The Ford government is extending the legal definition of a highway to include parking lots in response to a request from provincial police forces that say they’re struggling to tackle increasingly complicated cases of careless driving and noisy late-night car rallies.
The changes come through new transport and safety legislation the provincial government plans to pass with a focus on enhancing police powers over auto theft and driving offences.
Part of the law will allow police to enforce driving offences in parking lots used by the public in places like malls or plazas, which are considered private and therefore don’t have the same driving laws.
Last year, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police passed a motion calling on the government to make the change.
The organization cited an increase in the number of calls to mall parking lots where misbehaviour wasn’t serious enough for a criminal charge but would have resulted in a Highway Traffic Act ticket had it occurred on a road.
“There has been a high volume of incidents, high risk, and dangerous driving behaviors on private properties, including parking lots,” the organization’s motion read. “The facts do not meet a criminal threshold, and there are currently no enforcement methods available within the Highway Traffic Act.”
Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish has been vocal since she was a local councillor about a similar issue in the parking lot of the city’s Westwood Mall, where a group of auto tricksters regularly meet.
“Seriously, I’ve been in a war zone, I was in Syria when I was an MP, it’s the same droning noise, and it’s the smoke and the burning tires,” Parrish told Global News when she was a councillor for the area 2023. “It’s just it’s a nasty, nasty thing.”
The government said its proposed legislative change to apply driving laws to private parking lots would combat street racing and car rallies that have been common across the Greater Toronto Area, especially since the pandemic.
“These changes will help local police respond to and prevent unsanctioned events such as car rallies and street racing while allowing more time to investigate, collect evidence and hold drivers accountable,” a provincial news release said.
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The law addresses another request from police made at the same time, to allow dangerous driving charges to be laid up to two years after an alleged offence. That proposed change comes after chiefs said increasingly complicated investigations simply couldn’t be completed in the six months currently allotted.
Government confirms change to VIN rules
On Friday, as part of the same series of auto and public safety announcements, the government confirmed it would be increasing penalties for those guilty of faking the unique registration on vehicles.
The VIN code, which includes information about a vehicle’s make, model, year and manufacturing location and is widely considered to be a fingerprint for cars, has increasingly become a target for thieves looking to legitimize a stolen vehicle.
The government now plans, as first reported by Global News, to introduce a significant penalty for people who knowingly fake a VIN, a trick that has been used by car thieves to resell stolen vehicles. Penalties would be up to $100,000 with the option of a licence suspension and possible jail time.
“VIN fraud and careless driving are on the rise in Ontario,” Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said in a statement.
“That’s why our government is taking steps to protect unsuspecting buyers and giving police the powers they need to keep our roads and communities safe. Our tough new legislation will target car thieves and other reckless behaviour, particularly in instances causing bodily harm or death.”
Earlier this week, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Todd McCarthy — who oversees ServiceOntario, where VINs are registered — said he was confident fraudsters were being caught.
“We’re doing everything we can as a provincial government, and through ServiceOntario, for those rare cases where reVINing is a problem,” he told Global News.
“We have our security measures which have been universally helpful in apprehending those responsible when it occurs through something related to ServiceOntario.”
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