The teen drivers arrested for racing 13 supercars worth $2 million in Vancouver this week — in what we've dubbed the "rich kid street race" — face just a small fine and suspended licenses. But Canadian authorities may have a far tougher punishment coming — seizing and selling their rides.
The race in British Columbia involved speeds of up to 125 mph on freeways; witnesses said two of the group would block traffic while the rest raced. Among the cars impounded: three Lamborghini Gallardos, three Nissan GT-Rs, two Maserati GranTurismos, an Audi R8, an Aston Martin DB9, a Ferrari 599, a Mercedes AMG SL63 and a Mercedes SLS AMG.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police impounded the vehicles for seven days, and the drivers — several students from a nearby exclusive boarding school, many of whom didn't have a full drivers' license and had a green "N" sticker on the rear window — had to pay for impound costs and a $196 fine.
But Canadian law allows the mounties to seize and sell vehicles involved in "dangerous driving" — the definitions for which includes driving 50 kilometers per hour over the speed limit. That's what happened to two men in 2008 caught racing a Ferrari 430 and a BMW M6 in Vancouver; their cars were sold for $100,000.
RCMP Supt. Norm Gaumont told CBC that police are "going to be looking at seizing the vehicles for good," if they can prove a dangerous driving charge. Even if only a couple of the supercars are taken from their owners, that's a lot of horses in Dudley Do-Right's corral.