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'My Main Concern Is Human Life': Philadelphia Residents Say Drag Racing Becoming Major Problem In City

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some neighbors who live in busy parts of Center City say drag racing is getting out of hand. Along Delaware Avenue, some are calling this a major problem in the city.

This is the aftermath of drag racing from over the weekend. Tire marks remain throughout the intersection here, and some say their biggest concern is that someone may get killed.

"It's extremely loud, but that's not my main concern," Gerry Burns, who lives nearby, said. "My main concern is human life."

Calm was interrupted late Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Burns shared this video with CBS3. He says the crowd started gathering at about 11 p.m. and didn't leave until 4 a.m. when police arrived.

"There's probably 50 to 100 people either trying to go home, leaving on bicycles, on motorcycles, in cars, and it's just, complete danger from what I can see," Burns said. "I've been seeing it for weeks."

Burns has lived near the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Spring Garden Street, where the rubber meets the road, for eight years. He says there's always been drag racing, but he is seeing more of it now.

Drone Watch 3 was overhead. You can see the newly paved road now covered with skidmarks.

A similar crowd scattered over the weekend when someone in that dark-colored SUV fired a weapon out of the sunroof. That large crowd was gathered at Temple University, near Broad and Oxford Streets.

"I'm from Houston and normally, we don't see things like that," Kelby Swearington, a Temple student, said.

No one was injured, but City Council has taken notice.

Councilmember Isaiah Thomas says he's sponsoring legislation that wouldn't ban drag racing or ATV riding, but would clear police from taking on other traffic-related issues, so they can focus on more serious issues.

His office released a statement: "Similar to the ATV situation, Thomas believes in creating a space for people to enjoy their hobbies in a way that does not pose a risk to others. I'm not sure we have direct authority to solve this issue, but we have a systemic solution that we are working on (and hopefully close to voting into law)."

Thomas' bill has a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Eyewitness News reached out to the police department to ask if more patrols would be set up to control drag racing, but we haven't yet heard back.

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