The Ontario government is introducing legislation to crack down on street racers and drunk drivers with stiffer penalties, including automatic suspensions and heavy fines.

The bill proposes on-the-spot suspensions for up to one week and gives police the authority to seize cars immediately for the same length of time.

The legislation also calls for fines for street racers to increase by up to $10,000, making it the highest such penalty in Canada.

Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty says the proposal, if passed, will make it clear that drunk driving and street racing won't be tolerated in Ontario any longer.

"There can be no tolerance in Ontario for people who put other people's lives at risk on our roads," McGuinty said.

"We want to make it clear: If you drink and drive or if you street race, you'll pay and the penalty will be tough."

Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield said the bill includes measures for lifetime driving suspensions for repeat offenders.

Attorney General Michael Bryant said repeat drunk drivers would face the possibility of having their vehicles ordered "forfeited forever."

York Region Police Chief Armand La Barge praised the legislation, and said the dangerous driving by both street racers and impaired drivers is "senseless" and preventable acts.

"Conservative estimates would indicate that each year, 2.3 million Canadians operate motor vehicles while impaired," La Barge said at the morning news conference in Stouffville.

"Impaired driving continues to be the number one criminal cause of death in our nation."

A deputy chief coroner told reporters that one thing that always boggles his mind is that those street racing or drunk driving are usually the ones that are not seriously hurt or killed in collisions.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada welcomed the proposed impaired driving legislation, calling the measures "steps in the right direction."

Other provinces, including British Columbia and Manitoba, have also introduced stiffer fines and automatic vehicle impoundment for street racers.

Since 2002, police in British Columbia have been able to immediately impound the car of anyone caught street racing for up to a month while drivers face a fine of up to $2,000 or six months in jail.

In Manitoba, drivers face a fine of up to $5,000 and could lose their licence for a year, while in Quebec the maximum fine is $600.

Conservative Frank Klees said the bill is a good start but doesn't go far enough yet to put the brakes on reckless driving.

Klees says the province should give police the tools to target cars that use nitrous oxide fuel systems -- something he says makes cars three times more powerful and turns them into deadly vehicles.

The legislation will also give police more protection as they'll be allowed to put a combination of blue and red lights on their cruisers to make them more visible at night.

With a report from CTV's Paul Bliss and files from The Canadian Press