So did you guys hear the news, I was just watching it on CityTV, they introduced a new Division called "Pacer" that deals with street racing. They are trying to cut it down. So what's everybody's two cents on this. Personally I think everybody is going to go somewhere else and do it. Like country side and sheit. Well that's my two cents anyhow.

 

i think it's a joke. they're already as strapped for cash as it is with their budget and their spending on crap like this??? unreal

 

Firstly, its not a new "Division" its a program...meaning that there isn't just a group of coppers targeting racers but the entire police force. People can try and take the races elsewhere but sooner or later you'll just get caught. Cops are already going to target the main areas for racing and they'll just follow the people as they go.
Secondly, Sir-Racer, last time I checked most people value there life. Take some time and read the stats on street racing and the number of people it ends up killing/seriously injuring a year. How would you like it if your mom was killed by a racer? I'm all for racing as long as its done on a track, not the streets. Is 20 seconds really worth possibly taking someons life or 25 years off yours?

 

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!

ok, if you look at the STATS as you say, then you'll quickly see that the percentage of people getting killed in street racing is FAR BELOW that of other crimes. the police should target the REAL threats of rapists, killers, drunk drivers etc. And lets not forget about the increase in car thefts and robberies.

look i'm not advocating street racing. i'm just saying that this new "program" probably costs big bucks that can and SHOULD be used elsewhere!

one more thing, this new program probably targets those big gatherings of street racers. well let me tell you this, what is the fatality rate at these things?? like 0.001%?? the street racing that results in deaths are those that occur at random between 2 cars at a stop light. this new program probably doesnt even target that. they just want to break up the big ones where people gather to watch. i'm not saying they shouldnt be stopping this but come on, they have better things to spend their tight budget on!

 

I do think that cops really do waste thier time harrassing import enthusiasts, giving tickets for mufflers and lights and bull crap between thier coffee time runs actually, metro cops have bad guys to go after but friggen york region cops don't have anything better to do. I hate those friggen york pigs!! just two days ago they gave my cousin four tickets for pure bull ****! they checked EVERYTHING on the car like 1000 times(exagerating a little hear but you get the picture)...

A better solution to streetracing would be to open up a local(GTA area) legal drag strip...not everyone fancys driving 1hour+ to go racing. I for one will be hitting up St.Thomas on a weakly basis if possible this summer...

 

EXACTLY.

if the cops had money coming out of their *** then sure, go ahead, they should start this new program to target illegal street racing. they should also start programs to stop people from littering, not flushing the toilets and sticking gum on the bus seats. hell, anything is fine to make the city a better place if money is of no concern.

but the fact of the matter is that they keep complaining that they lack funding and they dont have a lot of money. our city has bigger problems than street racing at the moment. cops should get their act together and fight the real crimes first.

 

I agree with the suggestion on starting a local strip for everyone to race but whether or not that will happen is up in the air.
Sir..you must be an accountant for the police since you know so much about their "tight budget." Pretty much every organization or business has a "tight budget." No one wants to waste their money and the police force isn't any different. Detectives solve murders, special rape units deal with rapes, and patrol officers deal with the roads. You seem to think that this is some big extravagant expense, it isn't. Cops are simply being more vigilant when it comes to racing and modified cars. Whereas before they weren't now there being told to pull people over. The cops that are pulling you over aren't out hunting down rapists or killers or drug dealers for one thing. Also, its impossible for them to stop every race so what makes the most sense. Target the major spots where races happen on a common basis! Genius! There starting with the majority and then will most likely move to the minority.

 

LOL..you kill me. Does not flushing a toilet or sticking gum on the bus kill people? Like I said, there are numerous dep'ts within the police force and everyone is doing there job, now patrol officers are being asked to do a little more. Big deal.
I have an idea Sir...why not raise your taxes so more cops can be hired to combat the more serious crimes? There's a fine balance that you have to keep in mind.

 

same old bullshit..
cops bitch and moan and give out tickets racers find other places to go and then after a while get caught there it wont go away its just the same ol shiznit

 

umm...ok where did i say they kill people??? maybe you should read more carefully. i just said that if you think it's a good idea to throw money at things like "Pacers" then why not throw money into other things too??

you still havent addressed my main point. instead of wasting money on this why dont they pump more money into stopping the murderers and the rapists? who cares if Pacers is a big expense or not. bottomline is that it costs money and that money has better use elsewhere. you said it yourself, look at the stats. the stats show that other crimes are much more of a concern yet more money is being spent on stopping anyone with a modded car. i bet there were about 2 fatalities last year in Toronto resulting from street racing. there was also about 60 homicides and hundreds of sexual assaults.

btw it doesnt take an accountant in the police department to figure out that the police is tight on money. it's on the news all the time. the police chief is always whining about the lack of funding resulting in cutbacks to our police system. whenever someone criticizes the police department and brings up the rising crime rates in our city the response is always "if we had more funding...."

i guess you've never actually been to any car gatherings. if you did then you'd know what i'm talking about. do you know how many cruisers are there for these things? it's a joke. why dont they use those same cruisers to patrol the neighbourhoods instead?? i also guess you've never been harassed by the cops for bullshit little mods like light bulbs while they look over your car for about an hour and question you about every single little detail.

Here's a better idea...how about they allocate their resources more affectively so that they can combat the more serious crimes and not send a half dozen cruisers to watch cars sit in a parking lot?

 

from www.pulse24.com:

<quote>"While you sleep at night, they take to Toronto’s streets. Illegal drag racing has become an established pastime on the roads after midnight, with an estimated 20,000 vehicles having been modified to take part. But police insist they’re a dangerous and growing threat to the safety of both the dragsters and the public. And authorities are out to slam on the bakes.

They’re hoping to do it with a new program called P.A.C.E.R.: Police and Community Educating Racers. The initiative involves police forces from across the G.T.A., and includes a partnership with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. They’re familiar with the consequences: 963 trauma patients were rushed there last year, the vast majority from car crashes."<end quote>

it's funny how they never give statistics on the number of fatalities or injuries that are a direct result of street racing. it's probably because you could count it on a single hand. i love how they throw in that "963 trauma patients last year, the vast majority from car crashes". LOL...big deal!! like i said, out of all those car crashes, how many do you really think are a result of street racing? less than 5% is my guess.

this whole thing looks like a public relations ploy more than anything else.

 

TCC does not condone ilegal Street racing

 

there has been 16 deaths of drivers street racing in toronto in the last 2 1/2-3 years. now that might not seem like a lot, but that number doesn't include the number of crashes, accidents, and injuries.

 

Nuf said...

Street Racing is trendy right now again...cops need to 'pretend' they are hip and are combating the problem.

BUT, That being said, I personally think it is a great idea...because one thing this will do is scare most teenyboppers in Mom's Accord off the streets.

I am not a street racer, but know a significant amount of them. The real street racers are not seen at W/16th or some Coffee Time in Woodbridge... they are out there already meeting at smaller locations with smaller numbers of cars. These racers will never be stopped. For starters, they are under the radar and for another they never draw attention to themselves. They race in the middle of nowhere, they are respectful of their surroundings, they use spotters, they understand the inherant risks and most importantly are generally pretty good drivers.. these guys are not the problem...because statistically they don't exist.

The problem is huge gatherings. The big meets are for the idiots that are trying to be trendy and get seen in their riced-out POS. They think they are a part of some subculture and that gives them a sense of identity or makes them 'cool'. They think they are going to pick up chicks cause they load up an import and loiter somewhere while their buddy tries to do burnouts but all he can do is chirp, bog and stall... it's pathetic.

These things need to be broken up. These kids are a menace simply because they are inexperienced and just plain dumb. They are motivated to do these things by too many influences and that is dangerous. Cops need to deter people from doing this and try and ride this out until the novalty wears off. The huge masses will dispurse sooner than later and the real street racers will continue to do their thing...unaffected.

 

I completely agree with HappyB16 on this one...

Also its not the statistics of street racers that are killed that concerns me (or most other people). As a street racer you take into account the risks of your "hobby".

What concerns me is the number of innocent civilians who are injured and/or killed as a direct result of these street racing incidents.

Ok, say that 963 figure was correct? Now, out of all that how many of those were innocent people coming home from work or the corner store or picking up their child?!? 10? 20? So because its such a low number does that make it ok?

Hell no!!! and if you say it does because of the law of averages you need your teeth kicked in.

Look at it this way..

Say you know someone who is a street racer, he's your best friend of 12 years blah blah blah.. Now on the other hand your wife is coming home from work one day and happens to drive by the location where a street race is taking place..

Your friend has always thought he is hot **** behind the wheel of an automobile and is neck and neck with his opponent... He decides to spray the N20 for that extra boost but this causes him to loose control of the car due to torque steer.

BANG...

He collides into your wifes car as she is coming down the street in the opposit direction, minding her own business, carrying your 2 year old son home from nursery...

Both are sent to Sunnybrook with life threatening injuries... you get the phone call to come down and see them RIGHT away...

Which one makes it?
The mother (your wife)?
Or the baby (your son?)

Does it even matter or do you wanna chaulk that up to statistics?

Starting to see the picture here?

Regards,
OK

 

Funny you say that. Last night around like 3:30am my friends and i were sitting at coffee time at thickson and comsumers in whitby and there was a mini-van at thickson turning west onto comsumers, BUT the guy was asleep. we ran up to the van to wake him up only to find out he was HAMMERED we called the cops and he pulled into the coffee shop to wait, but he decided to drive down consumers were a cop was doing radar just over the hill, the drunk was SPEEDING AND DRIVING IN THE WRONG LANE!! we jump in our cars while on the phone with 911 and tell them that the drunk is on the move, the drunk FLYS past the cop doing radar, and he pulls us over instead and we were yelling at him and asking him if he seen a blue mini van drive past he said yes we told him he was drunk and he was like oh..



but on another note while up at the races like 2 weeks ago me and like 4 of my friends were pulled over in a parking lot (we didn't get any tickets) and the cop was like and i quote him to "I'd rather have a 6" ***** in my *** then case you guys around" lol but we didn't laugh until later, but then they said that if it continues to happen with more and more cars they are going to have to resort to RAMMING the cars off the road.. my friends tried to argue that like saying that they'll sue if that every happens at all..

 

I'm all for doing something about street racing, but I wonder about how this new police program will operate. Based on the very brief news story I saw on the news this morning before I left for work, they seem to think that all modified cars are out to street race :working: If this is the attitude that this program and its officers are going to have, then the effectiveness of this program may not live up to expectations.

I guess we will just have to wait and see.

 

IN TODAY"S TORONTO SUN PAPER.........

Thursday, May 23, 2002
Cops rev up blitz on GTA street racing.......

http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/ts.ts-05-23-0100.html

So don't get yourself Arrested!!!!!! (you know who you are!) We don't need your kind at our peaceful meets!

 

HTA.....217....

subsection....(4) A police officer or officer appointed for carrying out the provisions of this Act, making an arrest without warrant, may detain the motor vehicle with which the offence was committed until the final disposition of any prosecution under this Act or under the Criminal Code (Canada), but the motor vehicle may be released on security for its production being given to the satisfaction of a justice of the peace or judge.


Care and storage charges

(5) All costs and charges for the care and storage of a motor vehicle detained under subsection (4) are a lien upon the motor vehicle, which may be enforced in the manner provided by the Repair and Storage Liens Act.

 

963 is the figure for trauma patients at that hospital. they say that a large number of those are a result of car crashes. no where does it mention the number that is a direct result of street racing.

they are just twisting the statistics around to make it seem like street racing is the big problem. 963 is just a number of people being brought into the hospital for pete's sake. and they throw this into an article about street racing. that's what makes me laugh.

just to make myself clear again, i'm not saying street racing is ok at all. my main concern is that this new program is going to ultimately be a waste of money because it is almost guaranteed that this will just cause cops to pull over and harass every single person who drives an import who has any mods at all.

i think the best way to win the battle against street racing is to open up a local track. either that or go under cover and catch these guys in the act. dont just pull over people driving to the grocery store who happen to be in a lowered civic.