Ontario threatens to crush street racing cars before they hit the street
Yesterday we learned that California has begun the practice of crushing modified cars obtained while being used for the illegal and dangerous activity of street racing. The hope is that seeing their expensive toys flattened by a compress will deter street racers from endangering the lives of others on public roads. Judging from the news coming out of Canada, it appears that the province of Ontario is prepared to go one step further. Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant has stated that the authorities in his province will confiscate and crush vehicles built for street racing before they even put rubber to pavement on city streets. "Just on the balance of probabilities if we can establish that a car is being used for the unlawful purpose of street racing, we will seize it and you will never see it again. We will crush your car, we will crush the parts."
The report from The Star in Ontario tells us that Bryant's fiery edict was given just a few days after a truck driver was killed after being cut off by three youths street racing on Highway 400. The driver, David Virgoe, drove his truck off the road and down an embankment rather than cross the divider and risk colliding with oncoming traffic.
More after the jump.
[Source: The Star]
Bryant likened a "juiced-up" car for street racing to "an explosive" and claimed "...we don't need to wait until that car hits the road fully loaded." While street racing is an indefensible act of stupidity, we wonder what standards Ontario will use to judge cars as intended for street racing before they are impounded and crushed and whether or not there will be an appeals process. While many U.S. states and Canadian provinces have laws governing vehicle modifications that dictate how much a car can be lowered, how dark its window tint can be, etc., we could easily imagine a vehicle that violates none of these rules yet still looks like a street racer. And what about show cars? Visit any Hot Import Nights show and you'll find plenty of trailer queens that produce ridiculous amounts of horsepower but are never driven hard for fear their paint might chip.
We certainly don't want to minimize how dangerous street racing is, but at the same time must remember that any vehicle driven straight off the dealer's lot has the potential to be driven dangerously by an idiot. It seems that the focus of Bryant's attack is misdirected at the machines used for street racing when it should be aimed at their operators.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
osnofla 2:32PM (6/21/2007)
that's crazy, you can't accuse someone of something they may do in the future, that makes no sense. that's a little minority report there
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bmoredlj 3:04PM (6/21/2007)
Sadly, not only can you accuse people here in the U.S., but you can arrest them and hold them without charges indefinitely in Guantanamo or a Navy brig! Though, I doubt they'd go that far for street racing...
osnofla 3:06PM (6/21/2007)
oh yeah i forgot about the patriot act and miilitary combatants
lintsniffer 3:32PM (6/21/2007)
Don't forget that Bush was spawned by Satan and all of the Republican party is reincarnated nazis out to get YOU!
amirite?
please say you'll never vote.
Amber 3:47PM (6/21/2007)
Have you heard of pre-emptive strike?
Attack anything that you may think might one day attack you. And it doesn't matter if you are right or wrong or anywhere in between.
Jordan 1982 4:01PM (6/21/2007)
Why is preemptive attacks on nations ok but not on people?
I mean if I am walking down a street and a man walks past me why cant I turn around walk towards the guy and kill him? Why cant I plead the defense that in my head I thought the guy might pull a gun and shoot me in the back while I walked on?
It's ok To invade Afghanistan because Osama is apparently there (no one has seen him for 6 years), or invade Iraq because they can fire WMDs at us because they feel like it (They have not had any WMDs for 18 years) or bomb Iran because they will send nukes over to Kansas (when all other countries say they will never do that), but we can't apply this to anything else in our lives at a local level?
Kevin 2:35PM (6/21/2007)
So does that mean cars like the STi with its famous wing are suspect to street racing on the show room floor?
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Greg 2:36PM (6/21/2007)
Heck, look at what rich lunatics do in their Ferrari Enzos. Would you confiscate a NISMO 350Z after it drives off the new car lot??
I agree with crushing after they're observed racing, although that could be too late for innocent bystanders...
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Bill 2:47PM (6/21/2007)
So I guess street racers have nothing to loose….might as well run from the police and possibly kill someone. I say put them in jail and increase the fines.
paul34 2:47PM (6/21/2007)
Yea, I guess that that *could* be ok (to crush after racing), but then again... how many people have been wrongly accused of racing? I've already gotten enough stares from officers... just because I drive a manual. I drive an all-stock car, don't rev at stoplights, don't rev high on launches, etc.
But just because you can hear the engine in first gear, it attracts a lot of attention. Just like the idiots in some nieghborhoods who run out into the street waving their arms to SLOW DOWN when you're going 25 mph in a lower gear... thus higher engine noise LOL.
Most people are too stupid to know that engine noise != speed (this goes for ricers too hahaha)
Around here (Florida), you already go to prison if you're convicted of street racing. So honestly, I don't see how that's any less of an incentive to NOT street race than getting your car crushed.
Regardless, all we can hope for for street racers is that they skid off the road into a ditch, or concrete wall, hopefully killing no one other than themselves. But if only there was a way to ensure Darwinism without risk to others...
Barney 6:38PM (6/21/2007)
"So I guess street racers have nothing to loose….might as well run from the police and possibly kill someone. "'
It's what they have been doing. Now they loose their car before they can.
paul34 2:42PM (6/21/2007)
Umm, what? Wow, this really crosses the line. If this was in the States, I'd say its high time to go burn some government buildings...
"look like its for street racing"... are you kidding me? Do you know how many people street race in their unmodified cars? Heavily modified cars? Bicycles? Trucks?
Yea, so I guess you'll have to crush every vehicle out there... whatever.
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Jay 12:49PM (12/20/2007)
you're totally right I street race and does that mean i'm going to somebody some day no because i know how far to push it.
Solo Racer 2:42PM (6/21/2007)
Ridiculous. You can't suppose that because a car is modified it will be used illegally.
My race car is modified for, uh, racing, but not street racing. Would Mr. Bryant purport that were I living in Ontario that my car could be confiscated and crushed despite evidence that it wasn't built for illegal purposes?
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spdracerut 2:44PM (6/21/2007)
I personally think every SUV on 22"-26" chrome wheels should be crushed. They pose a danger to everyone else because they handle like crap. They're also, big, heavy, and the rules of physics say the heavier object usually wins in a collision. I guess every Shelby Mustang, Z06, Viper, Ferrari, Porshce, Lambo will get crushed too. I mean, they're designed to be the fastest cars on earth, they must be street racing!
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srivendel 2:46PM (6/21/2007)
More hysterical politicians trying to earn political capital for getting tough on young men. I would hate to be the prosecutor who had to "prove" that a modified car was designed for the "purpose" of street racing.
One more reason not to move to Canada.
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FZ 9:19PM (6/21/2007)
I like your logic here. I'm not sure if you are aware, but Ontario is a province, while Canada is a country. Still dont get it? I will put that in American terms. Ontario is a state, Canada is a country. If you can wrap your head around that fact, then you will also appreciate that each seperate region within the country has seperate laws.
Kim 2:46PM (6/21/2007)
This is just ridiculous! Stupid politicians and law enforcement really don't know what the hell is going on in their own streets.
Street racing is not limited to modified cars! A stock Hyundai Excel could be street racing. A stock BMW 335i could be street racing. A Lambo Murciealago could be street racing. Its not the car, its the mentality!
You might as well crush almost ANY car that is sold!
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0mega 2:47PM (6/21/2007)
Wow. This is a LITTLE rediculous... I know so many people local to me with "Street racing" parts that could easily be profiled as street racers (Fart cans, massive body kits, huge stereo's) that just like the look of it... Im not a fan of the Japanese tuner scene, I'm more of a muscle car person, but this is just rediculous... and all the people that have half a brain and read about this are just going to start using a sleeper set up...
Off the lot cars like the STi may be in trouble as well... there is an STi around here with some minor mods that make it stand out (powder coated rims, and different headlights, and no STi foglight filler ) but the guy driving it is always good with it... no fart can, always goes the speed limit... hopefully they don't get overly enthusiastic 0_0
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Andy 3:20PM (6/21/2007)
If a street racer kills a pedestrian while racing, kill him too. That'll end it.
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