Street racing story `irresponsible'
Wheels readers respond with outrage – both for and against Jim Kenzie's opinion
May 31, 2008
Hey, look at me! I'm a street racer!
Jim Kenzie, May 24
Jim Kenzie's article is irresponsible, ill-timed and irrational, especially coming from a writer who considers himself Canada's top automotive journalist.
His actions, and subsequent bragging in print, diminish the good work being done by OPP officers – and their municipal colleagues – province-wide.
Last year, 451 people died on highways within OPP jurisdiction, almost half of them because of speed, drinking and driving and not buckling up.
That's totally unacceptable to me and my officers and should be unacceptable to every Ontario motorist, including Mr. Kenzie.
The Star, by running the article, is not only promoting excessive speed on our highways, it is sending a message to others that it is acceptable to break the law and put oneself and other motorists at risk.
The fact that Mr. Kenzie has extensive experience in testing cars at high speeds on closed tracks world-wide doesn't give him the right to flaunt the rules of the road here in Ontario.
I wonder what reaction he'd have received from those who lent him the Volkswagen Jetta and Mercedes-Benz Smart car if he'd had to call them to let them know the vehicle he was driving was in a police impound yard and would be unavailable for media test drives for the next seven days.
There is no need and certainly no excuse for driving more than 50 kilometres over the posted speed limit.
I would remind Mr. Kenzie and Wheels editors that the OPP doesn't set the speed limits – we just enforce them!
I invite Mr. Kenzie and other writers of the Wheels sections who do not support the "street racing" legislation to accompany my officers the next time they have to knock on someone's door and tell them their father, mother, son and daughter won't be coming home.
The Ontario Provincial Police will continue its efforts to make this province's highways the safest anywhere, one irresponsible driver at a time.
Julian Fantino, Commissioner, Ontario Provincial Police
Let me get this straight: If I find an open stretch on the 401 with no traffic, and I let my speed touch 150 km/h, is that the same crime as going 100 through a residential neighbourhood where people are walking dogs and kids are playing frisbee and selling lemonade?
Maybe it's just me, but I think the lawmaker who wrote that needs to see a doctor. But until his issues are resolved, we have this law to ponder.
I know we've all suffered a lot of "Autobahn" talk, but here goes:
I recently drove on the Autobahn and drove 1,200 km. To my surprise, there was no carnage. No hearses lining up to gather up corpses. Just regular folks driving somewhat faster than we drive. Happily and safely.
And from what I gather, their safety record on those roads is similar to ours.
So what gives? Where did we ever get the idea that 100 is safe and 101 isn't? Who decided?
After all, if I go 150 there, I'm a perfectly okay guy. If I do it here, I'm Hinckley.
Speeding in town is obviously wrong. But is going 150 on the 401 really that serious a crime?
Bernie Uhlmann, Trenton
At the end of the day, do you not think that this is all just semantics?
Speed kills, period.
More deaths are caused at lower speeds – come on, how asinine is that?
So how are people like myself supposed to feel?
My mother Cynthia Dougherty (née Lobsinger) and Maria Rosa Dalsass were killed at high speeds ... oh wait, semantics again – allegedly killed at high speeds, right?
Fluke accident. At high speeds, almost twice the speed limit ... allegedly.
Is that what people are going to try to sell me while I try and salvage the shell of myself and the life I once had before someone "allegedly" killed my mother on Thanksgiving weekend?
Please.
Walk a day in the shoes of those who have been left behind to try and pick up the pieces, before you all ignorantly argue the semantics around the fact that speed ... street racing ... complete disregard for each other's lives ... kills.
Jennifer Waites, Kitchener
I could not agree more with your article on supposed street racing.
There is one thing I do not understand. The law as currently written finds a person guilty and assigns a penalty before a person appears before the courts.
This seems to be completely counter to the commonly accepted system of Canadian justice.Why is this? Is it because fighting the case through the courts is so costly people give up before it gets to the stage where the law is truly examined?
Don Haber, Fenwick
A nudge over 150 km/h is still over 150 km/h.
Jim Kenzie had alluded that consistent enforcement is needed to address safety issues on our highways (coupled with higher speed limits) and yet he takes on a whiny tone because he only broke the law by a "slight nudge."
He knew the law and he broke it. The fact that he's an old man driving a modestly powered vehicle does nothing for his gathering sympathy.
He is the chief auto correspondent for one of the most reputable newspapers in Toronto and his editorial is nothing more than a transparent attempt to semi-justify his actions.
The chief environmental correspondent couldn't get away with illegally dumping garbage without being reprimanded by the Star. Why is this any different?
Paulo Rubio, Toronto
I have been representing drivers in provincial offences courts for many years and stunt driving is by far the most shocking development in the field.
I find it very troubling when police officers are authorized to be "judge, jury and executioner" in a country such as ours that prides itself on due process and fairness.
The new law has been very financially rewarding for people such as myself, as well as businesses involved in the towing, and impounding of vehicles. But I can't help but be troubled at how easy it is for a very badly written law, with extremely severe consequences, to be passed with little public opposition.
I honestly never thought that the day would come when we punish our drivers so egregiously for driving 50 km/h over the limit, before they even set foot in a courtroom.
I have no doubt that the law will eventually be struck down by the higher courts, but by the time that happens, many average drivers will have suffered the terrible consequences for years to come.
Mohamed El Rashidy, Mississauga
Jim Kenzie's column was so right-wing and wrong.
There are so few motorists capable of driving over 100 km/h – there are so few who have a vehicle safe enough to do this.
Perhaps he missed the crash the past week where a 17-year-old driver killed himself and demolished his minivan.
He was probably going as fast as he thought capable. No one is trained to drive at high speed; vehicles don't get safety checks if owned continuously – vehicles are tested for clean emissions every two years, but not tested for safe operation.
Who decides the capability of a driver to exceed 100 km/h? Certainly not a newspaper columnist.
Photo radar nailed speeders, or the owners who lent vehicles to speeders.
In the Kenzie world, the OPP pull over and educate speeders, while 50 others speed by with impunity. Photo radar would catch all 50.
And by the way Jim, the racing law includes Volkswagen Jetta station wagon diesel engine cars, so by your own admission, you should be charged with a traffic offence.
Bill Gibson, Cobourg
Jim Kenzie hit the nail on the head. I need say nothing more than he already did.
I have been trying to voice my opinion for so long but it seems it's never heard. I'm a 21-year-old male, have a new Volkswagen GTi, and imagine this: a safe driver.
I own a nice-looking car. I'm not a street-racing maniac – just someone who is passionate about cars. I travel the same 140 km/h everyone else does on the morning highway commute.
But I'm sadly one of the most likely people to get pulled over and victimized at the side of the road by our nice new street racing law. Why? Because I look like I deserve it.
Ontario is becoming a sad place to be a car-passionate, safe-driving motorist.
Kyle Leppert, Dundas
I am rather surprised that a person of Jim Kenzie's stature and position would be the author of such a cavalier article – especially in light of articles written by his associates Lorraine Sommerfeld and Linda McAvoy in the same edition.
This is now the law of the land. It is not a whim of an overzealous politician or police captain. It has been developed over time, and debated extensively and passed overwhelmingly by your elected representatives.
Wake up and smell the coffee!
Excessive speed belongs in the same category as driving under the influence and criminal assault.
And if you think that is a problem, think of my daughter who has not been able to work, drive or live without pain for two years now; being told her disabilities are more than likely permanent – all the result of careless, selfish desire for speed-related cheap thrill by two people in their 30s who should have known better, driving performance cars too fast.
One of those is dead, leaving a widow and children; the other is facing serious charges.
Mr. Kenzie, if you want to drive 50 km/h over the limit, I hope you enjoy the bus.
John Hickey, founder, Help Eliminate All Road Tragedies
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