Ontario Provincial Police say the drivers of several luxury vehicles are facing stunt driving charges after a traffic stop on Highway 400 near the Barrie ONroute service centre Sunday.
OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the drivers of the vehicles, which include Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Porsches, were spotted driving "erratically" along the highway.
Schmidt said officers responded to the scene and pulled the vehicles over.
"We’ve got a whole line of cars right now being impounded. Drivers are getting their licences suspended," Schmidt told CP24 Sunday afternoon.
"That kind of aggressive driving (is) the leading cause of death and injury. We do not want people using highways as their little playground racetracks."
According to OPP, some of the vehicles were reported to be going as fast as 150 kilometres per hour and police received calls from the public about dangerous and erratic driving. However police said stunt driving could also entail following vehicles too closely, cutting off other vehicles and multiple lane changes.
In all 12 drivers were charged with stunt driving. The drivers were part of an extreme car enthusiast club called “North Face Rally.” A website for the club describes it as “Supercars and super people on the most extreme car enthusiast rally for the north.”
Speaking with CP24, a lawyer for the group suggested the claims about dangerous driving are overblown.
“They did get intercepted at the wrong place at the wrong time,” lawyer Amedeo DiCarlo said. “I think what had happened is that some witnesses had called in about cars driving fast. I mean if you’re driving on the 400 doing 80 kilometres an hour and somebody passes by doing 110 and you see it’s a Lamborghini or Ferrari, right away ‘oh that guy’s speeding’ and you know they claim those as witnesses. Mind you there are no witnesses. Police are asking for witnesses.”
He said police barricaded his clients with SUVs and behaved “aggressively” toward them.
While 12 drivers were charged, police said they believe there may have been more drivers engaged in risky behavior on the road and the investigation is ongoing.
"They are not going to be arrested per se but they will all lose their driver's licences for one week and their vehicles are all being impounded for seven days as well,” Schmidt noted.
“They will have to speak to a judge to determine what monetary penalties will be on that.”
The case is expected to back in court in June.
