Would losing your Maserati for speeding be akin to paying a million-dollar fine for jaywalking?
That may be a question five drivers in British Columbia will soon ask themselves.
The five are among 13 owners of high-end sports cars who had their vehicles impounded last week after what Royal Canadian Mounted Police allege was a street race on a provincial highway in suburban Vancouver that reached speeds of 120 mph (200 kph). Police put the total value of the vehicles at $2 million.
Police fined each of the drivers, 12 men and one woman all under age 21, $196, but lacked evidence to pursue more severe sanctions, they said. They looked for other avenues to get their message across that street racing would not be tolerated.
“After speaking to witnesses and gathering information, police determined there was not enough evidence to proceed with criminal charges,” Superintendent Norm Gaumont, head of Traffic Services for the RCMP in the Lower Mainland, said in a press release. “With the criminal avenue closed to us, we decided to see if there was enough evidence to proceed civilly.”
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2011/09/09/dnt-canada-street-racing.ctv-network"%5DSo while some of the vehicles were returned to their owners Thursday, five others won't be back on the street any time soon.
"We are going to pursue forfeiture of five of the vehicles," British Columbia Solicitor General Shirley Bond said.
Police said the forfeiture action was warranted because it was clear the vehicles were used in a manner that posed a danger to the public.
“Based on the fact that they had been involved in street racing, that there was the potential for catastrophic injury or death, that their driving showed a complete disregard for the other motorists on the road,” police Cpl. Holly Marks told CNN affiliate CBC-TV.
Bond said only five cases are being pursued because official believe they have enough evidence to gain forfeiture in only those five cases, according to CNN affiliate CTV.
"In British Columbia, we expect people to behave responsibly on our highways," said Bond, whose office oversees the BC Civil Forfeiture Office, which brings forfeiture cases before the province's Supreme Court.
But Micheal Vonn, policy director for the BC Civil Liberties Association, says forfeiture of the pricey vehicles isn't warranted when there are no criminal charges involved, according to CTV.
"This is just an end run around the criminal process," she's quoted as saying. "There's a reason why we don't charge people $1 million for jaywalking. We expect a court to make a fair assessment of what is due in terms of violation or offence."
120mph is slow... i have done way over that in my camaro..
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there is no stock car that can keep up with it in the 1/4 mile..
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any cop trys to confisacte my car would get a free karate lesson...
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Really ruff talk !!!
And then you would get a ticket, jail time, loss of license and then I wouldn't have to worry about your crappy driving skills causing an accident and/or death.....So please next time a cop tries to pull you over give him a nice big karate chop for me....
Ooooooh, tough guy!
I'd smoke you in my Supra......
I'd suggest RUFFNUT that you head to B.C. and try that with the RCMP. About 0.5 seconds after you attempt your karate lesson, you'd be bleeding on the ground from multiple gunshot wounds. Of course, if you're suicidal, far be it from society to correct you on your course of action.
first..supra's are slow... i haven't even had one come close to beating me... 2:) no cop car can come close to pulling me over... , the raytown cops and south kasascity cops all know my car and don't even try to stop me anymore... my uncle is a sherrif in johnson county and i can get any ticket overturned... or he'll have em fired... 3:) i've been doing karate for 10 years now and also akido,,, ever since i seen under siege.. there isn't a cop alive that could take me down with out me putting them in a pinch point and making them loose all bowl control...
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ruffnutt = 2 cops = 0
Seriously Ruffnutt? Supras are slow? Compared to what? Your Camaro, while fast, would get toasted by my Celica, let alone a Supra.
And please, next time a cop pulls you over, demonstrate your karate skills. That would make for a good news story...
And when you're done scoring points and striking a pose, which is all Karate is good for, you'll get batonned in the face or tasered and hauled off to jail, and they'll STILL get your car.
supras don't have ant tourque... they wind up.. but by the time the turbo's spool up i'm outta there... when i hit 2nd that's when the nitrous hits... just wait till tax time... i'm saving all my dope money for a supercharger from bds...
@mike... how are the cops going to tasser or shoot me after i rip their thumbs off... everyone knows that cops are fat and lazy (99% of them)..
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every cop i've ran from always runs outta breath after 2 blocks...
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one time i hide in a dog house and the cop couldn't even find me after looking for me for 2 hours..
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raytown cops are so slow.. the couldn't catch a cold...
nice troll job here, everyone took the bait. but these are not typical forums, pulling a good trolling over on a housewife or 50-something accountant is not very impressive.
also the ode to karate was too over the top. at least make it something that is less obvious like, boxing or, MMA, just to make it sound like people actually could exist that do what you were typing, but karate, its too much.
one time i was going down "old noland" between independace and back to raytown... and had the speedo all the way around and back to 35mph....
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i figure it was atleast 211mph...
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And that's when you woke up and realized you wet your bed again, uh?
tee-he-he
ruffnutt (nut being the key word), you need to seriously grow the heck up. You're like one of the nimrods who goes out and gets a big agressive dog because you think that makes you somehow more manly, or the minrods who get ridicously loud speakers for their cars and drive around with them at full blast for the same reason, not realizing that ANYONE can go out and get an agressive dog, or buy big speakers, or buy a freakin' camaro. You're not special, you're not tough, you're not manly. You're a little boy with a toy who has no regard or respect for the people around him.
@jaintn
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first off. you dont even have a camaro, you just jealous of mine cause all the chicks love it... if i seen you walking down the street and i was driving my camaro i would paint-ball the living heck outta you till you had welts all over...
2:) yeah i have a dog , he's a pit bull / shepard mix and i have to have em for protection cause people try and steal my camaro cause it is so radical and sweet... also we have a lot of stray cats in the neighboor hood and he help control the pet population...
3:) just come over to my trailer and spout your stuff.. i live at the belton trailer park.. can't miss it take the first belton mo. exit heading south on 71 hwy... you can't miss my trailer cause it has a 69 firebird and 82 camaro out front...
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i'll leave the door open for you.. just knock and come inside... i'll be waiting for you and you can share you ideas with me...
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make sure to bring some dog treats for "bo" cause if he isn't eating a pig ear or a cat he will be hungry...
this is C-list troll work here though
As info, BC is a Canadian "province" not a state.
Now if the results in 1812 were difference, it might have been a state.
Come on CNN... we do not have States in Canada.
Really? I doubt that your car will do 211mph ! Maybe 210, But not211.
i don;t know exactlly i need a garmin... i'd get one but they put the security device on them...
You probly think that Nascar's are fast. Well, if you enter a Nascar in our very own "Silver State Classic", a race ran on a public two-lane highway, you won't even make 50th place. This one feller has on aold '69 Chevy Camaro with a huffed big-block punched out to ungodly cu. in.'s...he AVERAGES over 200 mph on a windy little road in the middle of our southwest desert. Top speed? He could gear it to run 280 mph...but then he's crash. So he "de-gears" it to around 243 mph. Check it out RUFFNUTT.
If you're talking about Big Red, you're inflating the numbers a bit. It's only capable of running in the 220's.
69 PONTIACS AND CAMAROS are awesome but not airo dynamic.. they really can only go 130 or so without becoming really dangerous cause the front wheels get almost airborn..
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now an 82 camaro..that's a different story... it the 82 camaro and firebird had one of the lowest drag resistances to date at the time.. i think it was 0.29.. some of the fastest bonnville cars are 82-92 firebird and camaros.. one guy had his firebird to 300mph..
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any 82 camaro with 500 horse and 2.78 gears and 16" zr rated tires = 200mph... just call up raytown mo police dept and ask for detective hammerbocker... he arrested me for going down 435 at over 160mph... luckly after he found out my uncle was a sheriff he let me go with a warning...
THE COPS JUST WANTED THE NICE ONE S FOR THEMSELVES HUH?
exactly!!!!
Your Camaro is an 82, pretty sure my 5L V8 Benz will smoke it...
whatever... your benz have 500hp natural asperated and tehn a 300 shot of nitrous? i dont think so...
Translation: Chief Wiggum is not done driving your car around yet. Check back again in a few days.
I have a 1976 Gremlin with a huge 4 cylinder engine that will run over 800 miles an hour. It is way faster than any chevrolet ever made. It speed comes from magic trolls and gremlins. It is fastola!
Best post ever! Thanks! HA HA!
I was crusing Ventura Blvd last weekend and the space shuttle pulled up next to me. I had to laugh. Some little rocket driver thinking his ride is faster than my Gremlin. The light turned green and I popped the clutch and my 4 cylinder kicked into troll drive. ZOOOOOOM. I showed that sopaceman spiff what fast really is.
Play your stereo too loud and we'll take that too !
ewww. your "in" your pa? gross...
I got my mother-in-law broom. Is fastest than a rocket! And can beat anything or anybody to the ground in nanoseconds.
This one rich guy with an ego to match( but was afraid of flying) used to commute to LA in his Bentley Turbo R limo. He loved to have his driver pass everyone on the road..I-10 between Phx. and LA. Well, one day an Lingenfelter 'Vette blew-by him doing 220...the Bentley could "only" do 212. So the rich guy donated an Lamborghini that could do 225 to the Az. Hiway paytroll just so's they could catch the 'Vette, and they did catch that 'Vette, but that's another story with further implications. You've seen that white Lambo with a flashing red and blue light's in Hollywood movies. (smokey bandit) Now ya know where it came from. he he
No lambo has a top speed of 225.
Don't worry, they are not going to confiscate these cars for long ... they are using this scare tactic to send a message to
ya dumb yoots (youths)! Find another place to race or figure out how to not get caught! hahahahaha
I think they should all get the lectric chair. Crank up ol sparky and fry em. Dang scofflaws.