This was posted on www.canoe.ca today from Winnipeg

http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Winn...59863-sun.html

By CHRIS KITCHING, STAFF REPORTER




The video posted on the Internet includes a Civic racing on Wall Street.
Charges could be laid against people whose street races were captured on video and then brazenly posted on the Internet for everyone to see, including Winnipeg police.

Makers of the five-minute clip, which shows cars racing at high speeds on city streets, have left little doubt about their identities and made it easy for cops to find them.

Two names appear at the end of the edited video after viewers get a glimpse of a driver's face and licence plates of three cars involved.

"We're going to look into it to see what, if any, charges might apply. We want to track down the vehicles and the drivers of those vehicles," said Winnipeg police traffic unit Sgt. Barbara Tobin.

The investigation is believed to be one of the local department's first to stem from actions in an Internet video.


A passenger inside a green Toyota Sprinter Trueno GTS captured footage of the car engaged in three separate races.

The Toyota races a black Honda Civic on Notre Dame Avenue and Wall Street, where the cars pass through a school zone near Tec-Voc High School. It also races a red Civic on Keewatin Street.

Scenes show the cars passing a playground and at least one cyclist. The Toyota also does two sprints. One scene shows the speedometer at 120 km/h.

"If he had lost control of that vehicle and plowed into other vehicles, who knows what damage in human life and property would have been caused," Tobin said.

CAA Manitoba president Mike Mager said the people involved should be charged.

ABSOLUTELY STUPID

"It's completely irresponsible and absolutely stupid to be racing on the street like that and videotaping it for kicks," he said. "If you're so excited about racing, go out to a drag strip somewhere and do it safely and responsibly."

Mager and Tobin are worried the footage will encourage others to street race.

WPG Cruise Automotive Magazine editor Eric Thiessen said the actions in the video should not be associated with Sunday night cruisers.

"We've always maintained that the cruising crowd is separate from the racing crowd. Street racing is something the cruising community does not condone," he said. "People with such blatant disregard for public safety and the rules of the road have no business being on the road at all."

The video was uploaded to a YouTube.com user account in June. One person typed a response challenging the Toyota driver to a race. The clip has been viewed about 3,000 times. A link to the video is posted on an Internet message board Winnipeg car enthusiasts use to seek advice and talk shop, among other things.

Members of the website have denounced the races. One person writes: "This kid is part of the reason why cruisers and import owners get a bad reputation, no one wants this schmuck representing the import scene in Winnipeg."

It's not the first time someone has put footage of a speeding vehicle or street race in Winnipeg on the Internet, one user told the Sun.

Under new federal legislation tabled in June, street racers could face life in prison in cases where someone is killed or mandatory driving bans.

- On the web:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x67nRMHAJ4

Here is the day after follow up story


http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Winn...62820-sun.html

By CHRIS KITCHING, STAFF REPORTER




De Leon (left) and Zigue uploaded video to the Net that showed them street racing. They fear possible consequences. (BRIAN DONOGH, Sun)
Creators of a homemade video that captured them street racing say they uploaded the footage to the Internet to expose the driver's imported car to local enthusiasts.

The attention they've received -- publicity and, worse, a Winnipeg police investigation that could result in criminal charges -- is more than they bargained for.

"For all the people that are planning to street race I want them to know that you will get caught," said Mathew Zigue.

"We didn't know we'd get caught. I hope this proves that point."

Riding in the front passenger seat, Zigue said, he rolled tape one day in June while friend Mark De Leon raced his older Toyota Corolla GTS -- known as a Sprinter Trueno in Japan -- on city streets.


Zigue uploaded an edited version to a website for anyone to view.

Tips poured in to Winnipeg police, who launched an investigation that is their first to stem from actions in an Internet video.

De Leon and Zigue left no secret about their identities -- their names appear at the end of the five-minute clip after viewers get a glimpse of De Leon's face and the licence plates of three cars.

The 18-year-olds now fear the potential consequences of creating a video they said was inspired by similar clips on the Internet.

'IT WAS STUPID'

"He's pretty much scared. I'm also a little bit worried, too," Zigue said. "It was stupid and we shouldn't have done it."

"I don't want to be charged," De Leon said outside their workplace on Wall Street.

Police traffic unit Sgt. Barbara Tobin said the people involved were irresponsible and could have seriously injured someone.

She said officers want to speak to the drivers but have not contacted them.

In the video, the Toyota races a dark-coloured Honda Civic on Notre Dame Avenue and Wall Street, where the cars go through a school zone near Tec-Voc High School.

One clip shows De Leon passing a red Civic on Keewatin Street. He said it wasn't a race.

Zigue said their maximum speed of 120 km/h was reached during a sprint near Keewatin. He and De Leon did not want to reveal how fast they were travelling during the races.

Zigue deleted the clip -- viewed about 3,000 times -- after the link and stinging comments from two people in the automotive industry were printed in yesterday's Winnipeg Sun.

"We're bummed about it. I kind of feel bad," Zigue said.

Police will likely have an easy time finding those involved.

The real challenge would surface if a court case comes out of this because the Internet video may not be admissible as evidence, said David Deutscher, a professor of law at the University of Manitoba.

"The usual test for the admission of photo or video evidence is that you have to have someone there that says 'This video accurately depicts what took place.'"

Prosecutors may require an eyewitness who isn't a defendant because defendants have an absolute right to silence, said Deutscher.

Under new federal legislation, street racers could face life in prison in cases where someone is killed, or mandatory driving bans.

Hawk wrote:

- On the web: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x67nRMHAJ4

This video has been removed by the user.

They get what they deserve for street racing. I hope he had fun paying $12,000 CDN to have that 88 Trueno shipped over, because its probably going to get taken away.

Btw, this should be in The Patio.

Edit: All of the links are broken.

Don Kael wrote:

Btw, this should be in The Patio. Edit: All of the links are broken.

It is in The Patio

Also, ya all the links but the last one seem to be down now.

this reminds me of that vid from a few years ago where kids were videotaping themselves shooting paintballs at ppl, even unknowingly filmed the cops following behind them...crazy!

--matt

awesomeame wrote:

this reminds me of that vid from a few years ago where kids were videotaping themselves shooting paintballs at ppl, even unknowingly filmed the cops following behind them...crazy! --matt

I thought it was when they were pulled over the cops discovered the camera

Hawk wrote:

Don Kael wrote: Btw, this should be in The Patio. Edit: All of the links are broken. It is in The Patio Also, ya all the links but the last one seem to be down now.

Yah I moved it here.

Some people are amazingly STUPID.

NightRiderWS6 wrote:

Some people are amazingly STUPID.

thats what my wife says to me everyday

awesomeame wrote:

this reminds me of that vid from a few years ago where kids were videotaping themselves shooting paintballs at ppl, even unknowingly filmed the cops following behind them...crazy! --matt

hahahahaha, thats funny

NightRiderWS6 wrote:

Hawk wrote: Don Kael wrote: Btw, this should be in The Patio. Edit: All of the links are broken. It is in The Patio Also, ya all the links but the last one seem to be down now. Yah I moved it here.

shhhh..... lie's all lie's

[quote="augiedog77"]

awesomeame wrote:

this reminds me of that vid from a few years ago where kids were videotaping themselves shooting paintballs at ppl, even unknowingly filmed the cops following behind them...crazy! --matt

I thought it was when they were pulled over the cops discovered the camera[/quote

yeah you're right, i just mean it's a similar situation where ppl were filming themselves doing really dumb stuff

--matt