A late-night traffic blitz in Orléans has resulted in 21 charges laid over the course of one evening.
Members of the Ottawa Police Service Traffic Escort & Enforcement Unit and patrol officers were out last Thursday evening for a traffic initiative. They were in eastern Ottawa, an area police have targeted before.
In particular, the community has people excessively speeding and being charged with stunt driving regularly.
“Like our OPP enforcement partners, we are seeing some ridiculous speeds on our roads,” Constable Phil Kane of the Ottawa Police Traffic Escort & Enforcement Unit, said in a press release. “These high-risk driving behaviours put everyone’s lives at risk, including their own.”
Ottawa Chief of Police, Eric Stubbs, told CityNews in a press conference on Monday that officials continue to dedicate resources to these initiatives, but are not able to increase penalties for stunt driving.
“That’s not something that we have control over,” he said. “That’s a provincial government responsibility under the Highway Traffic Act. So they dictate the specific offences, and they dictate the penalties, the fines and it escalates over time if you’re caught as well.”
In the Orléans one-night blitz, three drivers were issued court summons and charged with stunt driving:
- 146 km/h in an 90 km/h zone – Highway 174 eastbound East of Trim Road
- 100 km/h in a 60 km/h zone – Innes Road/ Lamarche Avenue
- 143 km/h in an 80 km/h zone – Highway 174 westbound / Tenth Line Road
These drivers had their licenses suspended, vehicles seized and could face fines between $2,000 to $10,000, six demerit points and a possible six months in jail.
Stunt driving in Ottawa
Stubbs said concerns around street racing and excessive speeding is something police hear from residents and councillors often. He said in turn, officials have dedicated more time and effort.
“These group of people have turned this into some sort of sport or hobby, and it’s dangerous, it’s noisy,” he said. “There’s just nothing good about it.”
Officials issued 18 provincial offence notices, 10 were for speeding, one for an improper muffler, one for disobeying a sign, one for litter on the highway and five for document infractions.
“Despite recent tragedies on the roads, drivers continue to behave like they are invincible…until they’re not,” Kane said. “We will continue to target this irresponsible and dangerous behaviour by working together (with policing partners) and sharing intelligence.”
Police have previously conducted initiatives in Barrhaven, Riverside South and Ottawa’s east-end neighbourhoods. Stubbs said officials chose to conduct enforcement based on evidence and data from the area.
“Primarily we are drawn to those areas by complaints from the public and from information that we receive from the public, from councillors…We have various kinds of hot spots, if you will, around the city where this has been occurring,” he said. “So those are the areas that we’re going to target.”