Horry County: No burnouts or 'body shots' for bike events

Flickr user Bryan

On Thursday, the Horry County Public Safety Committee hosted a meeting to reiterate and clarify the laws that will be strictly enforced.

Horry County insists they are only enforcing the existing laws and sending a message that they will be making sure those with permits are in compliance with requirements. However, some feel like the interpretation of the DHEC law that prevents burning of tires is being stretched to prohibit the popular burnout events. WMBF has more details on the burnout discussion here. Our research found that most of DHEC's environmental concern with burning tires is "open burning" with fire that produces a thick, black sooty smoke. Motorcycle burnouts leave most of the rubber on the ground, produce a white smoke, and no open flame is involved.

Other permit requirements include abiding by the established noise ordinances with public address systems and having dedicated flagmen to direct traffic. Something a little odd mentioned by Safety Director Paul Whitten is that vendors selling outdoor alcohol couldn't have drinking games or 'body shots' but it's unclear what existing law is being enforced there. There are various other details mentioned in The Sun News write-up here.

Horry County also maintains the bike event is scheduled for May 14 through May 20 despite other private businesses choosing to hold events outside of that week including Memorial Day weekend. We've got more information about that here.

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