Officials in Vaughan vowed Tuesday to crack down on illegal car rallies with steep fines as police released a video compilation of “dangerous” car rally incidents from the past few months.
In the video released by York Regional Police, hundreds of vehicles can be seen taking part in various rallies, some in the day and some at night. Aerial footage from a police helicopter shows people rocking vehicles back-and-forth amid large crowds. Vehicles with various modifications are seen smoking, and letting off bright flashes.
The rallies generally take place in the parking lots of big box retail stores. In one part of the video, a hatchback with its trunk open is seen driving around with people sitting in the back and dangling their legs as the vehicle drives. The hatchback then pulls into a McDonald’s drive-through where police intercept it.
Police said in a release that the rallies are characterized by “risky driving antics and sizable crowds” and pose a “significant risk” to the community.
“The sheer size and scope of these rallies should be truly alarming to everyone,” YRP Chief Jim MacSween at a news conference Tuesday. “And the dangerous behavior that results is a matter of public safety.”
He said the groups take over parking lots, plazas and other private properties where they engage in driving that either constitutes a criminal offence, such as dangerous driving, or provincial offences, such as drifting, burnouts, wheelies, donuts, and overcapacity vehicles with people hanging from windows and trunks.
“These stunts are often performed in front of groups of onlookers who stand far too close to the dangerous activities in an effort to capture the next viral video for social media,” MacSween said.
The rallies are also sometimes associated with serious criminal activity, police said. Last month more than 100 people attending an unauthorized car rally at Weston Road and Highway 7 where a 15-year-old girl was shot in a plaza parking lot. She survived, but MacSween said that sort of violence is unacceptable in the community.
YRP have logged 532 car rallies in the region since 2001 and 331 of them have taken place in Vaughan, the chief said.
Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca said that council amended the city’s special events and noise bylaws at its March 26 meeting to prohibit any participation in unauthorized car rallies.
People ride sitting in the trunk of a hatchback at a car rally in this image from video released by York Regional Police. (YRP /Handout)
The changes mean that people will be prohibited from collecting money for or advertising a car rally; being a spectator or bringing a vehicle to a car rally; being a passenger at a car rally; impeding regular vehicular or pedestrian traffic, or being a vendor at a car rally.
One could even be fined for having their car at a rally even if they aren’t present, with a maximum fine of $10,000.
“Unauthorized car rallies are not allowed in Vaughan. Period,” Del Duca said. “These gatherings are unsettling to residents and businesses, and pose a significant risk to community safety. The behaviour that takes place at these events is unacceptable, and we will be taking every action possible to stop these types of events from happening.”
Police and the city are dubbing their efforts to clamp down on the rallies “Operation Silent Night” and they said they are launching the initiative now as the events tend to pick up again at this time of year.
Participants shake a vehicle at a car rally in video released by York Regional Police. (YRP /Handout)
Those who take part in car rallies could also face financial consequences in terms of their insurability, said Anne Marie Thomas of the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
“Street racing and rallies are a hazard to public safety,” she said. “To those doing this kind of behaviour, you’re putting your insurance coverage at risk.”
She warned that people who modify their vehicles to take part in the rallies could also see their insurance voided if they haven’t notified their insurer and received approval for the modifications.