including those involving pedestrians – are more likely to occur. This type of treatment must be installed in areas outside of travel paths
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Close-up view of a Bott's Dot
Bott’s Dots are circular ceramic tiles that are being installed to determine if uneven surfaces are a deterrent to dangerous driving behaviors Search
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View of Bott's Dots installed in an intersection
Next Steps
Identifying future locations for engineering improvements to deter sideshows will be informed by an assessment by OPD and OakDOT regarding whether the above improvements are effective at deterring sideshows at the pilot locations, and work to create a list of locations impacted by sideshows and dangerous driving behaviors as reported and responded to by OPD.

City staff continues to communicate with other local jurisdictions about this topic to stay on top of emerging practices. As of early 2022 staff are not aware of any transportation agency having found an engineering cure-all solution—one that is cost-effective, replicable to keep up with spread and relocation, and not met with unintended consequences for cyclists and normal trafc movements.

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The City is committed to contributing to the overall work to prevent sideshows in Oakland. From what we’ve seen in other jurisdictions, advanced enforcement tools and creative legislation lead the way with engineering complementing a multi-faceted approach. Engineering solutions need to be effective, cost-effective and replicable – and prioritized at most impacted locations and relative to other critical safety needs facing Oaklanders. At this time, engineering solutions attempt to balance preventing donuts and preserving functionality of our streets for all road users.

More Information on Oakland Sideshow Prevention Efforts Oakland Police Department Sideshow Detail
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