Police charge 67 drivers with street racing on GTA roads in past week

Ontario Provincial Police have charged 67 drivers with street racing on Greater Toronto Area roads in the past week.

"What is the hurry?" Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, spokesperson for the OPP's highway safety division, asked in a tweet on Monday.

Officers pulled over nearly 10 motorists a day in the GTA in the past seven days for allegedly operating their vehicles dangerously. Schmidt said vehicles stopped were of all makes and models.

Officers clocked one driver going "well over" 200 kilometres an hour, he added.

"The speed limit is 100 and the rules of the road apply to everybody," he said on Monday.

Street racing occurs not only on highways, but also secondary roads and quiet country roads, he added.

'It is dangerous'

Schmidt said officers see aggressive drivers throughout the year but the recent number of motorists going at "extreme speeds" may be due in part to the warmer weather. 

"It is dangerous," he said. "When you are going at those kinds of speeds, you don't have time to react when something happens in front of you."

Schmidt posted photos on the weekend of the various speed limits clocked by drivers who were stopped on GTA highways in the last seven days.

He said one driver also allegedly blew two times over the legal blood alcohol limit.

Schmidt said penalties can include a seven-day licence suspension and a seven-day vehicle impoundment.