Topic: Senior Escapes Street Racing Charges..

[2latecrew]

To me it takes at least 2 vehciles to have a drag race and there did not appear to be a 2nd vehicle involved in racing with this older driver at all. I suspect thats why the charges were dropped. 

Uhmmmm he was PASSING another car. Two cars side by side one exceeding the speed limit by 50 KPH to get in front of the other? There WERE 2 cars. How fast was the other car going. If he was going 120 is it a race? What about 110 what about 85.

By the letter of the law it was the right charge. Its a stupid law but it absoloutley fits the letter of the law. Far more for example than the stupid flashing head;lights tickets that have been given out.

The problem isn't that the charge was reduced. It should have been. It was reduced becuase its a stupid law but rather than change the law to be less stupid they will selectivley enfoce it when it suits their purpose.

[dorin]

Of course there was no racing involved here, but that's not the point.  The admittedly idiotic law defines 50+ over the speed limit as racing regardless of how many cars are involved.

The issue here is that the driver got a break for being old and thus seemingly respectable, while a young driver caught in the exact same circumstances would have had the book thrown at him with a chorus of applause from the media. 

[marineboy]

The issue here is that the driver got a break for being old and thus seemingly respectable, while a young driver caught in the exact same circumstances would have had the book thrown at him with a chorus of applause from the media.


It's all fine to make general sweeping statements but where is your proof? Do you have any stats or data to back up your argument? Singling out this one case does not a conspiracy theory make. A case infact where there was no apparent racing involved.

I'm not saying who but I can see a couple of CTC posters hammering out a manifesto in an abandoned Montana cabin one day...

[mrthompson]

I'm not saying who but I can see a couple of CTC posters hammering out a manifesto in an abandoned Montana Manitouwadge cabin one day...

 

[Snowman]

I'm not saying who but I can see a couple of CTC posters hammering out a manifesto in an abandoned Montana Manitouwadge cabin one day...

 

 

[dorin]

That is the point; he was not "racing" and this is what this law is supposed to be about. A young person doing the same thing should have been charged with speeding as well, not "racing". This law is totally flawed. The cops are not blind, they know when they see racing, it's racing. Speeding is totally different, (the two are very easy to tell apart), which is what this guy was doing.

I think you're trying to use too much common sense here.  With the new law in Ontario speeding by more than 50 km/h over the limit has now been redefined as street racing.  It doesn't matter that it makes no sense.  It also doesn't matter that it's not really racing.  The only thing that matters is that this is one of the definitions of street racing in the law.

There are two issues at play here.  One is that the law is dumb to begin with.  The other one is that this particular driver got an unfair break because he's old and thus doesn't fit the prejudiced image of the kind of driver that people want to nail.

[mrthompson]

The medium IS the message. 

[Cortina]

 

Off topic slightly.

I pass the OPP on the 401 doing 140 KPH last week. I didn't see him until the last possible moment. My foot went for the brakes. But it was too late. I just flew by at 135 KPH. My heart beat like crazy. I looked in the rear view mirror expecting to see the flashing lights and to hear the sirens, but the OPP cop just ignored me. I kept below 120 KPH all the way to Kingston after that. Phew. 

I love the speed menu on the 401. Like you can pick. 

[airbalancer]

I'm not saying who but I can see a couple of CTC posters hammering out a manifesto in an abandoned Montana Manitouwadge cabin one day...

 

 

He is alive

[marineboy]

Off topic slightly.

I pass the OPP on the 401 doing 140 KPH last week. I didn't see him until the last possible moment. My foot went for the brakes. But it was too late. I just flew by at 135 KPH. My heart beat like crazy. I looked in the rear view mirror expecting to see the flashing lights and to hear the sirens, but the OPP cop just ignored me. I kept below 120 KPH all the way to Kingston after that. Phew. 
 

Yeah but I bet if you were old he would have thrown the book at you! Bloody favoritism...

[Cortina]

Off topic slightly.

I pass the OPP on the 401 doing 140 KPH last week. I didn't see him until the last possible moment. My foot went for the brakes. But it was too late. I just flew by at 135 KPH. My heart beat like crazy. I looked in the rear view mirror expecting to see the flashing lights and to hear the sirens, but the OPP cop just ignored me. I kept below 120 KPH all the way to Kingston after that. Phew. 
 

Yeah but I bet if you were old he would have thrown the book at you! Bloody favoritism...

 

[Titanium48]

The article says he was clocked that fast while passing cars in an 80 km/h zone - would that have been across a dotted  When I pass cars on single lane highways I floor it - sometimes reaching 120 or 130 km/h, but quickly drop back to 80 km/h afterwards.  A dotted yellow generally signifies a relatively safe stretch of road and I don't like to be in the opposing lanes longer than I have to be.

The Highway Traffic Act in Manitoba states you are not to exceed the speed limit when passing.  I'm sure it's the same across the country.

.

That's another stupid law when applied to 2 lane roads (thankfully rarely enforced around here)  Far more dangerous to increase your exposure on the "wrong" side of the road than to pull in doing 30-40 Km over the limit. get out...get by the guy...and get back on your side of the road.

   Imagine the traffic jams that would occur if people didn't speed up to pass!  Getting by a truck or RV doing 85 km/h in a 90 zone without exceeding the speed limit would take over 30 seconds, even if you were following only 12 m (0.5 seconds) behind and pulled back in 12m in front.  During that time you would cover 750 m of road and get 1.5 km closer to oncoming traffic.  How often can you even see 1.5 km ahead, let alone encounter a 1.5 km stretch free of oncoming traffic?

[dash]

Many a moons ago-driving intructor (in Quebec) informed me, that your are allowed to exceed speed limit in a passing situation as long as speed is reasonable to overtake (2 lane road). Makes sense-but define reasonable! 10%?

All in all, I agree with the outcome of the fine, driver was not racing (Barrie's valid point), although he was speeding excessively and should have and was fined accordingly.

[Squishy]

Here in Ontario the law just states that you must adhere to the speed limit - no mention of passing situations.  So to follow the law to the letter, there is no "reasonable" allowance for passing, although gut instinct for most people is to get out of opposing lanes as fast as possible.

Then again, it could be argued that if the car in front of you is only doing five below the limit, you should suck it up and not pass them if you can't find a safe (long) stretch of road to do it without exceeding the speed limit.

[The Fuzz]

Anyone who has spent any time in a court room has seen deals being made every single day. Young, old, black, white...The crown doesn't care, they just want a conviction. I can go to traffic court for a 1 1/2 hour session and see 5 deals done. There are three sessions in a day. So, there are 15 deals done a day and that's just one courtroom. It happens every single day.

Again, don't let reality taint the way you want to see the world. 

[2latecrew]

Anyone who has spent any time in a court room has seen deals being made every single day. Young, old, black, white...The crown doesn't care, they just want a conviction. I can go to traffic court for a 1 1/2 hour session and see 5 deals done. There are three sessions in a day. So, there are 15 deals done a day and that's just one courtroom. It happens every single day.

Again, don't let reality taint the way you want to see the world. 

Not disagreeing that deals often get made.

Is it your opinion based on your experience that deals like this one would be cut more often, less often or the same amount on a street racing charge had the driver been a 25 year old male rather than an elderly male.?  Just curious.

No issue with the charge as it folloows the letter of the law. Its the law that is stupid and abitrary political grandstanding.

Reminds me of when they put the new toll highway in between NS and NB. The old two lane highway was npotorious (Death Valley) for accidents but they left the speed limit at 100 kph. Even while they were building the new toll highway 100kph. Then the new toll highway is built and the old road becomes a free alternative (although a bit lonmger). what happens speed limit suddenly drops to 80. Need to make sure people use that new toll highway to pay the costs of building it..I mean ensure public saftey buy setting an appropriate speed limit.

Racing is racing. doesn't amtter if one guy is going 10 kph and the other guy is going 30 kph. They can still be racing. Just as one car could be going 40 over and the other the speed limit and there wa no racing. Its just stupid.

[The Fuzz]

Is it your opinion based on your experience that deals like this one would be cut more often, less often or the same amount on a street racing charge had the driver been a 25 year old male rather than an elderly male.?  Just curious.

No issue with the charge as it folloows the letter of the law. Its the law that is stupid and abitrary political grandstanding.

My experience (not opinion) is that they deal with everyone. As I said, all they want is a conviction.

I'm a fan of some parts of the law but not others. Two people racing (real racing) on a city street deserve to have their cars taken away....Someone doing 50 over on a major highway? Not something I would tow a car for.

[marineboy]

Fuzzy stop bringing reality into these threads. It has no place here.

[2latecrew]

Is it your opinion based on your experience that deals like this one would be cut more often, less often or the same amount on a street racing charge had the driver been a 25 year old male rather than an elderly male.?  Just curious.

No issue with the charge as it folloows the letter of the law. Its the law that is stupid and abitrary political grandstanding.

My experience (not opinion) is that they deal with everyone. As I said, all they want is a conviction.

I'm a fan of some parts of the law but not others. Two people racing (real racing) on a city street deserve to have their cars taken away....Someone doing 50 over on a major highway? Not something I would tow a car for.

Interesting so this law in your exoerience appears only to have apoplied to real racing since they deal with everyone young or old? It appears that there is a whole lot of hoopla about nothing since they will simply deal down below 130kph if you aren't really "racing"