HOUSTON — The Houston Police Department is sharing what they're doing about a problem on the city’s roadways that many residents have experienced in person.
Dirt bikes and ATVs not meant for Houston’s streets or freeways are being driven throughout the city, many times without abandon, police said.
KHOU 11 News has documented through video many of the incidents over the past two years.
HPD said officers are making arrests, but it's not always easy.
"They’re operating vehicles that are not meant to be on the roadway," HPD Sgt. Matthew Ham said. "And a lot of these cases they’re speeding or they’re swerving in and out of the lanes of traffic, blocking roadways, deadly conduct, reckless driving."
Ham works in HPD’s traffic enforcement division and said what's happening on Houston’s roadways is both dangerous and illegal.
"If someone is out there doing that, they’re creating safety hazards for other vehicles on the roads, other drivers," Ham said.
KHOU 11 News captured a video that shows a sea of dirt bikes and ATVs quickly taking over Westheimer Road just west of the Galleria on March 30, 2022.
Riders performed tricks, popped wheelies and lit up the asphalt.
The stretch of Westheimer has become a popular place for groups of bikers and riders. Many nights each week, they are seen cruising up and down the road.
KHOU 11 also captured video of a group riding along Westheimer on a night in September. The video showed the bikers and riders driving right through a red light.
Although KHOU 11 News never witnessed any wrecks or violence possibly caused by bikers and riders, Houston police said it has happened.
"There was some kind of altercation with a group of bandit motorcycles," HPD Lt. Larry Crowson said in August 2021, the night a father of two was shot and killed on Westheimer at Molina’s restaurant.
Police said a group of men on ATVs and dirt bikes surrounded the family’s car.
"You’re going out to dinner and something happens and you’re dead,” an eyewitness said.
An eyewitness told us what she saw happen: "Cold-blooded murder. Didn’t even hesitate, pulled out a gun and shot."
West Houston is far from the only place they have been seen. KHOU 11 News shot another video during evening rush hour traffic on the Southwest Freeway.
When riders were slowed down by a backup, they found a way around. Their maneuverability is what often makes it hard for regular police units to stay on their tail.
"That’s definitely one of the challenges, (they're) operating vehicles that can go off-road, down bayous," Ham said. "In instances like that, we have an ATV squad that was created to address those issues."
Sergeant Ham said that when callers report the incidents to 911, the message often gets sent to HPD’s ATV squad.
"They’re marked officers they’re on ATVs, they can pull people over, they can make the arrests," Ham said.
The officers have their work cut out for them. Ham said many bikers and riders are also trying to be performers.
"You’ve got vehicles driving at 60 miles and above, and you’ve got people filming it and trying to put it on social media," Ham said.
Ham looked at some of the video shot in Houston that have been posted online recently.
"In that case, you’ve got a motorcycle or a dirt bike that’s not even being manned," Ham said while watching a video posted on Reddit that shows dirt bikers crashing on Highway 59 South near the Bissonnet exit. "And that vehicle at any time can hit the side rail, spin out, be clipped by an oncoming vehicle."
It's why police are asking anyone who witnesses scenes like these to call 911 immediately.
"Those two guys wiped out, so you can just imagine how dangerous it is for these two vehicles here,” Ham said while pointing to the cars in the lanes near the bikers. "(The drivers of the cars are) unsuspecting and there’s no telling what these people might do next."