Street racing penalty: $10,000

[Chuck U. Farlie]

From the star today, see article below.

What concerns me is how are they going to differentiate between speeding and racing?

For example,

If you get charged for racing, how can you prove that you weren't racing that other guy doing 120km/h, you were merely speeding and coincidently he was going the same speed... maybe he was trying to keep up to you.

The police might catch you and another guy, both complete strangers, doing 120km/h on the 400 - since they caught you at the same time they might call it racing - how can you prove otherwise? Hell... they might even catch someone 5 minutes later and just argue that he was losing the race.

What if you are not racing, but the other guy is... you are not even speeding, but are driving aggressively by accelerating fast, corning fast, etc... this guys sees you and tries to keep up - now the cops ding you both for racing?

I think this legislation, if passed, may be too fuzzy and some people are going to have some difficult court cases to go through.

Street racing penalty: $10,000

Apr 13, 2007 04:30 AM

Tess Kalinowski

Transportation Reporter

Queen's Park is set to create the toughest penalties in the country for drunk driving and street racing.

Legislation introduced yesterday would dramatically increase Ontario's punishments for road behaviours that each year cause hundreds of injuries and dozens of deaths.

The crackdown is being lauded by police, road safety advocates and people like Muhammad Naseem, who have lost friends and loved ones to dangerous driving.

The new penalties will set the standard across Canada for street racing and drunken driving offences, Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield said yesterday.

The moment he heard about the legislation, Naseem thought of his friend Tahir Khan, the cab driver killed on Jan. 24, 2006 by a car believed to be racing in broad daylight.

"Street racing is just like any other violent crime, only with cars instead of guns," said Naseem, a fellow immigrant who met Khan while they were rookie drivers for Diamond Taxi.

"You should pay the price if you street race, and this is a very good price – a $10,000 fine, and police being able to suspend the driver's licence and impound the car.

"If you know the punishment is strong, at least you'll think about racing before you do it," Naseem said.

The legislation would:

Increase the maximum fine for road racing from $1,000 to $10,000, and set the minimum at $2,000.

Allow police to impound cars immediately and suspend licences for seven days in cases of suspected road racing.

Give drivers caught with a blood-alcohol level from .05 to .08 – in the legal but "warn" zone – a three-day licence suspension instead of 12 hours.

Empower the courts to seize the cars of drunk drivers in egregrious cases.

Create the option of reduced suspensions for first-time drunk-driving offenders who agree to install an ignition interlock, essentially a car breathalyzer system, that disables their vehicle if they've been drinking. Ontario would be the sixth province to introduce the ignition interlock provision – an offer that also might be extended to some second-time offenders convicted before the act is implemented, according to a spokesperson for the transportation minister.

"These are good recommendations; they're solid and they're going to save lives," said Ontario Safety League president Brian Patterson. "Extreme driving is killing people and these measures will assist in addressing the worst of the worst."

Patterson said speed-racing offenders typically range in age from 20 to 40.

"Too many people feel the need for speed, and they're doing it in minivans and doing it in Honda Civics," he said.

Ontario has seen 35 street racing-related deaths since 1999, according to the government.

Suspected street racing incidents took the lives of Khan and several others in the GTA last year.

In May, Rob and Lisa Manchester of Oak Ridges were innocent victims of an racing incident on Yonge St. that left their young daughter an orphan.

Last night, Lisa's uncle Ronald Cote called the stiffer fines "an improvement that might speak to some young people, and having the car impounded would at least do something to fight this problem."

Cote said the Manchesters' orphaned daughter Katie, now 8, is rebuilding her life with relatives after the "sad and wasteful tragedy."

Days after the Manchesters were killed, a visitor from England, Peter Kippax, lost control of a Porsche he was driving alongside a cousin's Mercedes on Mavis Rd. in Mississauga. He was killed, while two people in an oncoming car were severely injured.

And in September, a University of Toronto exchange student was the innocent victim of a crash when his pickup was clipped by a car racing on the Queensway in Mississauga.

"There can be no tolerance for people who put other people's lives at risk on Ontario roads," Premier Dalton McGuinty told a news conference in Stouffville. "The measures, if passed, will only help keep our communities and families safe."

York Region Police Chief Armand LaBarge said impaired driving kills nearly five Canadians a day.

"Each year, 2.3 million Canadians operate motor vehicles while impaired. Impaired driving continues to be the No. 1 criminal cause of death in our nation," he added.

York Region experienced a 9 per cent increase in impaired-driving offences in 2006, he told reporters. Alcohol was a factor in 12 of 30 fatal collisions in the region, and excessive speed was a contributing factor in eight of those.

LaBarge also applauded a proposal to allow police cars to use a combination of red and blue lights to make them more visible. Ontario is the last province to make that move.

While praising the legislation, Tory MPP Frank Klees (Oak Ridges) said it doesn't go far enough in banning nitrous-oxide power boosters in cars.

Street racers install the aftermarket nitrous oxide fuel systems to increase acceleration and horsepower.

With files from Louise Brown

[Wilber]

I think it is a great idea. We have had too many innocent people killed by these morons in this part of the world, including one police officer who was T boned by one of these wankers who then jumped in another car and took off. As to whether any charges are justified, that is what we have judges for.

Mission Raceway runs Mopac Street Legal nights every Friday where anyone can bring their car and for $25 get 4 to 6 passes down a real 1/4 mile in a controlled environment against anyone they choose.

Richmond News

On Sept. 15, 2002, Chan ran a red light at the intersection of Williams and No. 3 roads in his speeding Honda sports car and T-boned Jimmy Ng's police cruiser . The force of the crash sent the 32-year-old constable through the back window of his vehicle, killing him instantly.

An injured Chan left the scene when his friend, Ying Hua "David" Guan, came to pick him up in a second car.

The two had been seen minutes before the crash speeding in two separate vehicles along Garden City Road.

[M.Dancer]

I have no probelm with serious penalties on some who is "merely" speeding at 120 KPH on rsidential streets.

On highways like the Don Valley, I have seen speeders going at least 180..

These laws are targeting people doing 120 on the 401.....

They are a menace to society and should have their driving priviledges revoked

[Shakeyhands]

the people they are targetting here are the kids driving the souped Civics, Jettas and the like, not your everyday speeder.

[guyser]

the people they are targetting here are the kids driving the souped Civics, Jettas and the like, not your everyday speeder.

The only part I like is the ability to impound immediately. As far as the rest of it goes, there are already laws on the books to deal with it. I dont get it. Excessive speeding is dangerous driving, or careless driving.

Somebody dies, vehicular manslaughter.

[FTA Lawyer]

the people they are targetting here are the kids driving the souped Civics, Jettas and the like, not your everyday speeder.

The only part I like is the ability to impound immediately. As far as the rest of it goes, there are already laws on the books to deal with it. I dont get it. Excessive speeding is dangerous driving, or careless driving.

Somebody dies, vehicular manslaughter.

I agree with this assessment. We can put people in jail for up to five years for dangerous driving never mind the fines they could get...the concept of a provincial "street racing" offence is mostly redundant.

Likely good for some votes to some politician though.

FTA

[blueblood]

the people they are targetting here are the kids driving the souped Civics, Jettas and the like, not your everyday speeder.

The only part I like is the ability to impound immediately. As far as the rest of it goes, there are already laws on the books to deal with it. I dont get it. Excessive speeding is dangerous driving, or careless driving.

Somebody dies, vehicular manslaughter.

Would making racing a Criminal Code also help, I know lots of ex-drunk drivers who regret doing it in part that they can't leave the country.

[Riverwind]

I agree with this assessment. We can put people in jail for up to five years for dangerous driving never mind the fines they could get...the concept of a provincial "street racing" offence is mostly redundant.

Street racing takes two and current laws would only allow manslaughter charges against the driver of the car that actually ran someone down. A street racing law would make both drivers accountable.

A bit of thread drift but it is related to the probkem i see with current laws wrt street racing:

I have a big problem with the concept that only the person landing the 'killing blow' can be charged with murder. We have way too many cases of mob killings where it is virtually impossible to prove beyond reasonable doubt that any individual landed the killing blow. I think we should have a law that allows everyone who participates in a mob attack to be charged with the most serious offense and that prosecutors should only need to prove that the individual participated.

[FTA Lawyer]

I agree with this assessment. We can put people in jail for up to five years for dangerous driving never mind the fines they could get...the concept of a provincial "street racing" offence is mostly redundant.

Street racing takes two and current laws would only allow manslaughter charges against the driver of the car that acutally ran someone down. A street racing law would make both drivers accountable.

You're actually wrong about that...

Dangerous driving s. 249 of the criminal code exists if an ordinary prudent bystander would have perceived an obvious risk that lives or safety would be endangered by the person's driving.

As such, both participants in a street racing scenario would be committing the offence. Dangerous driving causing bodily harm ups the jail maximum to 10 years and if death is caused it goes up again to 14 years.

AND, if the circumstances are even more egregious than can be addressed by dangerous driving, you can charge criminal negligence...but you have to prove wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of others. Cause death in this way and maximum jail is life.

AND, if none of the above works, the other racer who doesn't run over the victim is still guilty of manslaughter as a party to the offence (i.e. an aider or abettor). In a case called R. v. Jackson, the SCC set out that the test is objective...The risk of death need not be foreseeable. Provided the unlawful act is inherently dangerous and harm to another that is neither trivial nor transitory is its foreseeable consequence, the resultant death amounts to manslaughter.

Now, with all of the above fully available to police and prosecutors for decades, one must again question whether this is just a political stunt. If life imprisonment doesn't deter a street racer, will a $10,000.00 fine?

Perhaps the real issue is the failure of government to give sufficient resources to prosecute these incidents properly with the laws we have...instead of trying to pass new laws to make themselves look good.

FTA

[Riverwind]

You're actually wrong about that...

ok.

I was thinking of Kosa and Bhalru case in Vancouver many years ago. I thought they got off but it appears they were convicted but were given absurdly light sentences.

[Wilber]

You're actually wrong about that...

ok.

I was thinking of Kosa and Bhalru case in Vancouver many years ago. I thought they got off but it appears they were convicted but were given absurdly light sentences.

They were but because they weren't Canadian citizens we were able to send their butts back to India despite the judicial system.

I agree with this assessment. We can put people in jail for up to five years for dangerous driving never mind the fines they could get...the concept of a provincial "street racing" offence is mostly redundant.

The guy who killed Jimmy Ng got two years less a day and that was considered a tough sentence. Probably didn't serve much more than half of it. His accomplice got probation.

The guy who ran down an vacationing doctor from New Zealand last summer and ran, then broke bail twice including running out on his sentencing hearing to Toronto where he was arrested with a rented car, was just sentenced to 11 months today. The defense was asking for 9 and the prosecution 21. One of the victims relatives who turned up for the sentencing hearing that the guy ran out on is an attorney in Seattle. Her disgust with the Canadian judicial system is intense to put it mildly.

Canadian maximum sentences are a cruel joke on victims and complete BS.

[Live From China]

Street racers are jerks! Especially those who act as if it is their right to do so and will are willing to fight anyone who challenges them on this point. Well, except for the police and any judge who sentences them.

Why don't we go the fine "one better":

Caught once and not only do you get fined, but you lose your vehicle. And your license is gone for 5 years.

Caught again, a higher fine, jail time and you lose your license for life.

Basically, the judicial system needs to start unleasing "the fury of hell" on these punks. Especially those who kill people while street racing.