Defence? Sorry, not allowed. Off to jail with you.
Street Racing Bill Becomes Law
.....so....
These new offences build upon existing
Criminal Code offences and provide
enhanced maximum penalties of incarceration for the most serous street racing
offences.
Bill C-19 also creates mandatory minimum periods of driving prohibition
for those convicted of street racing. "This is the type of penalty Canadians expect
for those who abuse the privilege of operating a motor vehicle and put the lives of
innocent people at risk," said Minister Toews.
....so.....following the links....looking for a legal definition of this "Street Racing"...
Bill C-19: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (street racing) and to make a consequential amendment to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (LS-531E)
A. Definition of “Street Racing” (Clause 1)
Clause 1 of the bill defines “street racing” for the purposes of the
Criminal Code.
(
46) The new definition, which will appear in section 2 of the Code, is virtually
identical to the definition found in Bill C-65(
47) and is similar to in substance to the
definition in Mr. Cadman’s bill.(
48)
The definitions in the three bills require that two or more motor vehicles be
involved. As did Bill C-65, Bill C-19 uses the expression “operating a motor vehicle
in a race
with at least one other motor vehicle” (emphasis added). The proposed
definition therefore does not seem to include a race against the clock, in which
only one motor vehicle is involved.(
49)
As well, the expression “motor vehicle” is already defined in section 2 of the Code,
(
50) and it might mean that a race between, for example, motorcycles,
snowmobiles or all‑terrain vehicles could be characterized as a “street race.” On
the other hand, under the definition in the bill, the “race” must take place in a
public place.(
51)
Overall, the definition of street racing in the bill is stated in general terms, unlike
the definition in the British Columbia statute, for example.(
52) This could be
because, among other things, the five new offences created by the bill require, in
addition to involvement in street racing, the same constituent elements (
mens rea
and
actus reus) as do dangerous operation(
53) and criminal negligence,(
54) which
are already described in the Code.
The definition of street racing can apply to a broad range of activities, and it
relates both to organized street racing and to improvised events.
B. Street-Racing Offences (Clause 2)
The most notable difference between Bill C-19 and the earlier street-racing bills is
the creation of street-racing offences. While Bill C-65 and Mr. Cadman’s bill dealt
with street racing as an aggravating circumstance, Bill C-19 introduces five specific
street-racing offences into the Code:
- dangerous operation not causing bodily harm or death, committed while street racing (new subs. 249.4(1) of the Code);
- dangerous operation causing bodily harm, committed while street racing (new subs. 249.4(3) of the Code);
- dangerous operation causing death, committed while street racing (new subs. 249.4(4) of the Code);
- criminal negligence causing bodily harm, committed while street racing (new s. 249.3 of the Code);
- criminal negligence causing death, committed while street racing (new s. 249.2 of the Code).
At present, the courts that enforce the
Criminal Code use the dangerous operation
(
55) or criminal negligence(
56) provisions to punish street racers.
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Now we know what this Thread is about.
