‘Don’t be an idiot:’ Police launch annual crackdown on street racing and car rallies in the GTA

Peel Regional Police have made several arrests in connection with illegal street racing and stunt driving.

A coordinated effort is once again underway to combat street racing and stunt driving in the Greater Toronto Area.

Led by Peel Regional Police, in partnership with Ontario Provincial Police, Toronto Police Service, York Regional Police, Halton Regional Police, and Hamilton Police Service, Project ERASE (Eliminate Racing Activity on Streets Everywhere) kicked off for the season in Brampton on Tuesday morning.

“Excessive speed continues to be the leading contributor to fatal collisions in the GTA,” Deputy Chief Marc Andrews, of Peel Regional Police, said during the launch of the annual awareness and enforcement campaign.

In the last three years, Peel Region has seen a 154 per cent increase in street racing-related charges from just over 800 in 2022 to more than 2,100 in 2024.

“In the last two weeks alone, we’ve seized 32 vehicles and laid more than 400 charges, including almost 30 related to stunt driving. Dangerous driving will not be tolerated in our communities,” he said, adding that enforcement alone isn’t enough pointing to the need for “coordinated enforcement strategies” and a “unified approach” with neighbouring police services and government partners to tackle these challenges.

Police in Peel Region say their efforts also include working with the cities of Mississauga and Brampton to ensure bylaws are enforced. That could entail handing out fines of up to $800 for participants and spectators at illegal car rallies as well as impounding vehicles and suspending driver’s licences.

So far this year in Toronto, police have received 182 calls for stunt driving and have laid 229 charges, said Acting Supt. Matt Moyer, of Toronto Police Service’s Traffic Services Unit. In 2024, there were a total of 1,134 stunt driving-related charges laid in Toronto.

Moyer said speeding not only puts a driver’s life at risk, but also the lives of others.

“By working together to educate drivers and enforce the law, we can ensure that our roads remain safe for everyone,” he said.

“It’s critical that we’re all working from the same script, whether it’s Peel, Halton, or Toronto, we have to be consistent not just on education but on enforcement as well, and that means taking it to the courts and having assigned crowns and sentencing as well.”

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown wasn’t mincing words during the campaign’s launch event today in his city.

“For those out there in the community worried about having their car impounded or getting a big fat ticket my advice is simple: don’t be an idiot. If you are not going to be an idiot you won’t get a big fat ticket or lose your car,” he said, adding programs like Project ERASE “play a crucial role in promoting public safety and building a safer Brampton—one where accountability is the norm, not the exception.”

Mississauga’s Deputy Mayor Matt Mahoney, who is a Peel Police Service Board Member alongside Brown, said ensuring roads in his city are being used by ‘‘responsible and careful drivers is critical to everyone’s safety.”

“Drivers need to take accountability for their actions while using the many streets which connect our great city,” he said, adding this campaign is about reminding drivers that operating a vehicle is something that must be taken seriously and must be done “in a manner which addresses everyone’s rights to safely travel in our city.”

Among other things, Project ERASE will result in an increase in police visibility in areas where illegal street racing and stunt driving meetups are happening.

Members of the public are urged to report dangerous driving behaviours to the police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Allison Hurst