San Franciscans angered over illegal dirt bikes on city streets: 'They've gotten bolder!'
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco residents are saying enough is enough. Many are outraged over the lack of enforcement of illegal dirt bikes on city streets.
Even a city supervisor believes riders have gotten more dangerous and disruptive.
In video taken by a San Francisco resident last Thursday, more than a dozen dirt bikes can be seen along Lombard Street in San Francisco, weaving their way around a car. Many living here are now concerned about the acts being committed within these groups.
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"They've gotten bolder. One of these guys even did a (gun gesture) at me," said Clark Cogan, who has lived in the city for 13 years.
"It just seemed kind of reckless," said 34-year San Francisco resident Steve Cheong.
"I just think it's irresponsible," said legal motorcycle rider Christian Low, who does not ride with the dirt bike groups.
Numerous San Franciscans reached out to us over the last few weeks about these dirt bikes, which are not street legal unless they've been modified. They're often seen riding on sidewalks, stopping traffic, and running red lights.
District 3 San Francisco Supervisor Danny Sauter says this is his office's number one priority.
"This is a dangerous activity. It has no place in San Francisco, no place in our dense neighborhoods. At every single community meeting I'm at, when we talk about public safety, this is the number one thing that has been coming up," said Sauter.
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But riders argue that this is Bay Area culture. We talked with one man who rode with a group last Sunday in the city.
"I see this as a form of nonviolent protest," said a man from the company BussinMoto.com in Redwood City.
"If it represents a form of nonviolent protest... what is that protest over?" asked ABC7 News reporter J.R. Stone.
"Freedom...I think of maybe Hunter's Point or deep east Oakland is pretty rough, there's not a lot of recreation zones to take a dirt bike."
But many in the city say what's going on right now in these groups is a danger to everyone living in San Francisco.
"They're taking over the street in numbers, with pretty much all this false sense of authority that they have and being intimidating," said Cheong.
"They kind of corral the cars and stop, and kind of zoom in and out and around the cars. It's insanely dangerous," said Cogan.
"Too many people were saying, that is just the culture of San Francisco. I'm like, man, I've been riding here for 40 something years, that's never been the culture of San Francisco," said Low.
Supervisor Sauter says many current San Francisco codes address sideshows but not dirt bikes. They are looking at possibly tailoring rules to address this issue. He believes drones should be used more often to identify these bikes.
"I think that is going to send a message to these tight-knit groups that if you do this, a few of you are going to have your bikes impounded," said Sauter.
As for current enforcement, we requested information from San Francisco Police Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday but have not heard back.
