Lowrider drivers and car enthusiasts are coasting into 2024 with a sigh of relief.
More than 200 lowriders took to Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles on New Year’s Day to celebrate a new California law that lifts the restriction on lowrider cruising and rejoice in the ceremonial removal of “no cruising” signs.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 436 in October, prohibiting lowrider bans and anti-cruising ordinances across California -- making it OK for car fanatics to enjoy a stroll on their decked-out vehicles.
“Cruising is our lifestyle, it’s our culture, it’s our life, it’s our livelihood,” one lowrider enthusiast said. “This is the big day because, midnight — New Year’s 2024, midnight — we were able to take that law and throw it in the trash, and when they took those signs down, it brought down all that discrimination.”
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The lowrider culture was developed by Mexican Americans in Southern California after World War II. Many drivers modified their cars, lowering them to the ground.
A 1988 law allowed local jurisdictions to make cruising or driving lowriders on city streets a traffic offense.
One lowrider driver said cruising is not just about the cars themselves — but rather, the culture that inspired it.
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“Whether you got a car that’s worth a couple thousand dollars or whether you’ve got a beautiful machine out here that’s worth several hundred thousand dollars — we appreciate the culture and your contribution to our culture,” one lowrider driver said.
