Inside the Wild Stunt Driving Trend That Is Taking America's Streets by Storm

For these drivers, it's time to make the doughnuts, and cops are often powerless to stop them.

Drivers are turning streets in cities across the country into their own personal racetracks. 

Videos posted to YouTube show hot rods wreaking havoc. In one recent video from New York's Times Square, an officer was nearly run over when he tried to stop a car. In San Francisco, video showed three cars bringing traffic to a halt as they did doughnuts in the middle of the Bay Bridge.

While police officers try to keep order, it's often a losing battle.

But it may surprise you to learn that much of this havoc is actually organized.

One New York-based group that calls itself the Vengeance Auto Club organizes stunts up and down the East Coast, gathering car enthusiasts for meetups known as "street takeovers" in which they perform "burnouts" and "smoke shows." The name comes from the smoke that rises from their tires. 

Inside Edition recorded the group in action in Miami and Philadelphia, where dozens of cars came together to take over the cities for a show.

Not everyone was happy about it, however. Motorists caught in the middle could do nothing while the cars performed their tricks, blowing through intersections with little regard for traffic signals. 

In Philadelphia, one car nearly struck Chief Investigative Correspondent Lisa Guerrero. 

Another burned so much rubbers, the car's tire blew out.

"And you just blew a tire," Guerrero told the man driving the car.

"And it's beautiful," he replied.

"Was it worth it?" she asked.

"You damn straight!" he answered. 

When confronted about the legality of their actions, group members denied wrongdoing.

"You guys are breaking the law, you are shutting down streets in Philadelphia, aren't you putting people's lives at risk?" Guerrero asked.

"Nobody rolls through a red light without someone blocking, nobody is putting their car at risk, nobody is putting the community at risk or putting the public at risk," one person said.

Incredibly, Inside Edition did not see one traffic ticket issued in either Miami or Philadelphia. 

RELATED STORIES