The statewide ban on lowrider cruising will soon come to an end. NBC 7’s Kelvin Henry spoke to the lowriding community in National City on Dec. 2, 2023.
The lowrider community gathered at Kimball Park in National City on Saturday to celebrate the passing of California Assembly Bill 436, which will remove the cruising ban in the Golden State.
Lowriding has long been an important part of National City, as people have cruised Highland Avenue for decades. That custom, however, changed in 1992 when an ordinance was passed to make it illegal to cruise.
"In the '90s, if you had any kind of modified car that looked like a lowrider or anything like it, you couldn't cruise Highland," Carlos Ruiz said. "In general, the stigma was always attached to lowriders or lower cars, and now it's celebrated."
The ordinance was lifted this year, but people continued pushing to end the ban statewide.
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"An idea that started from people here in National City, who are in the lowriding community, came to see me and said, 'We need to make sure that people all over California are allowed to low ride and cruise the streets without fear of being pulled over or ticketed for doing that,'" California Assemblymember David Alvarez, who sponsored the legislation, said.
Those not part of the lowrider community also joined the celebrations in Kimball Park.
"Honestly, for us, it's more than just cars. It's more than just, 'Oh, they're nice or expensive.' It's about culture, and it represents who we are as Hispanics," Tatiana Correa said.
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People steeped in the culture are excited to pass the tradition to future generations.
"Now, we want to cruise, but we want to cruise with our families and with our grandkids, and that's the beauty of it now. We are involving families," Marcos "Rabbit" Arellano said.
A.B.436 will become official on Jan. 1, and people in the lowriding community are looking forward to that day.
“Just like I’m doing now, I’ll be cruising,” Ruiz said.
