Birmingham city leaders talk to teenagers about exposure driving

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Dec 15, 2022

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – City leaders are working to encourage local high school students not to participate in exposure driving. It comes after 16 people were injured in a show car accident last week.

Of the 16 people injured, we know one was just 5 years old, and city leaders are now insisting to schools that even watching this illegal activity can be dangerous.

Birmingham City Councilor Clinton Woods is visiting schools in his district and he said he’s been emphasizing middle and high schools about risk and reward. He said it’s important to ask kids questions and create a dialogue, like asking if the fun they get from show driving is worth their lives.

He said young people would usually push back, but said he was trying to explain why it wasn’t something they should participate in.

“You trust someone you don’t know to preform to a level you don’t know they can,” Woods said. “They can say ‘hey, it’s okay, or why are you trying to stop this and that’, but it’s about having those kind of dialogues and building that kind of relationship where they can m listen to them say things, but then they can also ask me why, to better understand.

Local officials and city council members are also backing a bill that is expected to be introduced next month. This would make illegal exposure while driving a crime.

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