[maggio]

FYI- to Canadians on this Forum, this was in the news yesterday, Ontario has drafted revised Legislation in an effort to reduce street racing; specifically a fine of up to $10k and losing your vehicle for a week. This is just the beginning, other provinces will follow Ontario's lead and criminalize street racing further, my point being, if caught, a good Prosecutor will more than ruin your day, it could ruin your life. I know several provincial prosecutors who have advised heir local Police against high income middle-aged guys caught racing, it's not pretty, it destroys reputations, clients go elsewhere, and more seriously an employer may have legitimate grounds to dismiss and Banks and Lenders may seek to void previous agreements, ie: a mortgage or line of credit. (note- all offenses are public domain, the liklihood of keeping a charge off the radar are remote)

Bottom line, regardless of your position on street racing, the consequences of being caught are too severe- pay a visit to your local track to scratch that itch.

Just my 2 cents!

[tirana]

This legislation is well overdue and it leaves much to the judges discretion. The streets are not race tracks and there are too many innocent victims of idiots who think they own the road (often in their parents cars).

[inTgr8r]

Absolutely agree......
But they need the insurance industry to get with the program;
So that you can take a car to the track w/o fear of loosing your coverage.
Or at least make rider policy coverage available.

(I know DE events are supposed to be OK)

[spacedogg]

Interesting. Although...I wonder what evidence would be necessary to constitute "racing" as opposed to "speeding".

I wouldn't want a cop to pull me over on the highway for going 10 km/h over the limit and claim that he saw me "racing" when in fact I was simply speeding. I would assume the cop would have to pull two vehicles over in order establish two vehicles were racing each other...

[maggio]

Originally Posted by spacedogg

Interesting. Although...I wonder what evidence would be necessary to constitute "racing" as opposed to "speeding".

I wouldn't want a cop to pull me over on the highway for going 10 km/h over the limit and claim that he saw me "racing" when in fact I was simply speeding. I would assume the cop would have to pull two vehicles over in order establish two vehicles were racing each other...

Good point, the Police, in most Provinces, have a great deal of latitiude in this regard, especially given the publicity it has generated- note, the RCMP will stop you, and charge you with dangerous driving, or the like, if you are caught weaving through traffic with another vehicle, even if you are not exceeding the speed limit.

Also, red light cameras are admissable in court.

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by maggio

Also, red light cameras are admissable in court.

In Ontario maybe. There is no such thing a "Canada" when it comes to driving laws. Strictly provincial jurisidiction.

[Lewis@MWDesign]

Couple years back I got pulled over by RCMP for apparently "street racing" a Silver BMW when there was no BMWs in the vicinity but my own. I admitted I was maybe 10-15 km/h over the limit but the cops perception of a street racer is too stereotypical. If this system does come into play here in BC I hope the cops have a fair amount of training to distinguish the average speeder from a real street racer. Also local medias don't really help either...

[SGxi]

There are a lot of red light cameras installed recently around my neighborhood, but there are not signs about these cameras. Anyone know if they are actually active?

[maggio]

Originally Posted by Jaws

In Ontario maybe. There is no such thing a "Canada" when it comes to driving laws. Strictly provincial jurisidiction.

Not entirely, there is legislation pending to create some traffic offences- such as street racing- national- so, one would be charged similarly regardless of the province in which the offense occured

[maggio]

Originally Posted by SGxi

There are a lot of red light cameras installed recently around my neighborhood, but there are not signs about these cameras. Anyone know if they are actually active?

In most cities they move them around to trick you!

[tirana]

The efficacy of this legislation will be dependent upon the judges. Since the offence is so much more serious than speeding or even dangerous driving, there will clearly be an increased burden of evidence. That's why the law will probably primarily be used to prosecute after an accident (such as the Mount Pleasant Ave crash last year or the Vancouver cruiser T-bone). Right now, offenders can only be charged with dangerous driving and possibly manslaughter or intent to cause bodily harm.

With the new legislation, it should also be possible to act in a preventative manner if there is evidence of a street race without an incident (e.g. video footage). It should therefore act as a deterrant. It's doubtful that a spontaneous rev-off from a red light would stand up in court as reason to confiscate a vehicle although leaving 10 foot strips of rubber on the road will probably not look too good in court....

[Snecro]

Good points.

As others have noted, we should remember that Criminal Offences are federal (such as manslaughter, assault, etc.), while the Provinces only have jurisdiction over regulatory matters (such as issuing driving licences, issuing fines, collecting administrative fees, etc). So the pending Provincial legislation must be of a regulatory nature, they are only allowed to have fines imposed and licences revoked. However, the burden of proving the breach of regulation for a provincial offence is only a balance of probabilities, a lower evidentiary standard than a criminal offence (which is a "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard).

So I'm thinking that this provincial scheme may be a more powerful deterrent than the federal criminal legislation since it will be easier to prove the offence than if it was criminal. With this new, less burdensome standard for a provincial offences, I think we'll see a lot more fines/licence revocations, regardless of whether the "offender" was actually racing, since Police will feel more confident with meeting the evidentiary standard.

edit: I just read more on the legislation, and it seems that the Province is actually proposing to prosecute street racers under the federal criminal code for certain offences (unlike what they currently do under the Provincial Highway Traffic Act), so everything I said in the paragraph above regarding burdens of proof may not be true....it will likely be hard to prosecute with a higher burden.

[M4TW]

While criminal law is under federal jurisdiction, the provinces have the power to impose terms of imprisonment for provincial offences. Whenever one is facing a fine (with imprisonment for default of payment) or imprisonment, the offence must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and the accused has the full benefit of civil rights accorded to him or her under the Charter.

[marcvtec]

Police in my opinion have to much power, needless to say I have had many positive and negitive experiences with them, over the years.

we cannot let them have the abitity to say "you we racing" that's just bs, especially considering the fines,etc.

I do not race at all, for the most part, so this will not effect me.

LOL I got a ticket for my stock exhaust and had to waste my time going to the dealer to get something in writing says it was stock. Than I had to goto 1st attendace and speak with the J.P. to get it drop. It was dropped, but he asked me "was I being rude to the cop, and or swearing" yaaa okayyy I thought. What a bunch or morons IMO.