Dangerous driving, illegal street racing targeted by cops in Mississauga and across the GTA

Police in Mississauga, Brampton, Halton, Toronto and other parts of the GTA are again teaming up to get dangerous street racers and stunt drivers off the roads.

The illegal behaviour has become both more prevalent and more of a threat to everyone’s safety in recent years, say police brass with several law enforcement agencies who’ll gather Thursday morning in Toronto to kick off the annual Project ERASE (Eliminating Racing Activities on Streets Everywhere) collaborative enforcement campaign.

Peel Regional Police will be joined by their counterparts with Toronto, Halton, Hamilton and York forces in addition to the OPP in stepping up efforts to nab offenders over the next four or so months.

At tomorrow’s press conference at Exhibition Place, police are again expected to talk about statistics that show the dangerous and illegal driving behaviours are on the rise in Mississauga, Brampton, Toronto and across much of Ontario.

From now until October, the multi-jurisdictional ERASE campaign will see police officers increase efforts to clamp down on stunt driving, street racing and other dangerous activity on the roads.

Stunt driving in Ontario is defined as travelling at:

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• 50 km/h or more over the speed limit where the posted limit is above 80 km/h
• 40 km/h or more over where the limit is 80 km/h or less
• a speed of 150 km/h or more on any road or highway

“Street racing has no boundaries and police services across the GTA are committed to working collaboratively to reduce serious injury and death on area roads,” Toronto Police said in a news release issued Wednesday.

Last year’s ERASE campaign in Peel, which concluded Oct. 1, resulted in 783 stunt driving charges being laid against illegal street racers, dangerous drivers and other law-breakers on the roads in Mississauga and Brampton.

“The ERASE program aims to change poor and aggressive driver behaviour through education, strategic enforcement and modifying social behaviour,” Peel police said at the end of the 2023 initiative. “Street racing is an illegal and dangerous activity that risks the lives of our community members.

“Illegal street racing and aggressive high-speed driving continue to be a problem on our roads.”

In recent years, Peel police have identified racing and stunt driving “hot spots” in the region’s two cities and have targeted those areas as part of their enforcement strategy.

Still, street racing in Mississauga and Brampton continues to pose a significant danger to the public, police said.

Typically, groups of street racers show up in large numbers to race in industrial areas in Peel and across the GTA late Friday and Saturday nights from about May through the end of October, police added.

As part of ERASE, police also ask motorists to report dangerous driving. Those who see aggressive driving or street racing can call police at 905-453-3311 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

Driving complaints can also be filed through the Road Watch portal on the Peel police website.