OPP seize dozens of vehicles under new speeding law

Last Updated: Monday, October 1, 2007 | 4:41 PM ET

CBC News

Almost 50 people have temporarily lost their vehicles and their driver's licences since Sunday, when police began to enforce a new Ontario law intended to crack down on street racing and dangerous driving.

'One young man actually started to cry as his mother's car was towed away.'— OPP Sgt. Cam Wooley

As of 3 p.m. Monday, 47 vehicles had been impounded provincewide under the the Safer Roads for a Safer Ontario Act, said Ontario Provincial Police spokesman Sgt. Cam Wooley. The act came into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 30.

The accused drivers will pay the cost of towing and storing their vehicles for seven days — about $1,000 — as well as fines of $2,000 to $10,000. They could also face jail time.

Wooley said the vehicles impounded include:

• A motorcycle clocked at more than 200 kilometres an hour.
• Three rental vehicles whose renters will now have to pay for an extra week.

Some drivers took the penalty particularly hard, he said, adding: "One young man actually started to cry as his mother's car was towed away."

OPP Chief Supt. Bill Grodzinski said police are trying to make aggressive driving socially unacceptable.

"We want to demonize aggressive drivers, much as we've demonized impaired drivers and the reason is very simple," he said. "They're killing and maiming people on our highways and that's got to stop."

The new law allows police to issue an immediate seven-day driver's licence suspension and impound a vehicle for seven days for "driving stunts" such as travelling 50 kilometres or more over the posted speed limit.

Other parts of the law:

• Ban motor vehicles from highways if they have a connected nitrous oxide system, which can boost the vehicle's ability to accelerate.
• Allow courts to suspend a driver's licence for up to 10 years for a second conviction within 10 years of the first. (The maximum suspension for a first offence is two years.)
• Impose escalating non-criminal penalties for drivers with blood alcohol concentrations between 0.05 and 0.08 grams per 100 ml of blood. (Under the Criminal Code, 0.08 grams per 100 millilitres is the legal limit; above that, people can be criminally charged even if they do not appear impaired.) A driver found with a blood alcohol level in this "warn" range for the first time will be suspended for three days; the second time, the driver will be suspended for seven days and must take a "remedial measures course," the third time, the driver will be suspended for 30 days, must take the remedial measures course and must have pass a breathalyzer test to unlock the ignition of his or her car for six months.
• Increase use of devices that require convicted drunk drivers to pass a  breathalyzer test to unlock the ignition of their car.
• Allow flashing blue lights in combination with flashing red lights on police service vehicles.