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Street Racers Take Advantage of Empty Toronto Streets

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Photo: George Socka under CC BY 2.0

Store and office closures due to COVID-19 slashed Toronto’s traffic levels these past few months. Unfortunately, things weren’t that peaceful thanks to stunt drivers taking advantage of the open pavement.

Stunt driving is a blanket term that covers tricks like drifting and passengers hanging onto the outside of the car, but it is most commonly used when talking about street racing. That’s where Toronto and the Ontario Provincial Police are seeing the most activity.


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From March to June of this year, the Toronto Police Service alone issued 443 tickets for racing and other stunt driving tricks, according to CBC News. That’s a 357 percent rise in citations from the same period last year, or about 350 additional tickets.

Street racing also usually takes place at night, but the empty streets of the provincial capital proved to be too tempting during the day. Police say that street racing was taking place at all hours. Residents were perturbed not just by the dangerous activities that could cause deadly car crashes, but by the loud sounds of roaring engines outside their windows. One resident on Don Valley Parkway likened the noise level to that of a Boing 747.

Toronto isn’t alone in facing an influx of speeders as the pandemic opened up usually clogged streets. In the United States, several drivers have completed the Cannonball Run, a timed race from New York City to Los Angeles that features modified cars and lots of broken speed limits. Back in April, Doug Tubbutt and Arne Toman took an Audi S6, modified to look like a police car, along the route and set a new record of 25 hours and 39 minutes. That means their average speed hovered at around 112 mph. Driver Fred Ashmore reportedly broke the solo Cannonball Run record in June with a drive time of 25 hours and 55 minutes.


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Not going to lie, if I was driving along a completely empty road, I might be tempted to put the pedal down a bit heavier. Well, as long as I knew where any speed cameras are. I’m not made of money to pay for traffic tickets or increased insurance rates.

Toronto police are confident that this troubling trend will start to drop off as Toronto opens up more businesses. Don’t give in to temptation if you are on the road, and stick to safe speeds to keep you and other drivers safe.