Police report spate of weekend stunt driving offences

Toronto police charged 11 people with stunt driving in the same weekend, all involving men from the city and its surrounding areas.

Acting Supt. Gord Jones of the traffic services unit said that the stunt-driving charges laid in Toronto accounted for almost a quarter of all such charges laid in the province over this same period.

On Tuesday, police released details on some of the alleged stunt-driving incidents that officers had reported between Friday and Monday:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Date	Time	Description of alleged incident	Type of vehicle	Age of Driver
Friday	10:38 p.m.	Police say a vehicle was clocked at 114 km/h in a 60km/h zone on Sheppard Avenue East, at Meadowvale Road. The driver was from Mississauga, Ont.	BMW 320i	25
Saturday	1:54 a.m.	A Milton, Ont., man was clocked driving at 169 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on the westbound Gardiner Expressway at Highway 427, police say.	Porsche 911	44
	2:40 a.m.	A Beeton, Ont., man was driving at 181 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on the westbound Gardiner Expressway at Highway 427, police say.	Porsche Cayenne	26
Sunday	7:15 p.m.	Police say vehicle was driving at 105 km/h in a 50 km/h zone on a southbound part of Islington Avenue at Barker Avenue. The driver was from Toronto.	Subaru Impreza	23
Monday	12:07 a.m.	Vehicle was caught going 155 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on the eastbound lanes of the Gardiner Expressway at Royal York Road, police say. The driver was from Oakville, Ont.	Acura MDX	19
	12:55 a.m.	A Toronto man was driving at 113 km/h along a 50 km/h zone on Midland Avenue, at Rural Avenue, police say.	Chrysler 200	26
	3 a.m.	Police say a driver from Mississauga, Ont., was going 148 km/h in a 90 km/h zone on the Gardiner Expressway, east of the South Kingsway.	Audi A8	24
	3:03 a.m.	A Mississauga, Ont., man was driving 163 km/h in a 90 km/h zone on the southbound Don Valley Parkway at York Mills Road, police say.	Audi A6	24
	3:27 a.m.	Police say a Hamilton man was driving 185 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on the westbound lanes of the Gardiner Expressway at Highway 427.	BMW 540i	32
	5:25 a.m.	Police say a vehicle on the eastbound lanes of the Gardiner Expressway was going 162 km/h in a 100 km/h zone. The driver was from Woodbridge, Ont.	Chrysler 300	27

Jones could not explain to reporters why police had seen so many cases in just a few days.

"Spring fever, perhaps? People combining alcohol and their driving and fast cars?" he said.

In one case, a driver was allegedly caught driving at 185 km/h.

At that speed, Jones said a car would move the length of a hockey rink in just 1.2 seconds. That same vehicle would need a stretch of roadway more than three hockey rinks long to come to a stop.

In Ontario, a person accused of stunt driving can have their driver’s licence immediately suspended for seven days. A vehicle can also be impounded for the same time period.

"It's a privilege to drive, not a right," said Jones.

"If you make a choice to drive aggressively, to drive impaired, to drive distracted or without a seatbelt on Toronto roads and choose to risk the safety of all road users, we will be there and we will get you."