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A video from CityTV with reporter Dwight Drummond. Covering the new speeding law and what it means to the people.

Link: http://www.drivers.com/article/949/

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According to local media reports, new "safer roads" legislation in Canada's province of Ontario not only comes down hard on drivers exceeding the speed limit by 50 km/hr (30 mph) it's also tough on "stunt driving" such as doing 'wheelies' or 'donuts.'

One police officer predicted a "shock and awe" reaction when the realization of the law's impact hits the street racing community.

When the law came into effect at 12.01 a.m. on September 30 it didn't take long to pull in some culprits. There was lots of warning in the media but 28 drivers were charged the first day. The police had some dramatic examples:

"A young man started crying as his mom's car was impounded," OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley, told the media. Another driver lost the new car he'd just purchased when he was caught at 174 km/h on Highway 401, which has a 100 km/h speed limit. "He only had the car for two days, and the car will be impounded longer than he owned it," Woolley noted. Two drivers had their rental cars impounded, leaving them with an extra week's rental but no car.

However, the law is not just about speeding. Included under the heading of stunt driving: unsafe lane changes, "people slaloming through traffic at high speed", and perhaps even drivers doing wheelies or donuts.

"There's a lot of room for the officer to use their own judgment," Sgt Woolley told the Press. "Anyone driving in a risky manner, driving an unsafe vehicle, driving double the speed limit on wet or icy roads,'' could be risking charges under the new Act.

Apart from the more flagrant driving offences such as racing and doing stunts there could be more mundane ways in which drivers could infract the new laws. For example, one observer pointed out that a driver coming off a motorway with a 100 km/hr speed limit might wind up in a 50km/hr zone without realizing it. However, it is not normal for speed limits to drop so dramatically and there is usually an intermediate speed zone between the two (for example 80 km/hr).

Law resulted from tragedies
Support for the new law was boosted by recent deaths in the province due to high speed driving. In January, 2006, a high-speed driver killed Tahir Khan, a 46-year-old Pakistani immigrant just days away from obtaining his Canadian citizenship. Police said two 18-year-olds were racing in their parents' Mercedes-Benzes through an upscale Toronto neighborhood when Khan’s cab was hit. They alleged the cars hit speeds of up to 140 km/hr (87 mph) in a 50 km/hr (30 mph) zone.

Another alleged case of street racing concluded in a Toronto courtroom on October 3, 2007, when two young drivers were spared jail time following a crash that killed the parents of an 8-yr-old girl.

Rob and Lisa Manchester, aged 46 and 43, died after their vehicle was broadsided as it turned left from a busy street north of the city. They were hit by one of two Hondas that police alleged were racing. Their car was ripped apart by the impact.

Both Hondas had been modified with larger tires and exhausts, lowered suspensions, and were adapted with air intakes that allow the use of high-octane fuel, police said. Local drivers Ruben Rodrigues, 22, and Marco Gasparro, 19, were sentenced October 3.

Justice William Gorewich said he did not believe the drivers were racing when Rodriguez's Honda broadsided the Manchesters' vehicle. He sentenced Rodriguez to a conditional sentence of two years less a day to be served at his home, when he's not working or attending school. Rodriguez was also banned from driving for five years and must perform 150 hours of community service. Police estimated Rodriguez was driving 20 to 32 km/hr hour over the speed limit when he hit the Manchesters.

Gasparro pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and received two years probation, a fine of $2,000 and 100 hours of community service. He was banned from driving for 18 months.

Sgt. Dave Mitchell of York Regional Police said he was "disappointed" by the sentences since the two drivers had been driving faster than other traffic and weaving in and out for several kilometers. Under the new street racing law the sentence would have been different, Mitchell believed.

A number of jurisdictions in the U.S. have administrative license suspensions and vehicle impoundment laws. However, they are normally associated with drinking/driving laws.

More vehicle impoundment laws

Jurisdictions are increasingly turning to impoundment as a preventative measure because studies show it's effective. MADD cites studies showing that 50 – 75% of DUI offenders continue to drive without a license during their suspension/revocation period and "over 60 percent of third-time offenders who have their license suspended or revoked commit some form of traffic violation during their suspension/revocation period.

When vehicles are impounded, repeat offences are reduced. "In Ohio," says MADD, "even two years after the sanction period, those drivers who had had their vehicles impounded still had at least 35 percent fewer DUIs compared with those who had not."