Police are concerned that a reality television show about street racing could be making Tulsa’s roads more dangerous.
“Street Outlaws,” which airs on the Discovery Channel, wants to film in Tulsa again. The program, produced by Pilgrim Media, has been coming to Tulsa to film for years, getting permits approved through the Tulsa City Council to race along 46th Street North.
But Maj. Travis Yates said allowing the show to pretend to break the law is sending mixed messages and may be encouraging the real thing.
“My fear is this: Someone is going to get seriously injured or killed doing this illegal activity, then I’m going to have to answer for us allowing a show to come into our town, sanctioned, and glorify this activity,” Yates said. “What I don’t want to do is bury a teenager, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
The show typically films near Oklahoma City, but the premise has been that the racers have a rival street-racing crew in Tulsa that regularly challenges them.
Yates said the version of street racing practiced by the show is quite safe. Paramedics, safety officers and barricades blocking cross streets are on location for the entirety of the shoot.