New $2,000 fines for loud and dangerous car rallies coming to Brampton

New fines between $800 to $2,000 are coming to help police and bylaw enforcement put a stop to the growing number of car rallies and parking lot takeovers happening in Brampton.

Updated bylaws going to Brampton City Council for approval this week will propose three new fines under the city’s administrative penalties bylaw related to “public nuisance” caused by a motor vehicle, gathering, rallying or racing, and causing damage to city or
regional property.

The public nuisance section carries fines of $800 for a first offence, climbing to $1,000 for a second offence and $1,500 for every following infraction, where the rallying and damage additions would carry maximum fines of $2,000.

The fines come after Peel Regional Police responding to 21 car rallies in Brampton between May 29 and June 24 with street racers and rowdy motorists racked up more than 20,000 traffic charges in Mississauga and Brampton in the first half of 2024.

Some of the rallies have seen participants use fireworks and gasoline to “excite and encourage unruly behaviour,” Peel Regional Police said in an update to council

Police said that the increase is likely “spillover” from a crackdown on car rallies in Vaughan that’s moved to nearby Brampton.

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A report comparing similar noise and event bylaws in the two municipalities presented to council last week shows Brampton’s Nuisance Bylaw 136-2018 has a maximum fine of $100,000 – 10 times higher than Vaughan’s new Special Events Bylaw 045-2018 with a maximum of $10,000.

That bylaw is also being updated to specifically include “unnecessary, unauthorized or illegal operation” and “gathering, rallying or racing” of motor vehicles.

Police have been dealing with loud and potentially dangerous car rallies in both Mississauga and Brampton for years, with officers laying some 530 charges at a Mississauga plaza in recent weeks.

The proposed bylaw changed will go before Brampton City Council on Wednesday for approval.