Police target modified cars and unsanctioned gatherings
Enthusiasts concerned they are getting lumped in with illegal street racers
Police are stepping up enforcement against modified vehicles gathering en masse throughout the region, but some drivers are pushing back, arguing that not everyone with a souped-up car is out to break the law.
Through April, May and June, Waterloo Regional Police focused enforcement efforts on modified vehicles, working with York, Peel and Barrie police services to dismantle unsanctioned car rallies that have been taking place in and around the region.
Over this period, regional police laid more than 200 charges relating to noise complaints and vehicles with improper mufflers or no mufflers, improper tires and defective brakes. Police also laid more than 3,600 speeding charges, including 76 for stunt driving.
“What we’re seeing is a sense of lawlessness, where people are taking over roadways,” said Chief Bryan Larkin at a police services board meeting last week. As more pedestrians and cyclists are out on the street, the concern around unsanctioned car rallies is heightened, he said, adding that “driving in Ontario is a privilege, it’s not a right.”
Jasmin Whitelaw is a co-organizer of the car club Chaotic and has been involved in the local car scene for a little more than a year. The 23-year-old from Waterloo said there’s a big difference between car enthusiasts who like to show off their ride, and those who take over city streets to race and violate driving laws.
“You see a modified car and … you just assume that they’re on the road to cause trouble,” Whitelaw said, adding this is how most people tend to see drivers of modified vehicles.
While driving to work or to and from shows, her car gets a lot of attention. With a blackedout grill, performance exhaust, and tree branches with cherry blossoms wrapping the sides of the black 2018 Hyundai Elantra, “it stands out, for sure,” she said.
But in standing out, “you do feel that the cops have their eyes on you compared to other traffic.”
At most of the meetups and car shows her club attends, vehicles are parked and turned off. Hoods are up, trophies are displayed and vehicles are judged by their look, not their speed or sound.
Sometimes, however, meets that start out as innocent car shows can accelerate into competitions of drifting or racing, quickly moving from legal, to illegal, to dangerous. When this happens, Whitelaw says she and her crew clear out.
“It’s kind of a chain reaction. When one person starts revving their engine, it’s like a competition.”
This was the scene a few weeks ago at a plaza on Ira Needles Boulevard, where a meetup of car enthusiasts quickly turned into a competition. Whitelaw and her club attended for a bit, but left before motorcycles started doing wheelies and ripping around the lot. She saw on social media that police responded to break up the gathering.
“If we would have stayed there, we would have been caught up in it,” she said.
The @OntarioCarMeets Instagram and Facebook pages are run by Zoran Tordinac, a 22-year-old Brantford resident who recently moved from Waterloo Region. Over the past three years, he’s been posting about and hosting events where car enthusiasts can meet and show off their vehicles.
In April, he posted on Instagram asking leaders of car clubs not to share posts that promote street takeovers or racing. Since the start of the pandemic, he’s noticed street takeovers and reckless driving has been on the rise.
“The last 12 months have been incredibly damaging to the car scene we all know and love,” the post reads. “Let’s do what we can to take away their audience and let them know they are not welcome.”
He said the car community has two distinct groups — those who like to park and show off their cars, and those who like to race, do burnouts and take over streets. With one group giving the other a bad reputation, it hurts everyone who drives a modified vehicle.
“The takeover group is putting a target on our back,” he said, adding police and the general public now see anyone with a modified car as someone who drives dangerously or breaks the law.
Larkin said police are in support of car enthusiasts, calling it a “great hobby,” but increasingly, officers have been seeing drivers of modified vehicles travelling in packs at high rates of speed, and taking over streets or parking lots in large numbers.
On the Canada Day long weekend, police were called to the parking lot near Sail in Cambridge for a meet of around 200 cars.
“They’re displaying their cars, but it often then leads to driving behaviour that puts all at risk,” Larkin said.
Whitelaw attended that meetup and invited her parents to join her to show them what these gatherings were all about. She said the meet started off quiet — people were wearing masks and walking around checking out each other’s cars. The event ended abruptly after police arrived to warn drivers that bylaw was on the way to enforce COVID-19 gathering restrictions.
On May 15, police joined with members of the Ontario Provincial Police and York Regional Police on Project ERASE (eradicating racing activity on streets everywhere). Officers laid 26 charges after attending a car rally of modified cars on Ottawa Street.
On June 19, police attended rallies scattered in multiple locations around the region, including the Boardwalk Plaza, Ira Needles Boulevard, Oldfield Drive and Fairway Road South.
Larkin said focused enforcement measures on gatherings of modified vehicles will continue throughout the summer, with public safety being the main priority. Fat tires and modified braking systems may look cool, but they can modify the ability of the car, he said.
“I think that we’re sending a strong message that we won’t be deterred by those that choose to flagrantly put others at risk, and we will take enforcement action.”