Jay and I get unfairly booked for street racing.
 

July 7th, at approximately 1:15am Jay and I, as well as a riced out Golf driver were pulled over and charged with street racing. Circumstances surrounding the event are as below.

Going eastbound on Highway 7. Stopped at Swansea, speed clearly marked as 70KPH. We accelerated from a stoplight up to the limit. I was side-by-side with Jay in the left lane while the Golf was ahead of Jay. At no point did I pass Jay, and at no point did either of us change lanes. I did not redline and we accelerated to the speed limit. The cop then turns on his lights and waves all of us over. We were then told that we were being charged for street racing, and our cars were being towed.

- The cop did not radar us, as he explicitly said that he did not have us clocked.
- He said we squealed our tires but both Jay and I had traction control on. We also took a picture of our dashboards showing no DSC off light.
- The cop said he had a witness say that we had been flying down Highway 7. Jay and I had been careful to follow the speed limit, especially in the 50KPH zone.
- The cop did not take down a witness statement or any information.
- The cop is basing this on the fact that he "feels" we were street racing. It is all a matter of interpretation.
- The cop is inexperienced. Faded talked to him and he said that this is the first ever stop he made for street racing

Personally, I think that as Jay and I didn't exceed the speed limit, there is no case here. Our licences and cars are both gone for 7 days however, and if anyone wants to give some advice it would be much appreciated.

^ That totally sucks! Really sorry to hear about your troubles with this. Wish I had some advice for you but I don't know anything about the street racing law.

No case, just like you said. I wouldn't worry too much about it, get a lawyer and it'll be dismissed with the quickness.
Sucks you cant drive for 7 days though.

I suppose you know that he can do this or ticket you just for accelerating too fast right???

I wouldn't take this. Stir up some sh!t. Call his CO to complain, write to the newspapers and definitely get a lawyer. Getting the charges dropped would not be enough to satisfy me, this guy needs some discipline and you need some compensation for the inconvenience.

exhibition of speed.

where do you live? I assume it's not the US since you mentioned the speed in km/h.

holy shit this is terrible... what we now is WCS' signature display pic.
This is shocking.. isn't there a minimum $2000 fine you both have to pay too?

Part of it probably has to do with the fact you were doing this at 1:15 AM......the cop may be presuming that since it was "late" it was "street race hour"

Zaino master... they are from Ontario, Canada. We have a street racing law:

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/reg...s_070455_e.htm

if *suspected* of doing any of these under the police officer's discretion (I repeat, under his/her discretion, which means can be without solid evidence),
- 7 day license suspension
- 7 day car impound
- minimum $2000 fine

there is no law against how fast you get to the speed limit is there? Either way, no speeding or evidence to show what speed you were going.

squealing tires... did you leave rubber or plumes of smoke? doubt it... so there is no evidence of this either... so you can't get an "exibition" ticket or whatever.

as far as a ticket for street racing.... this can be tricky as its based on comparing performance between cars and blah blah blah, either timed or not... i cant remember the exact definition or if any speed needs to be broken.

BUT as far as a witness... this is kind of stupid because the cop has you all pulled over and all a witness has to do is say "umm yea those are the cars". And they can go to the station later to provide a written statement for court.

Go to court... might be worth splitting a lawyer fee between you and your friend.

What is the exact charge/fine amount on the ticket?

Ask for a different court date because this date conflicts a planned vacation or something... if your date is on a thursday, say a monday would work ... if its on a monday, say a friday. (Sometimes you wont have a choice on what the new date is) But try to do this several weeks before the actual date. But a few weeks after the incident.

Write a written letter to the court office asking for a copy of the evidence the prosecutor is submitting. Have it filed properly with the office. They must provide you with the evidence in a manner that you have time to prepare for the case. (this will include a copy of the officers ticket and his notes, and should also include a copy of the witness statement). Just call the number on the ticket and ask the clerk how you get this information, they should provide you with everything you need to know.

It may be good to play the stereotype card on having a yellow sports car and driving next to some stereotypical "street racer".

the lawyer might (and should) drill the officer on his experience with street racers and how he deemed you to be racing. blah blah blah

you might also be able to get information on what calls that officer responded to that night (or that week/month).. as perhaps it was a "slow night" and he was just looking for something.

^^^^ and if that is the case any judge will side with the police.

To reverse a charge based on the police officers DISCRETION and JUDGEMENT would be a slap in the face to the local law enforcement......he would never hear the end of it.

To reverse the charge is akin to saying the police are inept.

Better get used to it......it is highly unlikely you will have any sort of victory in this matter.

As far as taking it to the press........the public will just think it was some punk kid complaining that he got caught, the papers will say "who cares?" and it may end up working against you in that if it were to become public, then the courts might show no mercy in order to show a public support of the police.

If you have a clean driving record (ie: ZERO speeding tickets) you might have a shot at leniency if you swallow your pride, state it was just aggressive driving and not street racing, plead for the mercy of the court.

^^ I disagree. From what you've said, the officer has no evidence. Officer discretion is not always correct. He can give you a ticket for this at his discretion, but that doesn't mean you get convicted at his discretion. This should get thrown out.

The "evidence" is the officers judgement .

if this gets thrown out in court, who pays for the tow truck fees and lost time?

No, the evidence is what the officer produces to the court to uphold his judgment.

Fees you can sue for, lost time you can't in Canada. (as far as I know anyways, could be wrong)

If it looks like you were racing then you might be screwed. Cuz the cop can argue that you could have driven over the limit if he didn't stop you. And a race doesn't mean you have to drive over the speed limit.

Biggest BS EVER
 

As soon as he said he had a witness, Ed called BS, in front of him. He also clearly knew that I was upset at him. During the whole explanation process of what to do, he kept saying "I know you don't agree." What also bugs me is that he was like, I'm not trying to screw you guys, SO WHY PULL US OVER THAN?!?

Literally, he must have tailed us for less than 500 meters, since with 10 secs of the stop light, I see the lights behind me, at which time I see Ed pull into my lane. In my lane, was also the sterotypical rice car ahread of me. If this truly was a "street race" why did not stomp the throttle and try to get ahead and keep going, WHY DID THEY JUST STAY at the the SPEED LIMIT?!?

I am totally for the street racing law. But not this BS gray area law the cops are enforcing. Honestly, yes street racing kills people. Yes those tha street race should be punished. But clearly define what the street racing law is. Don't leave it to "interpretation" what is that really, your opinion. when did they let ppl in this democratic country ticket you for their opinions!?! To me really, I think the cops have way to much excessive power with this law. TOO MUCH.

50 over the limit, Yes, book them for street racing, casuse thats just excessive. You shouldnt be doing 120 on a road with a posted limit of 70. But seeing two cars that are just cruising with each other, and just because they are performance cars you believe they are street racing, thats just BS.

You all have seen how many regular joes are getting charged under this new street racing law, for simple matters. This street racing law needs to be REDEFINED, and NOW!!!!

And another bugger, really big BUGGER is the tow issue, and automatic suspension. You havent even been CONVICTED yet, and your car gets towed away and license suspended. WAY TO MUCH EXCESSIVE power to the Coppers now. TOO MUCH!!!

As a side note, when towing our cars, they towed mine from the back, and they obviosoly could see Ed's car is the same dame car as mine. Yet they started to tow, it from the front, saying it was too low in the back, fine, its too low, than get him a flat bed. As soon as we told them it was a rear wheel drive car, they were, shocked. And we asked them who takes responsibility for his car for any damages during the tow, tow guys looked at the cops, cops looked at them, ahh the classic he says, she says, BS. And get this the ricers car was too low, and they couldnt get his car on regular tow, or a flatbed, so what did they do. A tow truck came by with a passenger and he DROVE THE GOLF to the LOT?!?

Like Ed mentioned, faded had learnt that this was the coppers first ever street rac pull. I guess he wanted to look like the highlight for the station. As soon as he pulled us in, he called dispatch, at which time another 5 cruisers came in. Don't these guys have better things to do with our taxes then, herd around us like the local watering hole, WAIT, I guess they dont, since essentially we're a water hole just spewing cash. What does this gray area street race law provide? Excessive charhges through a new joint partnership program with the coppers and the tow guys, BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD ANYONE!?!

Sorry for the long vent, but there is a lot more, A LOT MORE TO BE POSTED!!!

If someone was to go to a police officer and shout "I am going to kill every ********** on I-35 I am going to blow up each and every driver up!" the officer would arrest him for making terrorist threats, or some similar charge.

In that case...........what evidence would he produce to the court?

What you are arguing is that if there is no evidence to prove it, like a witness, or video, or whatever, the case gets dropped?

The testimony of an officer sworn to uphold the law is all that is needed, especially when a law is on the books that specifically indicates the interpretation of an offense is at his discretion. Thinking otherwise is really just wishfull thinking.

IMHO, you should both talk to a lawyer specializing in this sort of thing. From what I've read about the 'new' Ontario laws, they are taking this VERY seriously. A guilty plea (ie, paying the fine) could have serious consequences when you go to renew your insurance, or look for a job that requires a driving record check (even volunteering for a kids team).

Go see a lawyer and find out what your options are. It should be free for the first consult. Note that you may only have a short time (like within the 7 days) to contest the 'street racing' charge.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't 'man up' if you did do something wrong. Wrong and guilty are often two different things.

Just my 2 cents.

This is BS... I'm never gonna be driving side by side any one of us anymore going anywhere (just in case it might look like we're racing)

If this is a new law........expect them to try to send a message to street racers everywhere.

Hopefully you won't be the one they excessively target in order to send a message, but letting you off with a handslap also sends the wrong message.

This could be daylight, a Sunday morning, and it would look like, the three cars were just driving, or keeping the traffic. If anyone is to be charged for street racing it should be the golf, since he was much further ahead of us. For the cop to justify that we were racing since he had to catch up to us by breaking the limit, well ya, thats OBVIOUS. Not mentioned was that he was coming up the perpendicular street intersecting the light that we started from. As this light the golf launched himself off, and me and ed just used mid throttle to go thru first to third gear, making sure not to pull ahead of the golf or past 70. We were both cruising back, since two roads after, he would head to the south, me to the north. We obviously know that the street we were on is a hot spot, plus street racing, what do I have to prove to a golf, or any car. I didnt buy this car for straight line, and if I wanted to use that throttle of ours, I would hit the track, where I could use wot, than the half throttle we used on that street that day.

As soon as he pulled us in, he said we were being charged for street racing, and told to shut our cars down. Fair enough.

Here come the claims.

1. Tires squeeling, BS, since both of us kept Traction on, and DSC off. We both took pics of our dash, as soon as he mentioned this so called claim.

2. Our engines were revving. Okay what does this mean. Isnt the basis of a automotive. Or did he mean reving in place, which would mean he wasa at the stoplihght, which Im pretty sure Golfer ahead would have seen and not laucnhed himself thinking he was in the biggest cock fight of his life with us. Or did he mean it was loud. Well hmm, let see, both cars are performace sports car, both with intakes and catbacks, and of course, the ROTARY. Pretty sure he doesnt know what a rotary means, and what it produces.

Look, I support a street racing law, but make it black and white, not this stupid gray area. Remove the excessive powers given to the cops, its jus a field day for him when they need to hit that quota, cant give out tickets, well, himm, hey that 85 year old changed that lane, just too quick, you know what that means partner, STUNT DRIVING, HELL YEAH!!! And remove the ability to do an automatic suspension and towing, and if your going to impound the car, and suspend our licenses, then you pay the dame fine, and prove that we were guilt and take it from us.

Do a quick search, do you realize how well this street racing law is doing in courts. Most caess are being thrown out of the court, cause of the lack of evidence, like I said, when the hell did this democative country, let people try and charge you on your opionion, Footmna you took that on ramp without slowing, down, I dont care you have a performance car, and what it makes too much noise, Im charging you with Stunt Driving.

Those that did the 50 over, which I support, recived lower offence charges since they just pled guilty. This law is just a waste of time and ache on the drivers. Make it black and white, and it`ll give us peace, and you guys, the enforcement respect.

the law has been in effective since last year, the cops have been tossing out charges in excessive of 5000. Plus 66 percent if not more are getting thrown out. Yes, swore to uphold the law, but just cause you came up a perpendicular street, and heard exhaust noise, especially the rotary sound, and you had to gun your super charged cruiser to catch up with us, in what was less than 300 m, doesnt warrant street race charge. What did he see, or hear. He heard engine rev, he claims to have seen tire squeal.

I asked him, begged, please give me a ticket for speeding, no kidding here, cause I wanted to see what he had on me. Ya thats right, I asked him to please give me a ticket, or Ed, since were both cruising.

Side note, Footman, the new law, lets the 8ers cruise, thats not an issues, according to the new law, posted on the ministry, if one of us got pulled during the RPM curise, they wouldnt charge us under stunt, contest, or street, or if they did it wouldnt hold up to well, since the new law as an exception for cars that are enjoying a scenic cruise. Everyone, together, WTF!!!!

Like I said this new law uttermost retarded, make it black and white, not a freaking swirl of crap.

Exceptions

4. (1) Despite section 2, “race” and “contest” do not include,

(a) a rally, navigational rally or similar event that is conducted,

(i) under the supervision of the Canadian Association of Rally Sport,

(ii) under the supervision of a club or association approved in writing by the Ministry, or

(iii) with the written approval of the road authority or road authorities having jurisdiction over the highway or highways used;

(b) motor vehicle owners engaged in a tour, scenic drive, treasure hunt or other similar motoring event in which the participants drive responsibly and in a manner that indicates an overall intention to comply with the provisions of the Act; or

(c) an event held on a closed course with the written approval of the road authority having jurisdiction over the highway, including any event lawfully using any of the trademarks “CART”, “Formula One”, “Indy”, “IndyCar”, “IRL” or “NASCAR”. O. Reg. 455/07, s. 4 (1).

Well careful next time when your dodging those corollas, you might get charged for stunt driving.