Birmingham's latest exhibition driving incident caught on camera by visitor

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) — Caught on camera: An exhibition driving incident in Birmingham was recorded by someone visiting the city over the weekend.

The video shows around a half-dozen hot rods spinning tires and doing doughnuts at an intersection. The incident happened at Messer-Airport Highway and Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd.

The video shows a police car pull up to the scene and the exhibition drivers immediately leave.

Adam Tanielian, who was visiting Birmingham at the time, shot the video and wants to know why the officer didn't go after them.

"I wouldn't go do this though. This is not a reasonable person. If I wanted to go do donuts in the middle of the intersection, I'd assume I'd be pulled over. Even if somebody just took my license plate and reported to the police, I would assume I'd be pulled over. I just don't think I'd get away with it but then maybe that fear is what keeps me from doing it," said Tanielian.

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Birmingham police responded to why the officer didn't go after the drivers. The full statement is below.

The Birmingham Police Department is aware of an Exhibition Driving incident that was recorded and uploaded to social mediaover the weekend. The video recorded several high-horsepower vehicles performing doughnuts and burnouts in the intersection of Messer-Airport Highway and Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard North. The video does not have enough detail to reveal the license plates of these vehicles. The video shows the exhibition driving to have stopped prior to the first officer’s arrival. At this point, Officers began to disperse the spectators and potential participants. In order for an officer to cite the operator of a vehicle engaged in exhibition driving, they must witness the act taking place. Currently, the acts of performing doughnuts or burnouts are traffic violations and Officers and their Supervisors must carefully weigh the dangers of pursuing these extremely high horsepower vehicles versus the dangers it poses to the public. The Birmingham Police Department strongly discourages this type of activity and encourages anyone witnessing this activity to call police immediately.