York police launch drive to erase street racing

YorkRegion.com
June 15, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

On balmy summer nights, it’s not uncommon for dozens of drivers in souped-up cars to meet in industrial areas along Hwy. 7 in Vaughan to race around city streets, according to York Regional Police.

Although Vaughan is notorious for this type of activity, it isn’t the only community where it happens. Hundreds of drivers have already been charged with street racing on GTA highways this year.

That’s why area police forces, and provincial government agencies, are once again ramping up project ERASE (Eliminate Racing Activity on Streets Everywhere), the annual summer-long awareness and enforcement campaign aimed at wiping out aggressive driving and street racing.

“We recognize that automotive racing is an exciting sport, however, if you want to race the street is not the place,” York Region Police Deputy Chief Tom Carrique told media gathered at Buttonville Airport in Markham for the campaign kickoff. “You require advanced driver training, specially equipped vehicles, specially designed tracks with safety precautions and supervision.”

The campaign - being carried out by York Regional Police, OPP, South Simcoe Police, Toronto Police, the Ministry of Transportation and Environment Ministry - involves targeted enforcement using patrol cars and air support including York Region’s helicopter, Air2.

“Be assured that dedicated traffic enforcement officers, along with air support units, will be patrolling our residential roadways, our highways and our industrial and commercial areas throughout the summer looking for aggressive drivers, looking for street racers and looking for modified vehicles designed for racing,” Carrique said.

He noted that during last year’s campaign York Police handed out 200 tickets and arrested of five people for stunt driving.

Insp. Mark Pritchard, OPP Aurora detachment commander, added that provincial police have laid almost 400 charges for street racing so far this year.

“Aggressive driving is a dangerous factor in our communities,” he said. “In the last two years, on roadways and highways that are policed by the OPP, almost 150 people have lost their lives in collisions that were resulting from either aggressive (driving) or speed-related collisions. These are 150 families that lost loved ones unnecessarily.”

If you’re charged with street racing, your vehicle is impounded and your driver’s licence is suspended for a week.

If found guilty, you can face a fine ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, six demerit points, a two-year licence suspension and up to six months in jail, he said.

Along with enforcement efforts, Project ERASE also involves a push to educate drivers about the risks involved in racing and illegally modifying cars.

To help out with that, police enlisted local racing team AIM Autosport Team FXDD Racing with Ferrari.

Juliana Chiovitti, AIM spokesperson, pointed out that modifying vehicles for street racing is not only dangerous, it can also be costly should you get in an accident.

“In the racing cars, we have roll cages. We have five-point harness seats. We have helmets. I don’t know the last time anybody from the OPP or York Regional Police ever pulled over a street racer wearing a helmet. That’s one of the things we have to make clear, that we’re built for safety, they’re clearly not,” she said. “(And) I don’t think these kids know that as soon as they make a modification on their car, they can void their insurance and their warranty. I think if they knew that, and understood that a little bit better, they wouldn’t do it as much.”