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Exhibition of Speed

California Vehicle Code §23109

No person shall engage in any motor vehicle speed contest on a highway. As used in this section, a motor vehicle speed contest includes a motor vehicle race against another vehicle, a clock, or other timing device. For purposes of this section, an event in which the time to cover a prescribed route of more than 20 miles is measured, but where the vehicle does not exceed the speed limits, is not a speed contest.
No person shall aid or abet in any motor vehicle speed contest on any highway.
No person shall engage in any motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway, and no person shall aid or abet in any motor vehicle exhibition of speed on any highway.
No person shall for the purpose of facilitating or aiding or as an incident to any motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition upon a highway in any manner obstruct or place any barricade or obstruction or assist or participate in placing any barricade or obstruction upon any highway.
Any person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 24 hours nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than three hundred fifty-five dollars ($355) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or both that fine and imprisonment. The person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall be subject to suspension as provided in subdivision (a) of §13352. The person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that person's place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the person's employment, restricted to driving in that person's scope of employment. This subdivision does not interfere with the court's power to grant probation in a suitable case.
Any person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) for an offense which occurred within five years of the date of a prior offense which resulted in a conviction of a violation of subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than four days nor more than six months and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). Additionally, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall either suspend the person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle, as provided in subdivision (a) of §13352, or the person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall be restricted for six months to necessary travel to and from that person's place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the person's employment, restricted to driving in that person's scope of employment. This subdivision does not interfere with the court's power to grant probation in a suitable case.
If the court grants probation to any person punishable under subdivision (f), in addition to the provisions of subdivision (f) and any other terms and conditions imposed by the court, which may include a fine, the court shall impose as a condition of probation that the person be confined in the county jail for not less than 48 hours nor more than six months. The person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall also be suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to subdivision (a) of §13352 or shall be restricted pursuant to subdivision (f).
If any person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and the vehicle used in the violation is registered to that person, the vehicle may be impounded at the registered owner's expense for not less than one day nor more than 30 days.
Any person who violates subdivision (b), (c), or (d) of this section shall upon conviction thereof be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 90 days or by fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500) or by both that fine and imprisonment.
If a person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle is restricted by a court pursuant to this section, the court shall clearly mark the restriction and the dates of the restriction on that person's driver's license and promptly notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of the terms of the restriction in a manner prescribed by the department. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall place that restriction in the person's records in the Department of Motor Vehicles and enter the restriction on any license subsequently issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to that person during the period of the restriction.
The court may order that any person convicted under this section, who is to be punished by imprisonment in the county jail, be imprisoned on days other than days of regular employment of the person, as determined by the court. (l) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Louis Friend Memorial Act.

California Criminal Jury Instruction

In order to gain a conviction under this Exhibition of Speed statute, a prosecutor must prove all elements of this crime. Those instruction and elements are located in the California Jury Instruction for Criminal cases (CALJIC) §16.870 and are as follows:

Every person who engages in or aids and abets any motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a street or highway is guilty of a violation of California Vehicle Code §23109 (c), a misdemeanor. An exhibition of speed is a willful act of showing off or displaying a dangerous and imprudent speed where the presence of another person is known to the driver or may reasonably be anticipated by him.

In order to prove this crime, each of the following elements must be proved: