Monique Tamminga
Times Reporter
Street racers will be the target of enhanced enforcement according to Langley RCMP Cpl. Garry Begg, who notes that recent good weather has brought with it an increase in calls from the public about large gatherings of racers in various areas.
During the past weekend, the Glen Valley area was the venue for racers, who use River Road as their track. More than 400 kids and 50 vehicles showed up to watch racers take to the roadway.
Gloucester Estates and Derby Reach are also favoured sites for street racing according to Begg, who said � there is a huge potential for injuries or death to the participants, and to the people who gather to watch, as well as to uninvolved motorists who may be simply traveling along the roadway.�
Begg said racing enthusiasts line the roadway to watch cars race and if a racing car were to lose control and flip into the crowd, the potential for fatalities could be huge.
�We�re always fearful we�ll get a call about that,� he said.
Last year police suspended the licences of seven street racers in an effort to curb illegal racing.
�We were able to have drivers� licences of street racers suspended for a year as a result of our enforcement initiatives last summer, and we will be increasing our efforts this year,� he said.
�Our intent is to do all that we can to ensure that street racers do not feel welcome here,� Begg said.
�We are committed to continuing our enforcement activities against street racing in Langley.�
In December 2001, Township council voted in favour of asking police to step up their enforcement of street racing.
A heightened police presence may be the only way to curtail racing in Aldergrove, concluded township transportation engineer Paul Cordeiro who presented a report to council on Dec. 17, 2001.
He said that the result of a questionnaire sent to 143 business and residences in the Gloucester area reveals that �RCMP should continue or increase its enforcement levels.�
On a road in Walnut Grove, rumble strips were installed to deter street racing.
A motorcycle rider from Aldergrove is one example of the dangers of street racing.
The 21-year-old rider suffered severe injuries while doing �catwalks� for a huge crowd of street racer enthusiasts that had gathered in the Golucester Estates area off 267 Street July 7, 2001.
Crowds gathered to watch the man operate his motorcycle at extremely high speeds.
As the crowd watched, the motorcyclist, who was traveling east in the westbound lane of Gloucester Way, lost control of his bike. He started to slide towards a vehicle that was making a left turn from Gloucester Way onto 267 Street.
The motorcycle and the rider slid �many metres� along the roadway, finally coming to rest under the car. Spectators at the scene lifted the car off of the roadway and freed the rider from beneath it.
Two men in their 20s were killed in a street racing accident in Richmond Feb. 14. The passenger was celebrating his 22nd birthday.