stunt driving ontario

Ontario is cracking down on stunt driving and other dangerous traffic offences

Anyone who lives in and around Toronto knows that stunt driving and street racing have been ongoing issues that have worsened over the course of the pandemic while roads have been a little emptier.

Despite stay-at-home orders and gathering restrictions prohibiting things like car meets and rallies in Ontario, those who love to soup up their Hondas and perform donuts for a crowd have continued to congregate, going as far as lighting off fireworks from passenger's side windows, setting the ground alight and other very unnecessary exploits.

But local residents, police and the government have had enough, with the province now vowing to take far stronger enforcement action against such offences through a new piece of legislation.

As part of the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act, 2021, penalties for things like street racing, stunts and generally aggressive and unsafe driving would be heightened, changing the current license suspension period of seven-days to 30 days, and the current seven-day car impoundment period to two weeks.

There would also be harsher punishments for repeat offenders, who could have their driver's license suspended for an entire lifetime if they are caught stunt driving four times.

And, the threshold for what is considered street racing or stunt driving in the first place would be lowered to 40 km/h above the speed limit in areas that have a posted limit under 80 km/h.

Other key parts of the new bill, which has yet to be passed, are more governmental control of the tow truck industry — which has been somewhat of a wild west — and some interesting new ways of addressing some other big safety concerns on the thoroughfares of major cities in particular.

For example, there is a plan to add new automated cameras to catch drivers who fly past streetcars making stops to let passengers on and off — an all-too-common hazard in Toronto.

Also, the province wants to start keeping better track of things like car doorings and other cyclist woes.

Hopefully the tighter rules and tougher discipline will mean fewer street-racing yahoos putting themselves and others in danger on our roadways for the sake of a smokey, fiery vid for social media.

Lead photo by

Dave Bottoms


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