Residents of the Angelino Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles are calling to put the brakes on the dangerous races they say have been brought to their streets by fans of the "Fast & Furious" movie franchise.
Protesters in the district held a rally Friday night against the filming of "Fast X," the franchise's 10th installment, and say the movies glamorize street racing not only in their neighborhoods but elsewhere among young drivers, reports The Los Angeles Times.
"People drive through at 2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon," said Rene Favela, who moved into the neighborhood, located north of downtown Los Angeles, 17 years ago with his wife, Bella, four years after the first installment in the movie franchise, "The Fast and the Furious" was released in 2001.
The couple now has a child and they, along with their neighbors, say that dangerous stunts and street races are held outside their door. Vin Diesel's character, Dominic Toretto, who anchors the movies, calls the Angelino Heights streets home.
Favela said he understands that street racing was around in Los Angeles before the first movie of the series was released, but he thinks the films are making the problem worse.
"You don’t want to say it encourages the street racing, but you know, it doesn’t help," Favela said outside his home, where the street is filled with black tire marks.
Meanwhile, others in the district complain that the fans crowding in to visit the streets they see on the big screen are causing problems with their businesses and homes.
"There’s a lot of traffic here with fast cars and a lot of young people, taking all the parking and taking pictures,” Juanita Chaidez said outside Bob's Market, which is featured in the films as the liquor store owned by the Toretto family in the movies.
It is now a destination where street racers come to take selfies, and Chaidez, 56, who grew up in Angelino Heights said the street takeovers, have gotten worse since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
Chaidez said she often sees smoke rising from drivers' burned tire treads and brake pads, and sometimes, the drivers will stop and take pictures before roaring away at 60-70 miles per hour.
Angelino Heights has often been used for film shoots, including with AMC's "Mad Men," Roman Polanski's "Chinatown," and the music video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller," but the neighborhood has been most upset by the "Fast and Furious" franchise.
Residents are also complaining that Universal Pictures, the films' distributor, and the city of Los Angeles are doing little to stop the drivers speeding through their neighborhoods.
Traffic bollards and stop signs have been installed, but they want more, including redesigning streets to hinder street racing and or the franchise's producers to make a public service announcement calling for amateurs to quit speeding around on residential streets.
They also want the production companies to take care of the community and film only where appropriate.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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