A joint project between Ontario Provincial Police, York Regional Police and other services in Ontario has resulted in hundreds of charges related to stunt driving, speeding, and other driving offences in just two months.
Project Buccaneer, which also involved Peel Police and Toronto Police, is a collaboration to take illegal and dangerous driving off Ontario roads and parking lots. In May and June of this year, 35 criminal code charges were laid, 104 charges for speeding and 20 charges for stunt driving contrary to the Highway Traffic Act (HTA). Police also laid 261 charges for other HTA offences.
A video shared by OPP highlights the types of dangerous behaviours they have seen.
Tune to our live media conference at 10AM today in relation to hundreds of illegal racing and stunt driving charges laid in the GTA. pic.twitter.com/sAoNdqQpV9
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) July 27, 2022
Speaking at a news conference about the project, OPP Det. Insp. Kevin Connor, who is the project lead, said penalties for stunt driving include driver's licence suspension and vehicle impounding.
"The risk is certainly not worth the reward,” Connor said.
York Regional Police Deputy Chief Cecile Hammond said there are other, more severe consequences as well.
"As police officers, we are well aware of the devastating results from speeding and the dangerous operation of motor vehicles. What we don't often see are the broken families and the heartache they carry for the rest of their lives. Our objective is always to ensure the safety of all road users in our communities," she said.
Between January 2021 and April 2022, police collectively received nearly 2,900 calls referencing excessive speed and illegal racing, 4,100 referencing street racing, and 75 about collisions caused by street racing.
"We’ve heard your concerns and have responded with consistent enforcement,” Hammond said.
The project also sends a message to dangerous drivers that "we are not going away," she added. For their part, York police will continue enforcement on the ground and from the air to tackle illegal racing and stunt driving in York Region.
Police also had another message for drivers who want to race; take it to the track.
OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said there are many officers who are a fan of racing but only when it's done in a sanctioned, controlled environment like a track.
"I love cars as well, but when it comes down to the driving that we’ve seen in the video we shared, that is completely irresponsible, reckless and deadly and we’ve seen those consequences,” he said.
He encouraged drivers who want race to do so safely and visit a track like Toronto Motorsports Park where they can push their vehicle to the limit legally.
