LexFather

TORONTO - Ontario drivers can still get tickets for speeding but street racing cases currently before the courts may get thrown out after the province's street racing law was deemed unconstitutional.

Toronto lawyer James Morton says the ruling by Judge G.J. Griffin of Napanee strikes down the law because it allows people to be convicted and face jail time even if they're morally blameless.

In his decision, the judge didn't prevent police from handing out tickets but the move will put cases on hold pending an appeal by the Crown.

Even if the decision doesn't hold up, says Morton, the charges may get thrown out anyway because of delays.

The province brought in stiffer fines and automatic suspensions of driver's licences in 2007 in hopes of cracking down on dangerous driving.

Under the law, minimum fines for street racers were $2,000, with a maximum of $10,000 - a penalty Ontario said at the time was the highest in Canada for street racing.

mmarshall

What's morally "blameless" about street racing? It is, in fact, one of the most foolish and dangerous things one can do with a car; putting your own life, and the lives of others in danger.

I've seen a lot of teen-agers and young adults killed in street racing, particularly in V8-powered Mustangs.

This ruling is going to be overturned faster than a pancake at IHOP.

ivanz

The name is misleading...it only has some relation to actual street racing.
The law gives police powers to suspend your license and impound your car automatically for things like:
- going 50km/h over the limit
- anything the officer suspects to be racing

The first one is a non-defendable offense, which means you cannot appeal it.

The second one gives the officer full discretion to be judge, jury, and executioner. That means they can impound your car and levy a huge fine for almost any reason.

They can also put you in jail up to 6 months without a trial under the law!

According to CBC, more than 10,000 people have been charged under this law.

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iTrader: (1)

Agreed, kinda, but the problem was the ridiculous description of street racing.

TRDFantasy

It is nice to see the justice system is being fair and just.

The new laws that were introduced against street racing went too far in terms of giving too much power and rights to officers.

mmarshall

Maybe. That's a debatable subject, but for a judge to say that people can be morally blameless for street racing, to me, is absurd.

FisforFast

Do you realize how difficult it is to prove, in court, that the suspect was engaged in a an illegal 'street race?' It would require a confession. It would be unconstitutional to assume that because two cars in close vacinity are speeding that it is, in fact, a street race. Unfortunately the law does not allow oneself to simply 'guess' or 'assume,' at least not here in Canada. You must provide irrefutable proof. Besides, here in Canada you spend more time in prison for neglecting a dog than you get for killing another human being... so I doubt that any prison time at all would be attached to street racing.

mmarshall

I also depends on how fast they were going when caught. In many jurisdictions (including mine), going 20 MPH or more over the speed limit (which would be about 28 KPH more in Canada) automatically means a reckless-driving charge. There's isn't much difference between a reckless-driving charge and street racing....it's in the same category.

FisforFast

Around here 180 km/h in a 100 km/h zone is $1080 fine and 10 demerit points... I found out the hard way. I'm wondering how fast one would have to go to get a reckless endangerment/driving charge.

mmarshall

Quebec, of course, where you live, is different from the rest of Canada in many ways. How its traffic laws compare to those of neighboring Ontario, the thread topic, or, as I said in my last post, to those of many other jurisdictions, I can't say.

IS-SV

In CA there are plenty of existing laws to enforce that relate to illegal street racing.

Lexmex

In Mexico City, they had such a rule promulgated not too long before I left. Don't ever remember a court challenge, but do remember plenty of stories in the paper about people getting nailed for street racing and getting their licenses pulled.

FisforFast

I think that it must be remembered that while passing a law such as this one would be easily done in most U.S. states, here in Canada we have this thing called the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms that stands somewhat above the constitution... the lawyer in question is likely arguing that the passing of laws similar to those in California would infringe upon the Charter.

You've probably guessed already that the Charter is very difficult to get around here in Canada, especially in Quebec.