Ottawa police officers took part in a targeted traffic-enforcement campaign last month that resulted in 92 charges in two days.
The officers monitored popular vehicle-gathering locations, as well as organized automotive events and high-risk driving across the city during the evenings of Aug. 28 and 29, according to a news release from the Ottawa Police Service.
OPS officers from several units were involved, including the road-safety, district-traffic and impounded-vehicle units.
Most of the charges were laid on Saturday, Aug. 29, with 64 provincial offence notices and seven Part 3 court summonses, which come with mandatory court dates.
Two Saturday-night drivers were charged with stunt driving and speeding. One was a 28-year-old observed travelling 102/km in a posted 60 km/h zone near Fisher Avenue and Dynes Road, while the other was clocked at 133 km/h, more than twice the 60 km/h limit, near Baseline Road and Clyde Avenue.
Both drivers had their licences suspended for 30 days, and vehicles impounded for 14 days. The Baseline and Clyde driver was also charged with failing to stop at a red light and failing to remain at the scene of a collision, police said.
Another driver was nabbed Saturday near Prince of Wales and Normandy Crescent when an automated licence-plate recognition scanner alerted officers to a driver whose licence was suspended. A 40-year-old was charged with driving while under suspension, and failing to stop at a red light.
The weekend blitz started with 21 charges on Friday, Aug. 28, including 18 provincial offence notices and three Part 3 court summonses.
In one Friday-night case, a 32-year-old driver was travelling 143 km/h in a posted 80 km/h zone on Highway 417 near Parkdale Avenue. Their licence was suspended for 30 days, their vehicle impounded for two weeks and the driver was charged with stunt driving and speeding.
In a separate incident, a 19-year-old driver was caught with an improper muffler near Strandherd Drive and Greenbank Road, the Barrhaven intersection where traffic is frequently the source of noise complaints from nearby residents. The driver had been charged with the same office within the previous week. This time, the teenager was issued a court summons.
The OPS release concluded with assurances that officers will continue to support “safe” automotive events while targeting stunt driving, street racing and “other high-risk driving behaviours that threaten public safety.”
