Lowriders Are Becoming Fully Legal Again!

The art of cruising and the art of doing it real low are integral to California's aftermarket car culture.Lowriders, as they've become known over the years, are cars usually dating from as early as the 1950s all the way through to the 1990s that have been slammed to the ground, and usually feature some sort of hydraulic or air suspension system that allows them to change ride height in seconds. They also popularly feature highly intricate airbrushing and fine detailing.

的culture behind this car scene and the simple act of cruising around town in one of these cars have beenoutlawed in Californiasince 1986, but it seems as though the government of California is starting to repeal bans on the art of cruising, and has stated that the restrictions are discriminatory in nature. In fact, the city of San Jose has officially lifted its ban on cruising this week, as of Tuesday, June 28.

The California state assembly is giving communities the chance to scrap the draconian law via Assembly Concurrent Resolution 176. According to San Jose Councilmember Raul Peralez, who has been a key player in repealing the law, this bit of legislation was used to profile Latino males driving lowrider-type vehicles. The 1986 law defined cruising as "the repetitive driving of any motor vehicle past a traffic-control point in congested traffic at or near the traffic-control point." Peralez says that the law is vague, and any person that gets lost or makes a wrong turn could be considered 'cruising' by authorities.

"It's very, very broad, and unfortunately it was utilized very broadly in an attempt to stop other elements in our community (crime and gang violence) that we didn't want to see," said Peralez. "But we're ultimately using way too broad of a brush and in my mind a blatantly discriminatory and inherently racist policy."

The San Jose police department isn't eager for the law to be repealed and considered it a useful tool. "We've seen that during Cinco de Mayo or during the upcoming hot August nights on Story Road where, unfortunately [there are] individuals in cars that take over a shopping center and do loiter, they do drink, drugs are there and there's violence," said Police Chief Anthony Mata.