Here's how much tickets for street racing, stunting could cost Sask. drivers
This month SGI is cracking down on dangerous driving behaviours, including street racing and stunting.
New penalties for street racing and stunting came into effect on Oct. 1.
Tickets for both offences will now cost the driver $580 along with four demerit points.
Fines for street racing will escalate for repeat offenders, according to SGI spokesperson Tyler McMurchy.
A second street racing fine will cost $1,400 and a third ticket will be $2,100, if the repeat infractions happen in a one-year span. The vehicle will also be impounded for 30 days for all street racing convictions.
“These are fairly serous consequences and it’s a very serious offence,” McMurchy said.
“It’s something that doesn’t belong on our roads.”
In the last two years, police officers have been handing out more tickets for street racing and stunting.
McMurchy said the number of tickets issued each year has doubled from about 30 to 60 convictions.
Sgt. Ian Barr called street racing “a problem in certain areas of the city during certain times of the year.”
Regina’s east end near the Greens on Gardiner as well as Albert Street tend to see the most activity on weekends and during nice weather, Barr said.
“Sometimes it’s a legitimate race … but other times it can be a road rage incident where somebody’s trying to get ahead of somebody and somebody doesn’t want to let them in,” Barr said.
It is part of an overall trend with dangerous driving habits increasing since the pandemic, according to McMurchy.
SGI is focusing on speed during its October traffic safety spotlight.
Excessive speed is one of the leading factors in traffic-related deaths and injuries, McMurchy said.
Last year, speed contributed to 1,263 collisions, resulting in 554 injuries and 20 deaths.
“When you’re driving too fast really bad things could happen,” McMurchy said.
Barr said traffic officers are always focused on catching excessive speeders and the month of October won’t be any different.
“There’s nowhere or very few places in the city where you can find everyone obeying the speed limit,” Barr said.
“It is unfortunately far too frequent that we find people going over 35 kilometres and over 50 kilometres over the speed limit.”
According to Barr, increasing a vehicle’s speed by 20 kilometres per hour can greatly increase the stopping distance.
For example, the stopping distance of a vehicle doubles if a person is driving 70 km/hr in a 50 km/hr zone, he said.
“When you think about approaching a cross walk or school zone or somebody riding off the sidewalk on a bicycle, that could make the difference between being able to stop for that person or a collision happening,” Barr said.
McMurchy said SGI plans to increase its penalties for “egregious speeding offences” in the next few months. New fines will come with an automatic 30-day vehicle impoundment and a seven-day license suspension, he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.