OPP battling ‘excessive’ stunt driving south of Ottawa

Dozens of drivers have been charged with stunt driving in one month, prompting Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to issue a plea for people to comply with the law.

Officials from the Russell County Detachment have pulled over 40 drivers for stunt driving since May 1. Police have been patrolling the southern portion of Highway 417 and rural roadways to combat what they call “excessive speeding and dangerous driving behaviours.”

One of the examples given by officers includes a person who was clocked going 91 km/h in a 40 km/h zone during school hours.

Other egregious incidents include 60 and 50 km/h over the limit in a 60 km/h zone, and 191 km/h and 179 km/h on Highway 417.

Each driver pulled over was charged with stunt driving and faces an immediate roadside licence suspension, a 14-day vehicle impound, and a minimum $2,000 fine if convicted, which officials say “may increase significantly depending on the circumstances.”

“Stunt driving remains a significant road safety issue, placing all road users at risk,” officials said.

Officers seeing stunt driving charges knocked down in court

Police are noting they pull over repeat offenders for stunt driving.

“If I’m dealing with someone at the roadside, I’ll see their driving history, and I’ll see their conviction,” Philip Kane, OPS’s street racing and stunt driving enforcement coordinator, said. “So, lots of times I’ll see they’ve been charged by Toronto or Halton (police) or OPP with stunt driving elsewhere.”

It’s also happened in the nation’s capital, where Kane will charge someone and then find out they were charged again with the same offence, but by the Ottawa detachment of the OPP.

“This is a frustrating thing that we as police officers have,” he said. “We can lay a charge for stunt driving, it goes to court and, not all the time, but lots of times it’ll get pleaded down to a lesser (charge).”

Instead of the previous stunt charge, it could be knocked down to speeding, which carries demerit points and lesser fines, whereas stunt driving has a higher penalty cost, along with a licence suspension and vehicle impound. Kane said that in a case where he has noticed the person was previously charged with stunt driving, but not convicted, he will add a note in his reports to showcase that this is not their first time speeding excessively.

For officers on the ground attempting to keep roadways safe, the difficulties that some could be avoiding the penalties for their behaviour is frustrating.

Julia Facca, Press Secretary for Ontario’s Attorney General, Doug Downey, said the province has some of the “toughest” penalties in the continent for driving.

“Our government is continuing to take action to strengthen road safety and protect families while building a more responsive justice system,” she said in a statement to CityNews. “This includes exploring new measures that would require impaired drivers to pay ongoing child support if they kill a parent or guardian.”