Sunday Cruise Night is a tradition for car lowers to show off their vehicle. There are hundreds of people who participate and sometimes they race with another vehicle just for fun, but unfortunately, they race right in the middle of downtown Winnipeg.
Two drivers that were participating in a Cruise Night event will have to become pedestrians or at least won’t be driving any time soon. Last Sunday night Winnipeg Police officers were monitoring traffic around Portage Avenue and saw two vehicles that attracted their attention by making very loud throttle noises that were sort of a sign or an invitation for another car driver to race.
The two drivers were spotted going 80 km/h in a 50 km/h zone in the downtown area, where there is heavy traffic all the time and there are a lot of people walking around even during the night. Racers were pulled over by police, vehicles seized and both drivers had their licenses suspended. But as police said, the speeding in the middle of the city wasn’t the biggest problem, both cars were highly modified and some of those modifications were not just a safety issue for drivers themselves, but also a safety risk for other vehicles and pedestrians around them.
One of the cars had steering wheel changed and the horn wasn’t working, also the center brake light was removed, which is now against driving regulations across Canada. Another car had some front seat bolts missing, so the seats could be removed manually, that is a huge safety violation and puts a driver’s life in danger. Other big safety issue is nitrous oxide booster tank in the trunk, sure that helps when you racing in a special racing certified vehicle on a special track or an off-road racing event location, but for a regular street driving it is absolutely against all the rules and regulations. Not to mention about the danger of damage it could do if exposed due to a big crash or even a minor accident.