A constant menace on Burlington streets, speeders and racers keep cops busy

Drivers using Burlington streets as their personal raceways are keeping police busy.

Halton Regional Police say they have stopped 54 vehicles since the beginning of this year for what the law calls “stunt driving.”

In Ontario, a motorist can be charged with stunt driving for excessive speed, street racing, taking part in a contest involving driving or engaging in any dangerous or aggressive stunts on the road.

For the most part, it is those driving over the speed limit who cause the trouble.

“It’s a problem, for sure,” a policing official told inhalton.com. “Some drivers, often young men, think the roads are theirs for the taking and drive at speeds that are far too fast and put themselves and others at risk. Police capture a lot of these aggressive drivers, but officers can’t be everywhere.”

The police source said not only are most drivers not skilled enough to handle the high speeds, but our roads are not designed to be race tracks.

“The technical layout of the roads doesn’t support high speeds,” the source continued. “One wrong move can send a driver flying off the road and into a wall or tree or pole. What you see in movies and professional race courses is designed for high speeds and stunts. Most drivers don’t seem to know that or they don’t care. In any case, it’s just not safe to speed or race.”

The most recent cases had Halton police clocking drivers going 109 and 106 km/h  at a notorious location where some feel inclined to put the pedal to the metal. The location is Guelph Line near Number 2 Sideroad.

This incident, which took place last Friday (April 14), led to several charges against the drivers and having their vehicles seized.

“Extreme speeds endanger all road users,” wrote Halton police on social media when the arrests were made adding that the department is working towards “vision zero” and vow to keep aggressive drivers off the road.