Brace yourself South Florida; ‘Wheels Up, Guns Down’ road mayhem is coming, and officers are ready
Monday won’t be all picnics and parades. While many workers across the region have a day off for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, law enforcement officers will be out in full force.
For reasons that still are not that clear, on MLK Day, South Florida roads, even the interstate, morph into a into giant free-for-all. It’s a daredevil’s playground with hundreds of people on dirt bikes and ATVs, whizzing down the roads recklessly, sometimes by the hundreds, darting around motorists .
They pop wheelies and some even stand on the vehicles that are meant for off-roading. It’s unlawful to take such vehicles on public roads.
Over the years the pack has been known to careen down sidewalks, clog roadways, drive at break-neck speeds, even intentionally veer the wrong way on roads. Called Wheels Up, Guns Down, this is not a sanctioned event like Spring Break, officials say, but a way for reckless, unlawful motorists to get attention on social media.
Some of the packs of bikers have become so organized they even have stage-hands on motorcycles filming the dangerous stunts and posting the footage to social media.
“[They] do so with total disregard for public safety and that is where I draw the line in the sand,” Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said on Wednesday. “One of our core responsibilities is to protect the community and we won’t stand idly by.”
Fines for those riding unlawfully on public roads will be steep — more than $1,100, said Major Robert Chandler of the Florida Highway Patrol.
Chandler said every trooper from Miami-Dade to Palm Beach counties will be working Monday to try to deter the reckless behavior and track down those who are participating.
“We will outnumber you,” Chandler said, promising there will not be any warnings.
Undercover officers also will be working. Troopers and other law enforcement agencies won’t just be on the ground; there will be plenty of law enforcement officers in helicopters using surveillance equipment.
“There will be so many aircraft in the air that there is no way these motor-bikers can get away from law enforcement,” Chandler said. “At some point we are going to be in a position where we can safely make an arrest and take the bikes.”
Chandler said there are a couple of proposals currently filed in Tallahassee that, if approved by the Legislature, could change the state’s road-racing statute allowing for criminal penalties and not just traffic citations and fines. If the statute is toughened, law enforcement could impound the dirt bikes and ATVs as well.
Chandler and Tony encouraged regular motorists to pull off to the side of the road if they encounter a group on dirt bikes and ATVs this weekend and Monday.
“You may not see us but we are there, monitoring, tracking, taking individuals into custody safely without exposing any of you to more harm,” Tony said.
Eileen Kelley can be reached at 772-925-9193 or ekelley@sunsentinel.com.
