Why are police cracking down on car meets in Ottawa?

Article content

Recently, police announced it handed out dozens of charges at a pair of illegal car gatherings on June 5 on Merivale Road and at Train Yards, with offences including speeding and failing to stop at a red light.

Article content

Under Ontario law, stunt driving includes driving 40 km/h per hour or more over the speed limit on roads with a speed limit less than 80 km/h, driving in a way that prevents other vehicles from passing, intentionally cutting off another vehicle or intentionally driving too close to another vehicle.

Article content

Street racing, meanwhile, is defined as two or more vehicles driving in a way that indicates the drivers are competing, chasing another motor vehicle or changing lanes repeatedly at a high rate of speed.

Article content

What is the difference between unauthorized and authorized car meets?

Article content

According to Callaghan, it’s important to highlight the difference between a car meet that’s authorized, and one that isn’t.

Article content

A car meet is considered authorized if an organizer has sought permission from the property owner before hosting the gathering on their property. On the other hand, Callaghan said, if organizers don’t have permission, then the meet is considered unauthorized.

Article content

Article content

“We’re seeing that more and more. Once we reach out to the property owner and notify them of a meet being held at their property, the property owner does not want to be part of that meet,” Callaghan said.

Article content

Often, he said, organizers will seek permission from one of the businesses on the property, rather than reaching out to the property owners themselves.

Article content

“It doesn’t necessarily mean the business is the actual property owner,” Callaghan said.

Article content

Police said that officers may issue trespass notices and make arrests for individuals who are on, or return to, private property without authorization.

Article content

What’s the connection between car meets and street racing?

Article content

Police identified Barrhaven as one of the car meet and stunt driving hot spots, given its proximity to Highway 416, its proximity to food vendors as well as the long stretches of straight arterial roads.

Article content

“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill, who said he gets many complaints from his residents about car meets, particularly at the intersection of Greenbank and Strandherd roads.

Article content

“When it’s good weather from March until November, (Barrhaven) can sometimes have significant meetups in the evening. It’s one thing for people to show off their nice cars, but it’s another thing for them to meet up for the purposes of stunt racing around the community.”

Article content

Article content

Christine Wickens, a senior scientist at the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health who does research on the psychological dimensions of driving, said one of the biggest factors motivating someone to attend a car meet is to feel included as part of a community.

Article content

“That sense of community comes from a shared interest in cars,” she said. “It can come from working together or to avoid detection by police.”

Article content

As things escalate to street racing, Wickens added, that sense of community is still very much in play and can develop into an “us-versus-police or us-versus-everyone else” mentality.

Article content

“There’s another sense of community that builds from that, and that can be highly motivating for people to have that sense of belonging, and that can be an important part of why they do what they do.”

Article content

Other motivations behind street racing, she said, include thrill seeking and the glorification of stunt driving on social media. While social-media videos often show the thrill attached to stunt driving, they rarely show the adverse consequences, like police enforcement, that are often attached.