A group of street racers who whipped along Highway 99 last August at speeds up to 200 kilometres an hour have had their licences suspended for up to 20 months.
The Superintendent of Motor Vehicles has ordered the suspension of the licences of five men, following a large street race involving 13 luxury vehicles, including Ferraris, Maseratis, Mercedes, an Aston Martin, Audis, and Nissan R series worth $2 million, on Aug 31.
Information about the suspensions was in an affidavit attached to a civil forfeiture claim.
Hong Zhang Ma and Xiao Qiang Zhang, both of Richmond, and John Doe 2, a minor from Vancouver, will have their licences suspended for 18 months.
Dan Na Zhu, of Richmond, was suspended for 20 months, and Qi Ming Wang for 12 months.
The forfeiture claim noted that the drivers are likely to use the cars again in the future to "engage in unlawful acts."
"The Director [of Civil Forfeiture] says that the manner in which the high performance vehicles were operated by the drivers . . . was likely to cause serious bodily harm to motorists using the highway and thus these vehicles constitute instruments of unlawful activity as that term is defined in the [Motor Vehicle] Act," the document said.
Five of their high-end cars - an Aston Martin, a Nissan GTR, a Mercedes SLS and two Lamborghinis - could be seized by the director of civil forfeiture.
Officers at the time of the incident noted that none of the drivers was much over 20.
Only Ying Chun Wang had a full licence, while Zhang Hong Ma, Xiao Qiang Zhang and John Doe 2 had class "N" learning licences. Some also had previous driving infractions, including street racing.
According to the claim, the drivers met at Lansdowne Centre in Richmond on Aug. 31 and planned to race to South Surrey by way of Highway 99.
Read the full story at www.richmondnews.com.
