Triumphrat

mglemans86 · 08-16-2007, 11:42 AM

I guess I'll steer clear of Canada

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/19/1918.asp

and

Tess Kalinowski
Transportation Reporter

Drivers caught travelling more than 50 km/h over the speed limit will be subject to Ontario's tough new street racing penalties, Premier Dalton McGuinty will announce today.

"Starting this fall, police will have new tools to protect our families from street racers and excessive speeders," a senior government source said last night.

The harsher penalties, passed by Ontario MPPs this spring after a flurry of street-racing crashes, will include fines of up to $10,000 for offenders convicted of street racing, and give police the power to impound the car and suspend the licence of suspected racers.

Today's pre-election announcement at Buttonville Airport will also include $2 million in funding for an OPP plane and overhead surveillance equipment to help catch dangerous drivers.

It comes in the wake of a June call by OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino for tougher measures to deal with street racers and extreme speeders.

He also said police need aerial surveillance tools that would allow them to observe speeders from above and radio ahead so cruisers could nab offenders while avoiding dangerous road chases.

Police sources say a small plane with overhead wings is a more cost-effective and safer means of catching high-speed offenders, drunk drivers who may be weaving across lanes and tractor trailers operating in the passing lanes. A small plane costs about $200 an hour to operate – about the price of one average speeding ticket – rather than about $1,000 an hour for a helicopter.

The OPP already has two helicopters, one in Orillia and one in Thunder Bay, used primarily for search and rescue efforts, said the source.

The OPP has tested aerial road surveillance over the last two summers in rental and loaner planes. Provincial police used planes to monitor the roads between 1965 and 1981 but the program was discontinued for cost reasons.

Planes have been used very effectively in Ohio where state police have about a dozen small aircraft, according to Brian Patterson, president of the Ontario Safety League.

As well, clarification about what constitutes street racing could avoid controversy like the one that surfaced in May, after a judge ordered that two teens would serve no jail time for their role in the speed-related accident that killed taxi driver Tahir Khan, 46, on Mount Pleasant Rd. in Jan. 2006.

The judge rejected Crown arguments that the teens were racing.

LoVel · 08-16-2007, 11:51 AM

I think I will reduce my complaining about the state troopers in Alabama. My last ticket was for 95mph in a 55mph and I got it reduced to 70mph in court. Wasn't a state trooper but Alabama speeding laws don't sound so bad now.

Tbirdnz · 08-16-2007, 06:01 PM

Well they've upped the fines to pay for the aerial surveillance, plus $2m in set-up costs. I've no sympathy for anyone travelling 50km/h over the limit in city streets. Problem is most of them will be kids and there's no way they are going to get $10,000 off them unless they confiscate their cars which they can do here.

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Ride on !

jimballard · 08-16-2007, 06:25 PM

Just chalk it up to "revenue enhancement"....they've got to find the money somewhere to pay for the socialized medical care, etc. Just being facetious, of course...

"Of course, that's just my opinion...I could be wrong"! (Dennis Miller): Jim

trypcil · 08-17-2007, 12:49 AM

In this sue happy nation we could end up with a situation where the vehicle manufacturers might end up being sued - on the basis of providing vehicles that incite speeding. Most vehicles are perfectly capable of doing the 'ton plus' and it could be argued that that fact alone is inciting speeding. Why is the end user so often penalised, when we only reach for the dreams presented in the commercials that entice us to buy the vehicle in the first place. The common tax payer is just being exploited for the excesses of others, who really should know better. Perhaps!

Imagine owning a car that looks like it could do a buck fifty but is governed to a max of 70 !?

HiDesert · 08-17-2007, 02:34 AM

Way too many people are sheep. Of course, some will think this is perfectly justified, but huge portions of the population will see this as severely disproportionate. What will they do? My money's on nothing.

Of course, there's always the remote possibility that voters will 'throw the bums out' over this. Hope springs eternal!!!

meinschaft · 08-17-2007, 03:11 PM

Interesting that this story about aerial speed enforcement comes the same week we learn that in BushWorld the government will increase use of military (as well as private) satellites to spy on the populace. It would appear that the Canadians are a couple of steps behind, but headed in that direction.

omaz · 08-17-2007, 04:24 PM

Hmmm. The last time I drove in Ontario, I remember the speed limit on the superhighway I was driving on being in the 60 MPH range. In order to safely keep up with the traffic flow and not cause a hazard by driving too slowly, I was forced to drive at around 70 to 75 MPH in the slow lane. Cars that were passing me had to be doing 80 MPH and higher.

These people seemed to me to be ordinary citizens going about their daily business. Definitely NOT street racers. Just drivers with very heavy right feet! Of course this was over 30 years ago. Maybe things have changed in Ontario since then.

Tbirdnz · 08-17-2007, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omaz

Hmmm. The last time I drove in Ontario,..... Of course this was over 30 years ago. Maybe things have changed in Ontario since then.

Yep they've ditched the buggies since then omas and have now got automobiles.

Incidentally the bold type is heavy on the eyes, maybe just me ?

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Ride on !

peter_s · 08-18-2007, 08:23 AM

Sadly we have had some horrible deaths in Toronto involving kids racing, for the most part, around the city. This law is reactionary and I suspect not really going to deter the ones that insist on street racing.

Its too bad because Ontario has some ab****ely fantastic bike roads and despite its population it is quite easy to find yourself alone on a country side road for a very long stretch, at which time its very hard not to surpass the 80kmh speed limit. Under the new law you can be deemed to be "racing" even if your alone and as a result get a very heavy fine, kinda sucks but we dont make the laws.

Peter.