FARGO, ND — Fargo police are pressing for stronger punishment of reckless driving after stunt activity left one commercial property owner facing an estimated $100,000 cleanup bill. Drivers tore up a parking lot with burnouts, leaving the owner to pay for the damage even though the business did nothing wrong.
Police Capt. Travis Mosher said the cost of removing the rubber from the pavement alone could reach six figures. He said the case illustrates a wider problem: property owners can be left dealing with expensive messes created by careless driving without any clear way to recover the cost.
Burnouts in a parking lot leave a costly cleanup job for the owner
The parking lot damage is the latest example of a behavior police say has become more destructive and more expensive for bystanders. Burnouts, which leave heavy tire marks on pavement, can turn a private lot into a major repair project in a matter of minutes.
Mosher said the owner in this case is now stuck with a cleanup bill that could climb to about $100,000. The financial burden, he said, falls entirely on the property owner, even when the people causing the damage are the ones acting recklessly.
Police are using the incident to make a broader point about accountability. Mosher said current consequences are not enough to discourage some drivers from treating parking lots and roads as places to show off instead of places where safety matters.
Police say dangerous speeds are showing up on roads across North Dakota
Officers say the problem is not limited to stunt driving in parking lots. Mosher said Fargo police and other agencies are seeing extreme speeds on roads throughout North Dakota, with some drivers putting everyone around them at risk.
He pointed to one recent example in which an officer clocked a driver going 116 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-hour zone while that driver was on the way to work. Police said that kind of speed leaves little room for reaction and can turn routine travel into a deadly situation.
Those concerns have intensified after a recent crash in Bismarck killed two Mandan teenagers. Mosher said incidents like that are part of why police want lawmakers to act before more people are hurt.
Lawmakers could hear proposals for tougher traffic laws in January
Fargo police plan to bring their concerns to state lawmakers during the upcoming January session. Officers want traffic laws with more teeth so careless, reckless and exhibition driving can carry stronger consequences.
Mosher said the goal is not to target ordinary drivers or people who enjoy cars in a responsible way. Instead, police want a legal framework that better addresses behavior that puts others in danger and damages property.
Police are seeking changes that would give officers and prosecutors more tools when drivers cross the line from enthusiasm into unsafe conduct. The push comes as agencies across the state continue to deal with speeding and other high-risk behavior on public roads.
Fargo officials are also reviewing city rules and court enforcement
Along with the state-level push, Fargo police are working with city leaders, prosecutors and local judges to update city rules. Officers want to make sure reckless drivers face meaningful penalties when cases go through court.
Mosher said the department is looking for a system that does more than issue warnings and then let offenders return to the road unchanged. Police want consequences that are serious enough to change behavior and reduce repeat incidents.
That local effort reflects a belief that enforcement has to happen on more than one level. Police say city rules, court outcomes and state law all play a role in how much damage reckless drivers can cause before they are stopped.
Police say car clubs are not the target, but safety is the priority
Mosher said officers do not have a problem with car clubs themselves. The department’s focus, he said, is on drivers who turn shows of speed or power into unsafe stunts that threaten people, property and public roads.
That distinction matters to police as they try to push for tougher penalties without painting every enthusiast with the same brush. Fargo officers say they want to stop dangerous driving before it leads to more injuries, more deaths and more expensive property damage.
The message from police is that responsible drivers have nothing to fear, while those who choose to speed, burn rubber or ignore traffic laws should face real consequences in court and under local rules.