C.A.R.R. Program

[FieroDough]

Hey guys!
As per our last meeting, there were some discussions about street racing and how it affects us and other hobbyists in general.

Well over breakfast with my brother yesterday, we came up with an idea. C.A.R.R. (Car Clubs Against Road Racing) much like the M.A.D.D. program, we would discourage street racing and sponsor track days.

here is the letter we sent to the Ottawa Police today. I will keep you posted of their response.

To whom this may concern,
   
   My name is Eric Villeneuve, I am the vice president of the Ottawa Fiero Club (automotive club). Our club participates in a lot of community events, charities and shows in the Ottawa region.

   At our last meeting, the topic of street racing was brought up and many members have a great deal of concerns. We understand that street racing is getting out of hand and wanted to help to do something about it. C.A.R.R. (Clubs Against Road Races) was put into planning.

   What we would like to know is how to best put the program in motion. We would like to know what M.A.D.D. (Mother Against Drunk Driving) had to do to get the program as far as it is today and follow in their successful foot steps.

   We would like collaboration of the Ottawa Police force to help implement the program. We trust this program would make the automotive hobby more enjoyable for all that are involved.

Thank you for your time,

Eric Villeneuve
(OFC Vice President)
E-mail: eric.villeneuve@rci.rogers.com
Phone: 613-851-6366
 
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We basically want to copy the M.A.D.D. program's success. Make donation boxes with some sort of antenna ribbon. People can attach the ribbon to show they are against street racing and promote some track days. this also help with police collaboration.

If the Police can see that our club and others are against street racing, they will hopefully stop giving us a hard time.

Cheers!
Eric

[FieroDough]

Sent this to MADD Ottawa as well. I hope we get feedback from them soon.

To whom this may concern.

   My name is Eric Villeneuve, vice president of the Ottawa Fiero Club (automotive club).

   I have a lot of respect for the work and the accomplishments of the MADD program and we would like to follow in your successful footsteps.

   A growing concern in Ontario is street racing. Whether it be at 2AM on a deserted industrial road or 3 in the afternoon on a residential street with kids playing near by, it deadly and costly for us all.

   The Ottawa Fiero Club (OFC) is very involved in the community and we want to help. At our last meeting, the concerns over street racing were made clear. Street racing is not tolerated in the club. But we need to make everyone aware of this. Hence C.A.R.R. (Clubs Against Road Racing).

   We would like to know how MADD started off, how you got so big and made the message so clear. How you worked so closely with the police and the community. We would like to follow in the same footsteps.

   Our goal is to help break-up organized street racing and sponsor track days for people to take it to a controlled environment (racing track) and keep everyone out of needles danger.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Eric Villeneuve (OFC Vice President)
E-mail: eric.villeneuve@rci.rogers.com
Phone: 613-851-6366

[FieroDough]

here is an interesting idea

pull over any car with exteral mods.  pop hood and look for moter swap or mods.  take picture and email to insurace company.   they will cancel policy for engine mods.  usually these kids also have the car under a relatives name or parents so it will be canceld for that as well.   alot of kids around here also have fake insureance slips because they are uninsurable.    all simple ways of getting these kids off the streets.  it all comes down to insurance.

very simple and easy.

We are trying to avoid that actually. Street racing affect us all. Cops get stressed about it and take it out on the innocent ones who don't street race but have flashy cars.

By taking care of the problem and reducing the amount of street racing and accidents related to it, we save lives and tickets.

If people have fake insurance or whatnot, well that is just plain stupid and if they get caugh, that's too bad...

Cheers!
Eric

[Sentinel]

wow nice work Eric, I think promoting the club in a positive light is really a big step and should benefit car enthusists everywhere.

[dguy]

here is an interesting idea

pull over any car with exteral mods.  pop hood and look for moter swap or mods.  take picture and email to insurace company.   they will cancel policy for engine mods.  usually these kids also have the car under a relatives name or parents so it will be canceld for that as well.   alot of kids around here also have fake insureance slips because they are uninsurable.    all simple ways of getting these kids off the streets.  it all comes down to insurance.

very simple and easy.

Interesting, but likely minimally effective.

First off, for it to even have a hope of being effective you need to define "the line" where an external modification most likely identifies a hopped-up engine as well.  Does a fart can mean that the car might be a racer?  Do blue washer nozzles mean that the car might be a racer?  I can do any number of things to the exterior of any vehicle which alter its appearance, make it look "hot", but the drivetrain can still be bone stock from nose to tail.

See where this is going?  It could very easily become regular shake-downs of any good-looking vehicle. Extra work for the police, extra work for insurance companies, and wasted time on everyone's part due to the number of invisible modifications anyone can make to their drivetrain to get more oomph out of it.

Not to mention that I really don't trust your average patrol officer or insurance company to have sufficient mechanical knowledge to identify engine modifications on the spot.  Think about the number of different engines & engine bay layouts on the street for a single model year.  Now multiply that by 30.  Is your brain full yet, officer?


Nice idea, but I think there are better ways to discourage street racing than inviting a guilty-before-proven-innocent sentence upon drivers.  We'll have enough of that crap if McGuinty manages to get his precious photo radar back on the highways.

I agree completely with Eric--gestapo-like enforcement against all just to catch a few is about as undesireable as it gets.

[FieroDough]

Hats off to the Ottawa Police force!

I am communication with one police officer (I won't mention his name until I get his permission) and he is very cooperative!

They seem to have a lot of positive advice to give as well as a lot of programs already on the go. Seems they are not a big fan of negative enforcement neither. But some times things just have to be done to put your foot down.

with his approval, I'd like to invite him to one of our meetings to let you all know what is legal and what is not. And what it will cost you if you are caught. (and please give the guy a break, don't get to technical, they know a lot about cars but you can't expect them to know our car inside out. )

I have also invited the officer to the forum. So out of respect, I would appreciate that there be no more conversations about anything illegal on the forum. (not that we have ever had an issue with that.  )

So to summarise, I'm sure that working together with the Ottawa police and the community, we can make owning a Fiero and being a club member more enjoyable to our selves and others.

cheers!
Eric

[FieroDough]

Wow! another positive replay from the police officer i have been dealing with. Seems they are on our side after all!

here is the message, again the name of the officer is confidential until he gives me the ok to post it.

cheers!
Eric

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My motto is not what you drive but how you drive (new louder exhaust- don't drive 5,000 rmp in residential zone).... unless you car is unsafe (most upgrades make your cars better), for the sake of the show that day we overlook technical accessories (and we're not keeping lists of plate#s for follow up later). I will do all in my power to ensure that no enforcement is done other than for moving violations.
    I'd like to show you my scrapbook so you see where I'm coming from and really mean what I say; i've enjoyed 4 years of positive media and would not jeopardize that for a handful of tickets.
 
    If you are looking for a place to do your car wash, I know one of my major sponsor, Metropolitan Rustproofing on Merivale just south of HuntClub is wide open to have car washes on their big lot. I might even join in to wash cars (of course we'll get the media to cover that!). We can see if Ottodrome and Calabogie tracks will sponsor.

[WillEV]

Any new info on this?

[FieroDough]

Nothing new yet, but i am looking in a partner in this endevor to help out. If anyone is interested please let me know!

Cheers!
Eric

[WillEV]

What type of partner?

[FieroDough]

I'm pretty busy at work lately, just someone help me in keeping relations with other group up to date, help organise events ect...

cheers!
Eric