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Late spring in southern Florida is, undoubtedly, a good time—families flock to Walt Disney World while college partiers opt for sandy beaches, as do those who attend the annual Daytona truck meet which brings a massive crowd of six-figure builds that make most supercars look drab and pedestrian. As other events across the country have proved, however, with these fun-having bros comes trouble on occasion, something which proved true again during this year’s running of the annual oceanside gathering.
Fox35 Orlando reports that Daytona Beach Police dealt 1,855 citations from June 7-9 during what attendees call the “World’s Largest Truck Meet.” This drastic spike can largely be cited to violations ranging from minor infractions like illegally tinted windows to more severe crimes such as reckless driving and violence.
Nearby Volusia County also reported an additional 100 tickets or so.
Of these nearly 2,000 citations, 58 were misdemeanor charges and nine fell into felonious territory.
“Thousands of trucks on the beach—we had multiple violations, traffic infractions, county ordinance violations,” said Beach Patrol Captain Tammy Malphurs to Fox35.
Despite the seemingly astronomical number of tickets issued, Daytona Beach law enforcement claims it to actually be a decline from last year’s meet. Likewise, fewer noise complaints were submitted by locals, a typical hot-button issue given the trucks’ loud exhausts and raucous air horn setups.
According to a Facebook post by the Daytona Beach Police Department, vehicular crashes were also less frequent, falling 82 percent when compared to last year.
Still then, police are looking to continue the trend of better behavior as these good-timers return year after year. It’s important that Daytona Beach truck meet fans keep all this in mind, too, as rowdy folks more often than not end up with their face plastered all over social media for the world (including cops) to see.
Sheer size dictates that Daytona brought about more chaos than May’s Crystal Beach “Go Topless” Jeep weekend, but offenses committed at the latter seem to be quite a bit more serious. After the chaotic show in Texas wrapped up, the only highlight police could come up with was that “no one died” despite one person’s head being run over by a truck.
