Vehicle clocked at 100 km/h over limit among 140 violations caught in street racing crackdown

Police cracked down on street racing in southeast Calgary on the weekend, issuing more than 140 tickets, charges and warnings including one driver accused of driving100 km/h over the speed limit.

Officers were on-site Friday and Saturday nights to deter racersin the industrial area of Foothills along 67 Avenue and 68 Street S.E. a location that has long been popular for street racingand a police target.

"It seems to be worse this year than it has in the past," saidStaff Sgt. Robert Patterson with the Calgary Police Service traffic section.

"We are starting to realize that people in that area are becoming a bit more flagrant in their breaking of the law and creating unsafe driving practices on our roads."

During the weekend, police set up road blocksand barricades on specific streets and were monitoring parking lots and traffic in the area, leading to tickets and violations including:

• 90 tickets,including speeding, racing, driving and equipment violations.
• 51 warnings,for various traffic offences.
• Seven compliance direction notices, directing drivers to correct safety issues with their vehicles.
• Two outstanding warrants.
• One Criminal Code charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle for driving more than 100 km/hr over the speed limit.
• One racing charge with a 24-hour vehicle seizure.

"Calgary's industrial areas may seem deserted on the weekends, but semi-trailers and other vehicles continue to travel on those roads around the clock,"said Patterson.

"Any behaviour that causes a driver to act unpredictably or potentially lose control of a vehicle is very concerning. This includes racing, doughnuts, burnouts, drifting and other stunting activities."

Councillor revisitslegal racing proposition

While the weekend crackdown happened in Ward 9, Coun. Andre Chabothas faced similar issues in his ward, Ward 10. He's hoping to bring back anotice of motion for the administration, the city or the private sector to facilitate the activity and take it off Calgary's streets.

A couple of years ago, he tried to ask city administration to find a safe and suitable location for racing but his idea was voted down before it went anywhere.

"It is a problem and it's not exclusive to my area. It's happening throughout the city," Chabot said.

"Alternatively, I think we need to find another location to enable this sort of activity to happen so that it doesn't happen illegally on our streets."

Police saidthey plan to increase their presence, add some barriers on roadways, and limit access to parking lots to make the area less desirable for that kind of activity.