Here's how much tickets for street racing, stunting could cost Sask. drivers

SGI cracks down on speeding and street racing WATCH: SGI is cracking down on speeding and street racing, as new penalties came into effect on Oct. 1. Allison Bamford has more.

This month SGI is cracking down on dangerous driving behaviours, including street racing and stunting.

New penalties for street racing and stunting came into effect on Oct. 1.

Tickets for both offences will now cost the driver $580 along with four demerit points.

Fines for street racing will escalate for repeat offenders, according to SGI spokesperson Tyler McMurchy.

A second street racing fine will cost $1,400 and a third ticket will be $2,100, if the repeat infractions happen in a one-year span. The vehicle will also be impounded for 30 days for all street racing convictions.

“These are fairly serous consequences and it’s a very serious offence,” McMurchy said.

“It’s something that doesn’t belong on our roads.”

In the last two years, police officers have been handing out more tickets for street racing and stunting.

McMurchy said the number of tickets issued each year has doubled from about 30 to 60 convictions.

Sgt. Ian Barr called street racing “a problem in certain areas of the city during certain times of the year.”

Regina’s east end near the Greens on Gardiner as well as Albert Street tend to see the most activity on weekends and during nice weather, Barr said.

“Sometimes it’s a legitimate race … but other times it can be a road rage incident where somebody’s trying to get ahead of somebody and somebody doesn’t want to let them in,” Barr said.

It is part of an overall trend with dangerous driving habits increasing since the pandemic, according to McMurchy.

SGI is focusing on speed during its October traffic safety spotlight.

Excessive speed is one of the leading factors in traffic-related deaths and injuries, McMurchy said.

Last year, speed contributed to 1,263 collisions, resulting in 554 injuries and 20 deaths.

“When you’re driving too fast really bad things could happen,” McMurchy said.

Barr said traffic officers are always focused on catching excessive speeders and the month of October won’t be any different.

“There’s nowhere or very few places in the city where you can find everyone obeying the speed limit,” Barr said.

“It is unfortunately far too frequent that we find people going over 35 kilometres and over 50 kilometres over the speed limit.”

According to Barr, increasing a vehicle’s speed by 20 kilometres per hour can greatly increase the stopping distance.

For example, the stopping distance of a vehicle doubles if a person is driving 70 km/hr in a 50 km/hr zone, he said.

“When you think about approaching a cross walk or school zone or somebody riding off the sidewalk on a bicycle, that could make the difference between being able to stop for that person or a collision happening,” Barr said.

McMurchy said SGI plans to increase its penalties for “egregious speeding offences” in the next few months. New fines will come with an automatic 30-day vehicle impoundment and a seven-day license suspension, he said.