Many Port Whitby residents are ‘mad as hell’, and vow they aren’t going to take loud cars racing u and down their streets anymore.
They have launched a campaign and petitioned the police, the regional and authorities, to crack down on what they says disturbs their peace and interferes with them enjoying their properties.
Almost 200 residents in five small blocks below Victoria Street on Whitby’s waterfront have sent a strongly worded petition to the councils and Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) to “take immediate, robust, and necessary measures” to stop the speeding, aggressive driving and excessive and unreasonable noise from illegally modified mufflers and exhaust systems on vehicles that has “increasingly been disturbing their sleep, shattering their peace and generally jeopardizing their safety and well-being”.
“We’ve been asking council to implement proper traffic control and calming measures here in Port Whitby since 2014,” explains Davina Jones, one of the residents leading the initiative. ‘I have 26 pages of Excel spreadsheets summarizing my correspondence with various councils and staff over the years. Up to this point, no real constructive action has been taken.
Constant Assault
“The tipping point came this year when the outrageous noise from cars and motorcycles escalated to a constant assault, not on just the main thoroughfares, but throughout the neighborhood,” says Wenda Abel, another of the lead petitioners. “A direct email to DRPS Chief of Police and a couple of brief appearances by DRPS cruisers made no difference. We need councils and staffs to listen to residents, make a comprehensive plan and put the traffic routing, management, and calming measures in place to make our community safe and restore our quality of life.”
She said she approached the police in July this year.
They fear with new development, the traffic situation just going to get worse.
The petition also calls on the councils to join forces with other Durham Region municipalities and Durham Regional Police Services to take joint, region-wide action on the growing problems and to urge the provincial government to provide more resources, enact legislation to support the enforcement of laws against speeding and aggressive driving and to stop the sale, installation and use of illegal modified muffler and exhaust systems everywhere.
“We knocked on all the doors we could gain access to in Port Whitby,” says Wenda. “Out of the nearly 200 people who opened their door to us, only a couple declined to include their names and addresses. Residents have had enough.”
The residents are asking police and municipal authorities to:
- Meet with a delegation of Port Whitby Residents as soon as possible to hear observations and experiences and their impacts to develop appropriate solutions to address and eliminate/curb these activities.
- Prepare and share with residents a plan for immediate enforcement against the illegal activities, and undertake the earliest possible implementation of specific traffic routing and calming meaures on the streets of Port Whitby bounded by 401 south to Water Street, Gordon Street East to South Blair Street and including Brock Street, Victoria Street, Watson, Charles, Dufferin and Front streets.
- Provide resources, tools and mandate to council staffs and DRPS necessary to successfully implement the plan.
- Call on and work with all other Durham municipalities to immediately plan and implement a joint region-wide action against speeding, aggressive driving and the illegal use of modified mufflers on vehicles on Durham streets and highways.
- Call on the provincial government to enact laws and provide a full complement of tools and resources to Durham Region municipalities and the DRPS to support enforcement of speeding and aggressive driving laws and stop the use of illegal modified mufflers on vehicles on public streets and highways – including the ability to impose fines and penalties consonant with the egregious nature of the impacts of these illegal activities.
Key slides from the petition below:
Thank you for the coverage, Durham Post! (Stop loud cars racing across our waterfront: residents) Speeding, aggressive driving and the egregious excessive noise from illegal modified vehicle exhaust systems are more than an annoyance. They’re a serious threat to mental and physical health. Period. The residents of towns and cities all over Ontario are being assaulted because perpetrators just want to make a BIG, LOUD NOISE. Port Whitby residents have chosen to speak up for their own safety and well-being and that of everyone who lives in this province, beginning at home. We hope our elected representatives who have the power, and responsibility, to enact the legislation and implement the measures to actually achieve that end, are listening.