Stiffer Laws, Guidelines in Place to Curb Street Racing
Street racing in Manitoba, especially in Winnipeg, has been a long-standing problem for authorities and citizens, resulting in property damage and considerable loss of life. Statistics show that from 2000 to 2004 more than 150 people were killed in street racing accidents across Canada. The largest percentage of fatalities were individuals in the 18 to 21 age group. Nationwide car crashes caused 50% of deaths in the 15 to 19 age bracket.
Unfortunately, however, street racing doesn't just pose a danger to the people in the cars. Speaking to CBC News in 2006, Bruce MacFarlane, whose niece suffered permanent brain damage after a crash in Winnipeg in 2002 caused by street racing, said, "The main problem of criminal street racing is that someone is converting a car into a weapon. Everyone in its path could be a victim, could be either injured or killed." Considered an outgrowth of Sunday night cruising, the long-standing social phenomenon along Portage Avenue centering on showing off cars and spending time with friends, authorities have increasingly sought more stringent punishments for street racers.
Amendments to the Manitoba Highway Traffic Act in June 2008 have consequently laid out the stiffest set of racing punishments to date including:
• $5000 fine
• license suspension of up to a year
• 48-hour impound.
Cars even suspected of being involved in a race may be impounded and law enforcement officers have been given fairly broad leverage in interpreting racing behavior. The police may consider:
• the speed at which the vehicles were driven
• whether there was a sudden, rapid acceleration
• if the incident occurred in an area known as a racing location
• if communication occurred between the drivers, by word or gesture, that could be construed
as an agreement or challenge to race
• if evidence exists of planning and intent to race
• if evidence exists that bets or wagers were placed
• if the driver or any passengers of one involved vehicle knew the driver or passengers of the
other involved vehicle.
While residents and business adjacent to known cruising areas have complained for years about the increased weekend traffic and associated problems, street racing elevates the issue to a potentially fatal situation involving innocent motorists and pedestrians who are guilty of nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Authorities hope that the new laws and guidelines will help them to put a stop to this reckless, thrill seeking behavior.
