- The city of Brampton in Ontario is cracking down on illegal car rallies and ‘takeovers’
- It’s planning to do this in part through increased fines for those caught at these events
- The penalty has gone from $300 for being a ‘public nuisance’; to between $800 and $2,000
There’s a time and place for everything – just ask Diddy’s legal team – but community leaders in Brampton, Ontario are adamant that vacant lots and public areas are emphatically not the time nor place for impromptu large crowds of gearheads revving up their engines and wreaking havoc.
At issue are the rising number of alleged street races and so-called illegal car rallies, or “takeovers,” reports the CBC. The latter is a catch-all phrase for what may be hundreds of cars taking over a parking lot, usually after dark, in an unorganized meet which tends to degenerate into festivals of noise, smoke, and general mischievous automotive activity.
“Car rallies and takeover events continue to be a public safety concern in Brampton and across Peel Region,” said Sgt. Sean Rice of the Peel police during a presentation earlier this year. “At some of these rallies, fireworks and gasoline were used to excite and encourage unruly behaviour.”
According to the cops, over 22,000 tickets were doled out by that force in the first half of this year, about half of which were in Brampton; and about 10% of which were for either noisy driving or stunting. In June, Rice said they were called to about two dozen of these takeover events in the area.
Solutions included taking notes from the municipality of Vaughn, an area which recently increased its fines for such behaviour, and so raked in over $38,000 in ticket revenue from just one event of about 30 drivers. With the new fines passed by Brampton council last month, what once started at $300 under an umbrella public nuisance bylaw can now net a reckless enthusiast at a takeover a penalty of anywhere from 800 bucks to over two grand.
One thing which will cause the number of these so-called takeovers to shrink? The arrival of winter. Most dunderheads participating in such activities tuck their rides away during the snowy months; anyone who has studied statistics will recognize the law of averages state that if three-quarters of these cars are locked in garages for the next six months, the frequency of these illegal events will decrease. Keep that in mind if any politicians start crowing in January about putting a dent in these disruptive gatherings.
Of course, not all car gatherings are disruptive to the public. Ones which are planned and have the permission of the facility at which they are gathering can be awesome ways to show off yer ride, or to see hypercars with your own two eyes. Nor is anyone disparaging a pair of gearheads rocking up to a drive-thru and hanging out in the parking lot for 20 minutes drinking coffee. It’s when dozens or hundreds of Neanderthals congregate in a random area, causing a ruckus and damaging public property, that problems begin.
Like most things in life, it only takes a couple of bad actors to spoil it for everyone.