Street racers and other dangerous drivers will spend longer away from the wheel – making roads safer for everyone else – as B.C. begins tailoring prohibitions to better deter certain serious driving behaviours.

“The drivers posing the greatest risk to people’s lives are often caught repeatedly, and that tells us they aren’t taking the consequences seriously,” said Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth. “We’re going to be scrutinizing their driving more closely and making sure the penalty fits. Racers who won’t take their cars to the track can expect to walk or use public transit.”

Effective Dec. 1, longer prohibitions will replace the existing 15-day penalties for street racing and stunt driving. The prohibitions can also apply to a broader range of offences, including excessive speeding, driving without due care and attention and other high-risk driving behaviours that present an immediate risk to public safety, a Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General press release outlined.

RoadSafetyBC will set the length of each prohibition based on the incident details provided by the police, as well as the driver’s record, with most prohibitions generally between three and 36 months in length. Drivers will be able to request a review of their case through an adjudication process that RoadSafetyBC already uses when drivers appeal prohibitions under the Driver Improvement Program.

“When RoadSafetyBC intervenes, high-risk drivers typically face longer suspensions and additional remedial measures,” said Neil Dubord, chief constable, chair of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police Traffic Safety Committee. “We were consulted on the new approach and believe it will make B.C.’s roads safer.”

Police will still be able to immediately impound vehicles for a minimum of seven days if drivers are caught street racing or stunt driving.

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