'Cutting off cars': Four tow truck drivers charged with street racing on Hwy. 401 in Milton

It was a race with no winner.

The Ontario Provincial Police's highway enforcement team laid charges of street racing against the drivers of four tow trucks Saturday evening in Milton.

Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the four tow trucks were observed in the westbound lanes of the Hwy. 401 around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, driving on the shoulder and making unsafe lane changes. The OPP pulled over the trucks near Hwy. 25 in Milton.

I have seen tow trucks charged before, but I don't think I've ever seen four racing each other," said OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.

Schmidt said it wasn't known if they were headed to the scene of an accident, but added that tow trucks are still required to follow the rules of the road.

They were moving faster than traffic and cutting off cars," Schmidt said.

Ontario instituted harsher penalties for street racing last month with driver licence suspensions increasing from seven days to 30 and vehicle impoundment doubling from seven to 14 days. The threshold for laying street charges of 50 km/h or more over the posted limit was lowered to 40 km/h or more where the speed limit is less than 80 km/h. Upon conviction, fines can range from $200 to $10,000.

Though the tow trucks did not exceed the thresholds, Schmidt said speed is not the only factor in laying street racing charges.

There are all sorts of things that constitute street racing," he said.

Schmidt said the trucks of three different companies were involved.