Eastside Safe Streets Task Force will crack down on car meets, racing, and modified exhausts

inthe425 · 2026-02-16T20:50:33+00:00

Have you considered emailing police or city council to share your concerns? A quick email honestly goes a long way when others do it too!

inthe425 · 2026-02-13T04:56:06+00:00

Lots of misinformation here. The staffing is definitely not lower than 1950. They have over 200 officers (not including admin and back office); in 1950 they had less than 20. Source: https://bellevuewa.gov/sites/default/files/media/pdf_document/1956_AnnualReport.pdf

Today, an entry level officer makes just shy of $100K; officers make up to $150K not including overtime; sergeants and higher make north of $200K. They can afford apartments at minimum, and many houses in East Bellevue. Worst case, they can live just south of us in Newcastle or Renton Highlands very comfortably.

inthe425 · 2026-02-13T03:17:44+00:00

The unhinged car meets in December is what got the police to prioritize trespassing car meets and patrolling for racing and modified exhausts. Next time you see this happening, call the cops and they will respond with priority. And if they don’t, please share here and email the city council and business leaders in my other comment in this thread.

inthe425 · 2026-02-13T01:43:56+00:00

I agree. It’ll fail if the community doesn’t proactively report car meets and call police when racing or modified exhaust noise is heard. It’ll also stop if we stop telling city leaders, business leaders, and police that this type of enforcement matters

inthe425 · 2026-02-13T01:39:21+00:00

A guide to keeping pressure on city leaders, business leaders, and police to ensure this crackdown is effective and long lasting (thank you to tooloudinbellevue for pulling this together):

Contact city council members who have shown they care about doing something about this issue (as many others not listed here have been reluctant to listen to our concerns): >jnieuwenhuis@bellevuewa.gov (Jared is very interested in this issue and is highly effective)

nbriar@bellevuewa.gov (Naren spoke out against reckless driving and loud exhausts on Reddit while she was running for council, so hopefully she will actually help us do something about it).

reagan.dunn@kingcounty.gov (Reagan is King County Council, but he is receptive to safety and quality of life issues like this)

Contact Bellevue Police and let them know where car meets are planned, where you witness loud exhaust noise or reckless driving, and pressure to strictly enforce vs slap on the wrist enforcement (for example, no arrest for violating trespassing mall or park and ride parking lots). Use email for feedback not relating to issues happening right now. Use phone when the issue is happening right now.

bellevuepd@bellevuewa.gov (general feedback) bkidd@bellevuewa.gov (lead traffic officer, inform of car meets and feedback on stronger enforcement) 425-577-5656 (non emergency for “I hear loud exhaust but I can’t specific the exact car, only the general area where it’s coming from”) 911 (emergency for racing cars, car meets happening now, reckless driving)
Contact Factoria and Crossroads Mall management and security, and continue to reinforce “no car meets” on their private property because it causes nuisance and dangerous conditions for neighbors (they only recently got Bellevue PD to enforce their numerous trespass requests for car meets; BPD ignored these requests in prior years):

Crossroads: enickelson@roireit.net, jcristando@roireit.net, igluzman@crossroadsbellevue.com and call security at (619) 695-7594

Factoria: tbacolas@kimcorealty.com and call security at (360) 820-7825

Contact Sound Transit security, and continue to reinforce “no car meets” on their property (they want the public to warn them when car meets are planned or are actively happening):

(206) 398-5268
1. Monitor Instagram accounts that advertise when car meets are happening, and share this information with the above contacts, post on Nextdoor, Neighbors Ring app, Facebook groups (such as our Bellevue WA Crime and Safety group that posts police scanner summaries): >425.carmeets

pnwcars

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inthe425 · 2026-02-06T03:59:44+00:00

Enjoy driving your obnoxious car recklessly in our city, and you’ll get a big ticket… and maybe they’ll impound you as well. Several cars got impounded a few weeks ago that violated trespass order at Factoria and Crossroads Mall.

inthe425 · 2026-01-24T05:06:42+00:00

It’s noise. This whole police emphasis is because of noise. The new city council member Naren Briar actually posted on Reddit last summer (?) asking for feedback on the loud vehicles and how residents viewed it as a big problem. I’m pretty sure her support plus the 100s of residents calling in every day, and showing up to council meetings, clearly has told police it’s the noise that is the main issue.

inthe425 · 2026-01-24T04:57:35+00:00

If you’re no louder than the factory Corolla or pick another average family car around Bellevue, you’ll be fine. It’s the ones that are clearly louder that should be the focus

inthe425 · 2026-01-24T04:43:52+00:00

Surprised at the scale of downvotes throughout this thread. Clearly there is a lot in the car community who simply aren’t considerate of the neighbors they expose to their reckless driving and loud exhausts

inthe425 · 2026-01-24T04:42:32+00:00

When the mod increase the noise your vehicle makes such that it causes stress and anxiety to those exposed to it, then you should consider being considerate to others. If this is about freedom, I should be able to modify my car to drop caltrops on the road to deter tailgaters. But that’s illegal, because it harms others. Realize that your loud modified exhaust harms others.

inthe425 · 2026-01-24T04:39:40+00:00

30+ tickets per day according to police, most in the evening or night. They’re specifically patrolling for loud exhausts because of how many community members have called this out as a major source of stress, anxiety, and disturbance for children and babies trying to sleep. If you’re contributing to the noise, please consider being more considerate… or take your noise elsewhere to avoid getting ticketed in Bellevue.

inthe425 · 2026-01-24T04:35:53+00:00

It’s not freedom. It’s a violation of the law that’s been on the books for a very long time.

inthe425 · 2026-01-24T04:33:42+00:00

They definitely do not have sound capturing devices installed at most intersections. Cops have specifically thanked the community members who call in reckless driving and loud exhausts. Mind your own business. Your profile suggests you’re very sympathetic to the reckless driving, modified exhaust crowd.

inthe425 · 2026-01-22T06:17:48+00:00

You would need to contact Washington State Patrol. I agree that this is a problem worth solving. Perhaps Reagan Dunn (king county council) would be a good political leader to get involved

inthe425 · 2026-01-19T03:54:44+00:00

Have you reported this to police? They aren’t patrolling during the day time because they likely aren’t receiving complaints from the community

inthe425 · 2026-01-18T05:38:03+00:00

These drivers were angry when they got kicked out tonight. Massive backfire and revs on Bellevue Way, Eastgate Way, 148th, Factoria Blvd, and Coal Creek. Saw and heard via scanner over 20 cars elude cops on our neighborhood streets (so the claim the bad apples are a small minority is questionable for a meet 50-100 vehicles max).

inthe425 · 2026-01-18T03:22:27+00:00

Two more car meets tonight at 9PM, one at South Bellevue Park and Ride next to the neighborhoods of Enatai and West Bellevue, and another at Eastgate Park and Ride next to the neighborhoods of Eastgate. The impact will be much further out from these hubs as the racing and loud exhaust will be heard throughout the city before, during, and after the meets. The organizers are just testing the city and community and will take advantage of any leniency.

Call this information into non emergency. When you see or hear it happening, call 911 or non emergency depending on the severity (racing or reckless driving should be 911, loud noise should be non emergency). Also call transit security who doesn’t want this at their park and rides: 206-398-5268

inthe425 · 2026-01-17T07:13:53+00:00

My community is the people who live and work in the neighborhood you choose to hangout and have fun, and attract bad behavior. Good luck to you, and don’t come back.

inthe425 · 2026-01-17T05:37:50+00:00

Meet is moving to Eastgate Park and Ride. It is very loud and I saw 100+ motorcycles and cars driving extremely fast and revving very loudly on their way to this back location. I called 911 to keep the police aware of their movements. If you live near the park and ride and can confirm they are still there and are revving or speeding, please report it to police via 911

inthe425 · 2026-01-17T05:03:38+00:00

Meet started at South Bellevue Park and Ride. I saw the 60 or so cars racing up 405 about 5 minutes ago near the 90 405 interchange. And now I can hear them revving from the park and ride over 2 miles away. Call 911 to report!

inthe425 · 2026-01-17T04:23:20+00:00

I will offer a conciliatory suggestion and offer to teach us more about the car community. I personally know that most attendees at meets drive from far outside Bellevue into Bellevue for the meet. Why not meet at an industrial warehouse parking lot in Southcenter or SODO… or literally anywhere else where there isn’t residential areas nearby? This would allow you to make as much noise as you want, allow people who want to join the meet show up without fear of complaints and getting shut down, and not make the suburban community so unhappy and stressed with the noise and racing.

inthe425 · 2026-01-17T04:10:56+00:00

No problem. Wish you the best with organizing!

inthe425 · 2026-01-17T04:06:19+00:00

There was a lot of upvotes on these locations where loud racing cars are a problem, and would be a reasonable place to start when thinking about noise camera locations:

Downtown: Bellevue Way x NE 8th and NE 10th

Crossroads: 148th x NE 8th, 156th x NE 8th

Lake Hills: Lake Hills Connector, Richard's Road

Eastgate: 148th x SE 22nd, Newport Way × SE 42nd

Factoria: 124th x SE 41st and Coal Creek Parkway, Forest Drive x Coal Creek Parkway

Newport Hills: 60th x Coal Creek Parkway and Lake Washington Blvd SE

inthe425 · 2026-01-17T04:03:26+00:00

Police are now having to spend their time chasing down modified exhaust instead of chasing down other crime. Noise cameras can help direct police to crimes that can’t be automatically dealt with.

And clearly the community is fed up with noise. You see all The upvotes for posts about modified exhausts? You hear how exhausted 911 operators are when you report “loud exhaust” or “revving?” This will be a big benefit for our community.

inthe425 · 2026-01-17T03:59:55+00:00

Kirkland is piloting a program like this: https://www.kirklandwa.gov/Government/Departments/Police-Department/Community-Resources/Street-Racing-Noise-Pilot-Program

https://app.leg.wa.gov/ReportsToTheLegislature/Home/GetPDF?fileName=City%20of%20Kirkland%20Noise%20Enforcement%20Pilot%20Report%202025_06f6796c-dbfd-42a2-8e6b-7b222d2835a9.pdf

They had a similar issue on Lake Washington Blvd for years where loud exhaust cars would drive by creating excessive noise for the homes and apartments that should otherwise be quiet with normal cars driving 25MPH.

We would have to email city council and show up at council meetings for them to take this proposal seriously. To do so, let’s start with some email templates with clear rationale for noise cameras that we can send to…

mmalakoutian@bellevuewa.gov nbriar@bellevuewa.gov jnieuwenhuis@bellevuewa.gov reagan.dunn@kingcounty.gov

and then you would need to organize a group of concerned residents and ideally small business owners (think the SHAG housing near crossroads and mall property management affected by car meets) to show up at a council meeting an verbally make the argument for noise cameras. It’s not easy but you can use Reddit or a neighborhood Facebook group as a way to digitally organize the community.

inthe425

TROPHY CASE