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18 stouffville suntribune thursday aug 26 2004 now theres more tfleartsmakt bonnie stern is back with more heartsmart recipes theyre nutritious and delicious available at your local heart and stroke foundation office squad cracks down on street racers heart and stroke foundation of ontario this message brought to you as a community service of the economist sun by martin derbyshire staff writer under cover of night they risk their lives and those of other motorists on york regions roads street racers with a need for speed sprint across the regions southern municipalities and into toronto and peel region at all hours looking for a place to race like characters from the fast and the furious sims they gather in park ing lots of donut shops showing off the ride and awaiting the next challenge street racing with sometimes cash and always ego on the line is nothing new here theyve been doing it in vaughan for almost 15 years only the makes and models have changed says staffsgt thomas carrique of york regional polices traffic enforcement bureau it used to be the fivelitre mustangs now its all modified imports another more startling wrinkle is people are dying in and around street races at an alarming rate over the past five years illegal street racing has been linked to the deaths of 26 people in the greater toronto area together with toronto police peel regional police ontario provincial police and the provincial ministries of mmsmm photo illustrationsteve somerville a joint task force comprised of police and provincial ministry enforcement offi cers is cracking down on illegal street racing in york region and the greater toronto area transportation and the environment york officers have been trying to put an end to the dangerous activity staffsgt carrique and other officers involved in project erase which swiss chalet presents the dinner and a movie pass deal you can get our famous quarter chicken dinner and a famous players movie pass thats good any time fora year for just 1099 13 now thats a deliciously entertaining offer famous players famous for entertainment r otis s erie grill 15 sandal rd deuvery call ahead takeout 18664390439 order online umited time offsrwhiie siippfeslastc reg tmcca operations urnitcd- all appiicoblc taxes extra 3p extra for white meat famous piaycrs pdivision of viacom cdnoda inc stands for eliminate racing activities on streets everywhere spend their weekend nights playing a cat-and- mouse game with street racers aug 14 the york region newspaper group hit the streets with project erase riding in the back of a marked police suv with staffsgt carrique and york regional police civilian traffic analyst rick andrews 945 pm forty officers from around the greater toronto area have just been briefed on possible hot spots for racers and other car enthusiasts they spread out across the south end of york region parts of toronto and the eastern part of peel hondas acuras and volkswagens are among the automobiles of choice for street racers but the high performance precision stock engines are just a start some spend as much as 50000 on modifications to add a little muscle and style to their compact cars project erase may not catch every street racer staffsgt carrique says but officers will pull over any modified vehi cle they spot taking even one illegally modified car off the road could mean stopping a race and saving a life in the past racers mostly 16 to 25 have been known to frequent parking lots near 16th and woodbine avenues in markham and martingrove road and hwy 7 in vaughan ego plays a big part in it staffsgt carrique says everyone wants to be the king of the hill the top dog the one all the other street racers want a piece of 1045 pm a call comes in regarding a vehicle with a stripped interior while theres nothing illegal about removing the back seats and contents from a vehicle offi cers say its a good sign the car is used for racing the late model audi appears a bit banged up and appears to be nothing special project erase officers have stopped 2981 vehicles so far this year eight peo ple have been charged with racing com pared to 10 during all of 2003 officers have issued 1844 provincial offence notices many for illegal equip ment and modifications four people have been charged with dangerous driv ing 467 with speeding and 49 unsafe vehicles have been taken off the road this audi makes 50 1130 pm toronto police working with project erase have pulled over a car traveling 164 kmh on hwy 407 near keele street in vaughan it turns out the driver has a gl license which does not allow him to drive on highways his license is suspended but thats the least of the his problems officers run the plates and it turns out the car has been stolen 1252 aon york police helicopter air 2 reports it has picked up a motorcycle traveling at very high speeds in markham attempting to stop at a red light the driv er skids dangerously through an inter section narrowly missing oncoming traffic air 2 officers are unable to co ordinate with ground patrols to catch the speeding bike 104 am a ministry of transportation enforce ment officer who is a member of the erase team spots a van weaving in and out of its lane on hwy 7 near keele officers who pull the vehicle over find the driver showing signs of intoxication and his 10yearold daughter sitting in the passenger seat 130 am more than 50 cars many imports many clearly modified fill the parking lot of a plaza near hwy 7 and keele project erase officers cruise the lot recognizing many of the vehicles and their drivers its not us were not the problem its all these crazy kids out here racing explains car enthusiast jeremy morrison a vaughan resident hanging around the lot theyre crazy the cops should be going after them instead of harassing the same crews every night were not racing we just came here for a cup of coffee almost like an alarm bell went off dozens of cars leave the lot in unison driving up and down hwy 7 in packs 207 am seeing a late model acura with sus pension so low to die ground it looks as though the body of the car would be damaged any time it turns officers pull into a gas station where the driver is about to fill up mr andrews and staffsgt carrique take a look around the tires for any signs of rubbing damage to the body the ministry of transportation is called to take a closer look- the owner of the vehicle 18yearold daniel padovani says including all the modifications he has made to the car its worth about 25000 but i think i pay more in tickets he jokes new rims an h22 engine imported directly from japan suspension that can be lifted or lowered as he pleases and a virtually weightless carbon fibre hood are just a few of the modifications girls like it he says i dont race it it looks too good for that when ministry of transportation offi cers show up they find the cars suspen sion is too low to be safe and other illegal modifications the plates are pulled and despite mr padovanis stern protests the car is safe he must arrange for it to be towed i knew i was stupid to come to woodbridge the cops are always out here harassing us he says to the officers 400 am after a few routine traffic stops many of the project erase officers shut down for the night it hasnt been too busy tonight staffsgt carrique says but i guess thats a good thing maybe people are getting the message hp-w-