The internet is buzzing about a recent Oakland sideshow. Sideshows are usually rowdy events anyway. Sparklers, laser pointers, and loud music are common features of these events. But it’s much less common to see a semi-truck at a sideshow.
That’s exactly what the videos percolating across the internet show. The videos depict a relatively normal sideshow taking place under an I-880 overpass in Oakland, at Hegenberger Road and Coliseum Way. However, things take a turn when a big rig appears in the video.
The big rig circled among an excited and cheering crowd multiple times. It had a shipping container on its back, which many attendees climbed onto. The sideshow videos don’t show any identifying information about the driver or the semi-truck.
Authorities are investigating the incident. It happened as the Oakland Police Department announced that it would beef up enforcement of anti-sideshow laws during the weekend. Evidently, that announcement wasn’t enough to deter this event from going ahead with its scheduled programming.
Oakland officials estimate that around 30 vehicles across the city participated in this and similar events over the weekend. There were at least two other events in the city that night that included cars doing donuts, but no other sideshows had big rigs in attendance.
What is a sideshow?
A “sideshow” is similar to a street takeover. They’re unlicensed and illegal events at which people perform stunts in their motor vehicles. They often also include loud music and fireworks.
Sideshows are basically large, illegal street parties focused on cars. Usually, they focus only on cars, as these are the most accessible to the greatest number of people. In addition, they are able to perform much more interesting stunts and are much safer than semi-trucks.
These events are on the rise all over the west coast. Many theorize that the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a rise in sideshows. After all, the streets were mostly empty at this time, and people had a lot of free time to do things like this. Cities all up and down the west coast are struggling to enforce the law at these events.
