In one hotspot rife with intersection takeovers and illegal trick driving, drivers doing donuts will now find their rides are a bit bumpier than usual.

Massive rumble strips designed to shred and damage the tires of cars dangerously spinning in circles were unveiled Tuesday in a press briefing with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT), and Clark County.

They announced a joint effort in derailing the public nuisance known as trick driving and intersection takeovers. In other words, drivers can no longer go nuts doing donuts; it's a no-go. The rumble strips are similar to those on the shoulders of a freeway, but at a much larger scale.

The strips were installed last Thursday, and there were already fresh tire marks on the road Tuesday, indicating drivers had come back since then to test it out. But there also remained evidence of tire and car debris, indicating the strips were working as intended.

"It's not going to prevent it, they can still come, and they can still turn donuts in here, but it's going to wreck their tires," said Lt. Daryl Rhoads, who oversees the Traffic Bureau's RAID team. RAID, Racing Apprehension and Intervention Department, was created in March 2022 to tackle this growing problem in the valley.

Officials said they're concerned for the safety of everyone involved in these takeovers, especially for the spectators.

The intersection of US 93 and Grand Valley Parkway, about two miles east of I-15, has long been a frequent haunt for illegal intersection takeovers. Last year, police arrested 21 people associated with a takeover at the site.

Delivery trucks from the nearby fuel refinery and other businesses were being impacted, often unable to get through the dozens of cars and spectators spinning out of control. But officers believe the creation of RAID pushed the truck drivers to the more remote location.

"This problem [at US 93 and Grand Valley Pkwy] started to happen around the same time that we developed the RAID detail. And I don't think it's a coincidence," said Lt. Rhoads. "Because of the problem that was going to happen if we couldn't get fuel to Las Vegas, everybody got involved."

Mario Gomez, a district engineer with NDOT, said his team got the idea from other states facing similar problems, like California and Texas. It took about two days to install the strips, and they appear to be a simple, easy, and cost-effective solution.

"It's no longer a smooth surface through the intersection. But it's a very slow-speed intersection, so it should be very safe to cross over," said Gomez. "It's just that when you are starting to spin or doing some high rate of speed maneuvers through the intersection, it's supposed to make your car vibrate."

For now, it's the only intersection in Clark County with the massive rumble strips, but LVMPD said they'd consider expanding the idea elsewhere depending on how successful it was as a deterrent.

When asked if this might simply cause the drivers to move to a different intersection, Lt. Rhoads acknowledged the possibility.

"It could. And there are other intersections within town that we're taking a look at. If this seems to work, then we'll look at doing and mimicking that pattern throughout Clark County," he said. "And it's just another tool. Again, we're going to continue our enforcement efforts. We're going to continue engaging with the community and partner with them to fight this, and now we have that engineering component."

Lt. Rhoads encouraged anyone in the community who has evidence, such as video of an intersection takeover or reckless driving, to submit it via email to raid@lvmpd.com.