Ontario Street Racers Suffer A ‘Crushing’ Blow As Authorities Here Try To Stop Their Need For Speed

Call it a crushing blow to street racers everywhere.

 

In a junkyard in Markham Thursday, police and politicians both gathered to make a point. And it came under the weight of some heavy construction equipment.

 

Authorities crushed two cars that had been seized during two separate road races in 2003 and 2004. The message: own a modified car for the dangerous practice and lose it forever if you’re caught in the act.

 

It’s an expensive lesson to learn – car enthusiasts spend thousands of dollars altering their autos to make them extra fast – and extra dangerous.

 

“They aren’t going to be using these cars for Driving Miss Daisy after being modified,” exclaims Attorney General Michael Bryant as the heavy machines go over the hoods. “These cars were going to be used for one reason and only one reason, and that’s street racing.”

 

Under the Civil Remedies Act, you don’t have to be convicted, just arrested for an illegal activity. The drivers of the cars in question were cited for speeding and dangerous driving, and now their valuable vehicles are scrap metal.

 

Car enthusiasts like Joey Mizzi don’t think it’s fair. “They took my plates off. You know, I have a clean record, just ’cause I drive a souped-up car doesn’t mean they’re going to hassle me,” he complains. “I get hassled all the time. This past month I’ve been pulled over nine times.”

 

He claims he’s not a street racer and so far cops haven’t seized his wheels. But he’s still afraid about what might happen and doesn’t think the heavy-handed demonstration will make any difference.

 

“There’s too many kids out there, you know, they like doing illegal stuff. Cops aren’t everywhere. They are going to find places to race.”

 

But York Regional Police Chief Armand La Barge claims his men are watching. “The message is loud and clear. If you’re going to race here in York Region, then we’re going to insure that your cars are seized in full compliance with the law and destroyed.”

 

Police maintain the answer to all this is simple: if you want to show your car is the fastest one in town, feel free to prove it – but only at a racetrack and away from the slower drivers on the road.

 

Or be prepared for the kind of rollover you weren’t expecting.

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