Officer pacing and Stunt Driving is somewhat of a controversial term.  Most people believe that if the speed was not caught on a radar device, then they can dispute the charge in court.  Of course, you always have the right to dispute your charges.  However, pacing and the accuracy and legitimacy of evidence is much stronger than you may have been led to believe.  Let's investigate.

What is Pacing and its relationship to Stunt Driving in Ontario?

When police officers want to find out how fast a car is going, they have a few different tricks up their sleeve. Let's break it down into simple steps:



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The Police Car Chase: Sometimes, an officer will spot a car zooming by and decide to follow it with their police car.



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Playing Tag Along: As the officer follows the speedy car, they try to keep up with it without going faster or slower. This is like trying to walk side by side with a friend without getting ahead or falling behind.



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Checking Their Own Speed: While keeping pace with the other car, the officer looks at their own car's speedometer, which shows how fast they're going.



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Measuring Over a Distance: The officer doesn't just take a quick look; they watch the speed over a certain distance to make sure it's steady.



What happens if I was paced for Stunt Driving when I go to court?



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Too Fast, You're Caught: If the officer tells the court that the car was going way faster than the speed limit, the Justice of the Peace is likely to believe it. For example, if someone was driving at a speed that's much higher than what's allowed, the court will probably say they were indeed speeding.



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Do We Trust the Police Car's Speedometer? Usually, the court likes to know that the police car's speedometer is working right. Generally, Police vehicle speedometers are considered accurate evidence.  Each car is calibrated, tested and have a higher level accuracy than the vehicle you are driving. Most times, this is sufficient enough to prove a Stunt Driving charge at a trial.

Stunt Driving speeds are way Over the Top: So, if a car was driving extremely fast, like 50 km/h over the limit, the court might say, "That's so fast, there's no need to check the speedometer; it's clear they were Stunt Driving .



So, in a nutshell, police can use their own cars to figure out how fast someone is driving. Even a pace, regardless of what you have read on the internet, may be enough evidence to warrant a Stunt Driving conviction.



https://youtu.be/0-PKxPRvBos https://www.nextlaw.ca/2024/02/08/speed-pacing-and-stunt-driving/