New police campaign to target stunt driving, excessive speeding

A new province-wide police campaign is looking to crack down on stunt driving, street racing, and excessive speeding on Ontario roadways.

The awareness and enforcement campaign “Project ERASE,” or “Eliminate Racing Activity on Streets Everywhere,” began on Tuesday and will see police in London and across the province join together with the goal of “eliminating street racing and other high-risk driving behaviours,” police said in a media release.

So far this year, 11 motorists in the city have been charged with violating Ontario’s stunt-driving legislation, police said.

The start of “Project ERASE” comes four days after Middlesex OPP conducted a pair of speed enforcement patrols on the 401 and 402 on Friday.

In all, 68 drivers were caught driving 30 km/h or more over the speed limit, while two drivers, one of them a 22-year-old woman with a toddler in the backseat, were charged with racing a motor vehicle after they were nabbed driving 50 km/h or more over the limit, police said.

Last month, officers from the same detachment charged a 20-year-old London man with racing a motor vehicle after he was caught driving 182 km/h on the westbound Hwy. 401.

According to the Ministry of Transportation, vehicles crashing on the highway at 50 km/h or more over the 100-km/h limit, see a risk of fatality or serious injury five times greater than a vehicle driving at the posted speed.

Penalties for driving 50 km/h or more over the speed limit include:

• suspension and vehicle impoundment for seven days;
• and, upon conviction, a $2,000-to-$10,000 fine, six demerit points, up to six months in jail, and up to two years suspension for a first conviction.

Drivers convicted a second time within 10 years can face a licence suspension of up to 10 years.

“Aggressive driving and street racing are dangerous, unlawful activities which put innocent people at risk of injury and death,” London police said.

“Motorists should be reminded of the serious consequences for this type of driving behaviour and be mindful that the real finish line in a street race could be the morgue.”

— With files from Matthew Trevithick