Some 44 speeders have had their vehicles impounded and drivers licence suspended on the spot in the first 36 hours after new legislation went into effect to crack down on street racing and aggressive driving.
The new law went into effect in Ontario on Sunday morning. Drivers also face fines of between $2,000 and $10,000, if found guilty.
The new rules were enough to make one 18-year-old lead-footed driver break down in tears.
"A young man started crying as his mom's car was impounded," Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Cam Woolley told the Toronto Star.
Another driver, who just got his new car a few days earlier, had his vehicle taken away after he was clocked doing 174 km/h on Highway 401, Woolley said.
Two drivers had their rental cars impounded, which means they'll be paying rental costs while the vehicles sit in an impound lot for a week.
Woolley believes the stiffer penalties will reduce dangerous driving.
"We're trying to make aggressive driving as socially unacceptable as drinking and driving," he told the Star.
The OPP says of the 340 people who have been killed in accidents on Ontario roads so far this year, about one-quarter of them involved speed and aggressive driving.
Woolley says the new law also allows officers to use their own judgment, such as in cases of risky driving, those operating unsafe vehicles and drivers weaving in and out of traffic.
Police are planning to continue their stepped-up enforcement over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
The new regulations come after a string of serious accidents involving speeding and street racing on Ontario highways over the summer.
