A wild sideshow on the Bay Bridge caused quite a stir over the weekend.
Cellphone video captured a sideshow that brought traffic to a dead stop on the upper deck of the Bay Bridge.
People KRON4 spoke with tell us that while they recognize sideshows are a very unique part of Bay Area culture, doing it on the bridge is raising some concerns.
“I definitely think that it should be mentioned that safety is a big issue with sideshows,” Stacey Ditta said. “However, it has been a part of Bay Area culture as long as I can recall.”
“Yeah, they are a part of Bay Area culture, but they are dangerous,” Shawn Kashef added. “This video, they are on the bridge. That’s crazy.”
He calls sideshows on the Bay Bridge crazy.
However, the California Highway Patrol says they’re not unusual.
California Highway Patrol officer Robert Nacke agrees that sideshows are dangerous. In fact he says the passengers leaning outside of the windows could have been ejected if the driver lost control of the vehicle
“Absolutely, you got a lot of different things in play,” Sgt. Robert Nacke said. “You got people operating vehicles on the edge of their performance envelope, you got stuff on the roadway. We know our Bay Area roads need some work. Obviously, we got stuff getting kicked up, but you’re also risking the lives of people there participating, so the CHP takes it very seriously.”
Observers tell KRON4 dozens of vehicles took part in stopping traffic on the Bay Bridge, allowing the sideshow to happen.
CHP officials say although it may be frustrating waiting for a sideshow to end, they recommend drivers stay in their vehicles until it is safe to continue driving.