Some of the drivers ticketed for what Abbotsford police are calling a street race down busy South Fraser Way say they weren’t driving recklessly – and are blaming their pricey tickets on “haters.”
Police say six young men between 17 and 21 were handed $368 fines for driving without due care and attention as their expensive sports cars flew down a major arterial road at around 6:20 p.m. Monday.
“Even that distance, probably a couple kilometers, was putting a lot of people at risk on a busy stretch of road,” said Const. Ian MacDonald, adding that the group was going some 40 kilometers an hour over the speed limit.
MacDonald said two of the six vehicles were hanging back to block other cars and allow the other four to weave together. Officers received several 911 calls; one witness told CTV News he was shocked by the speed and the noise.
“I turned to my wife and said, ‘Those guys don’t look like they’re doing anything right and I hope they get pulled over down the road,'” said Steve Hillen.
Three of the drivers heckled the officer who pulled them over on Twitter, claiming that he didn’t have the evidence to write any tickets.
Driver Vivek Sharma told CTV News that he wasn’t driving recklessly, and that concerned citizens phoned 911 because they envied the group’s fast cars: a 2012 Chrysler 300, a 2009 Mercedes C350, a 2011 Ford Mustang, a 2012 Audi Q7, and two Infinity G37s.
“We were actually driving responsibly. But I think people got jealous, you know. There’s a lot of haters out there,” Sharma said.
Another driver, Dep Davsar, told CTV News the group wasn’t speeding, just rapidly accelerating and decelerating in a move he called “speed launches.”
“Slow down to 40, do a launch up to 60, and then slow down to 50, and we were just minding our own business going down the street,” Davsar said.
Police say that’s among the definitions of driving without due care and attention, and that the six drivers are lucky no one was seriously hurt or killed. One car was totaled just two weeks ago in an unrelated street racing incident in Abbotsford.
The cars have been impounded at Jack’s Towing in Abbotsford. Police say all but one vehicle was registered to someone other than the driver, including the drivers’ parents, and there were Ns on most vehicles.
Davsar and Sharma said they owned their vehicles, but then admitted they bought the cars with their parents’ help.
“Once those kids had to arrive home and break the news to their family that the car is gone for a week, I’m sure that generated some conversation,” MacDonald said.
