Atlanta residents demand stronger response to illegal vehicles

ATLANTA - Atlanta residents want a stronger response from police to motorists who are racing illegal vehicles.

When homeowners cannot sleep at night because of the engines roaring, some of them take out their phones and start videotaping.

One video captured young people riding with no helmets and doing stunts on the vehicles. The activity was along Memorial Drive which is as big of a trouble spot as Downtown or Buckhead.

One segment showed a law enforcement vehicle going down Memorial Drive and not stopping.

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The citizen who shot the video voiced a complaint, but one of the council members whose area includes portions of Memorial Drive, explained police enforcement for these traffic violations is different.

"It doesn't mean APD does not care or the city council or the mayor does not care," said Carla Smith. "Police have to stage a coordinated response, with many officers to try to pin them down."

Smith said police will take safety into account and not chase. Some of the dirt bike riders even go up onto the sidewalks, putting pedestrians potentially at risk.

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