Here's yet another article relating to the blitz on Friday in Cambridge.

It is featured in the Tuesday June 1, 2004 Cambridge Times, by Victoria McDonald, entitled, "Safety Blitz on Street Racing."

The article said that enforcement officers with the ministries of transportation and environment were pulling over "mainly souped-up cars for rigorous inspection." Looking for illegally modified vehicles, (suspension, exhaust systems, lighting, windows, tires, brakes, nitrous, racing fuel and more), the blitzes will continue every Friday night all over the region throughout the summer.

It explained that 71 cars were checked, 46 charges and 17 unsafe cars for the road on Friday alone.

For those of you writing letters, I know I will be voicing my opinions; here is the person to name in the fiasco: OLAF HEINZEL

The article touched upon the recent street racing incident in T.O. with the Civic (which even stated that the car wasn't modified....?) it said that Civic's are mainly the favourite for younger generations to modify (watch out Civic driver's!)

HERE'S THE TURNING POINT AND OLAF'S ERROR IN MAKING THE STATEMENT, WHICH I AM SURE HE WILL HEAR HIS WORDS AGAIN:
"Heinzel said the blitz isn't targeting law abiding car enthusiasts, such as STREET ROD CLUB MEMBERS, WHO MODIFY THEIR CARS SAFELY AND LEGALLY.

So VM Members, lets flood Olaf Heinzel's mailbox full of letters dealing with why we are the one's targeted, but yet old muscle cars, "THE WORST POLLUTERS" are left alone, or is it simply because their an older generation? Or better yet, this is a case of "AGEISM."

My letter O-LAUGH HEINZEL is going out in tomorrow's mail...

who the fuck gave OLAF, not even a fucking CANADIAN the right to tell me what i can and cannot do?!

Here's Olaf's email to send all letters to:

olaf.heinzel@wrps.on.ca

Or, you can send a hard copy to him at:

Waterloo Regional Police Headquarters
attn: Olaf Heinzel
200 Maple Grove Road
Cambridge, Ontario N3H 5M1

HAHAHA... Olaf! i knew him personally


he used to be my uncles friend, till my uncle moved to Colorado... Fuck... he was even at a BBQ in March, when my uncle was back... Ha.. thats funny...


im gonna write a letter.. just cause i feel its necessary..Not that anythings illegal to my car, just that what i have planned, the cops arent gonna like that... and id rather have it resolved before i put the money into it, than after, when im screwed...

Originally Posted by partspimp

HERE'S THE TURNING POINT AND OLAF'S ERROR IN MAKING THE STATEMENT, WHICH I AM SURE HE WILL HEAR HIS WORDS AGAIN:
"Heinzel said the blitz isn't targeting law abiding car enthusiasts, such as STREET ROD CLUB MEMBERS, WHO MODIFY THEIR CARS SAFELY AND LEGALLY.

So an 800hp gas guzzling race car with street legal tires is safer than a civic with a muffler? riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

I think what he meant to say was "we leave the old guys alone because they're our friends, and neighbours and we don't want to get beat up when we go home"...

What about that civic hatch that was driving around trying to sucker people into races last year... it was pretty modified wasn't it?? Exhaust, lowered, tints.... Yet the police drove that around..........

Here's my letter that I just sent to Olaf, hope you like it, (if not, too bad, it's already sent!):

Dear Olaf: June1, 2004.

The recent article featured in the Tuesday June 1, 2004 edition of Cambridge Times, entitled “Safety Blitz on Street Racing” by Virginia McDonald is rather bias on your behalf towards a majority of performance car enthusiasts.

I will agree that the whole “Street Racing” phenomena, which was highly brought upon by Hollywood, has trickled its popularity North of the Border, and into small towns such as Cambridge, KW, and surrounding area without a doubt. But it DOES NOT pertain to one group of individuals…

I feel that we, as car enthusiasts in a selected age group of 16-25, with modified vehicles, are labeled as “evil-doers,” “rebels,” and now by society, and the Police Force’s new sensationalist word: “Street Racer’s.”

Open your eyes, Mr. Heinzel, not every modified vehicle on the road can be categorized in this prejudice “street racer” term.

Here’s what really offended me and a whole group of individuals regarding the article. It was written that “Heinzel said the blitz isn’t targeting law abiding car enthusiasts, such as STREET ROD CLUB MEMBERS.”

Are you saying that all people who do not fit into this STREET ROD CLUB are not law-abiding citizens? Or is it that you portray older groups of individuals who drive Muscle Cars as more superior to that of a younger generation with modified sport compact cars? Or moreover, do you possess a strong prejudice toward younger generations?

Now here’s a couple scenarios that I find fitting in lieu of this statement;

1) It’s a late Friday evening, at the local Tim Horton’s parking lot. You have three noisy means of transportation cluttering the lot, a Harley Davidson Motorcycle, a modified1968 Charger, and a heavily modified Civic. The Harley driver is rather scary looking, and is sporting a notorious Motorcycle club leather jacket. The Charger Driver, in his late 40’s is clean shaven and well kept. The Civic driver is in his late teens and has his hat worn to the sides and baggy fitting clothing. The polite and friendly staff of Tim Horton’s has had enough of the noise, and calls the local police. When the Police arrive, whom would they target first? (If you said the Civic driver, you would be correct…)
2) You have three empty lots, where three separate parties congregate: an organized group of Sport Compacts in the first, playing their Stereo’s loud, revving their smaller displacement engines, and hearing the endless exhaust “chirp” from the miscellaneous cars. In the second lot, you have a Motorcycle club with countless Harley’s, custom Chopper style bikes and a few Street Bikes, popping wheelies, doing burnouts, and exceeding the threshold with their ear-deafening low toned exhausts. In the last lot, you find the Oldies, the Cuda’s and Hemi’s, the Charger’s and Challenger’s, the Mustang’s and Camaro’s, and the Vette’s and the Bel Air’s. For the majority they all are well past their prime in age, but still they rev their respective engines to the max, with their 2 ft. tall blowers sticking out from under the hood which obstructs the view of the road, the constant “low hum” of Flowmaster exhausts without catalytic convertors (polluting the environment), and their 50’s and 60’s music being blared over loud speakers throughout the lot. Which party gets busted the fastest? (Sport Compact hands down!)

You can honestly say that if you were on patrol, you would definitely mark the wrong individuals every time in the supplied scenarios (according to the truth in the article).

We, as a collective bunch of car/truck performance enthusiasts are getting blacklisted by what our vehicles look like, and it needs to stop. We, as a younger generation, no longer judge people for the appearance of their skin, so why as law enforcement, judge us for what we drive?

I am part of a group called Vital Motion. We are a group of younger people that meet together for three main reasons: for highlighting performance products and modifications performed on our vehicles, for the abolishment of being wrongfully labeled as “Street Racers” by society, and for the most part, for the fun of it.

We too, have strict policies about our meets, and members, which are governed. We support the community through various events, such as car washes, which the details can be viewed at www.carwash.vitalmotion.net . We care about our society, but get no respect in return for all the hard work and dedication put into community events. We should get praise, but we get an almost irreversible moniker of being “Street Racer’s,” by individuals such as you, Mr. Heinzel.

I would like to hear back from you regarding this matter at your earliest convenience, since I feel as a law abiding citizen that I am disrespected because of the vehicle I drive and the negative outlook that the KW Regional Police portrays us to be through not only the newspapers, but in all media sources.

If you would like to meet some of us, why not come out, shake our hands, and speak with us, instead of labeling group you don’t know through what others want you to portray us to be. You are the spokesperson for the KW Police, people obviously respect your opinion, why not abolish this prejudice, and portray us for who we are and what we stand for.

Vital Motion meets every Wednesday evening during the summer months from
7pm – 10pm at an authorized vacant parking lot at Sportsworld in Kitchener.

We look forward to meeting with you to put this incident behind us and to gain a respect towards one another, so that the peaceful coexistence between law and enthusiasts can be strengthened.

With sincerity, Derek A. Hamilton (Vital Motion Member and Official Sponsor)

Good letter Derek. Keep us posted on what happens. I'm looking forward to hearing what Olaf says in return.

yeah... sounds very good...

i sent my own version... just for the hell of it... Used parts of Nicks, and parts of my own...

Dear Sir,

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Andrew Dougall, and I am 17 years old, and am attending Conestoga College for Woodworking Technician in the spring of 2004. Although woodworking is my main focus, I also love cars; especially modified cars. Previously, I owned a 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier Sedan, which I customized to my preference. After many problems with the drive train, and body, I sold the car to a family friend. On May 2nd, 2004, I purchased a brand new 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. It is a one of a kind color, and is one of my favorite colors I have seen. Currently, I have no modifications to the car what so ever, accept for some advertisement for car clubs I belong to. One of the clubs is the local Vital Motion Car Club, in which I just joined. We are a group of car enthusiasts based in the Waterloo region with members from Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Brantford and all the smaller towns in between.

I heard about the modified car “blitz” the Waterloo Regional Police is organizing every Friday night against the modified cars in the region. We do realize that Street Racing is a very important issue right now, and that it endangers not only the people doing it, but also pedestrians and civilians and we agree that it must be stopped. Our club does not allow its members to conduct any kind of racing on the streets and we regularly organize Track Days where we all cruise to St. Thomas Dragway to keep racing where is supposed to be done. We are also organizing a charity car wash called “Tuners Against Street Racers”,
(visit http://carwash.vitalmotion.net for more information) in memory of the young kids that were recently killed in our region due to street racing related incidents.

Many of the members have put a great deal of time, effort and money in the cars they drive and most took the time to research what can be had on the road and what is illegal. Our opinion is that the HTA is too vague on some topics and even after discussion things over with different officers we still have no real clarification on some issues such as aftermarket exhaust, lowering, air intakes, forced induction and nitrous oxide.

We also believe that you are targeting the wrong audience, because most of the recent street racing accidents involved family sedans or cars that did not have any aftermarket modifications. They were often not even owned by the driver and belong to their parents. Most tuners will not take the risk of crashing their investment and drive according to the law.

I am in the early stages of modifying my Cavalier. I have big plans for the car, including a Body kit, custom wheels, and a lower stance to my car. I would really love this car, if it has my own personal touch, although the color is personal, and is one of a kind. I would hate to have all my time and money put into this car, to have it impounded and fined.

On behalf of our 300+ members I want to thank you for taking the time to read this letter and ask you to let me know if anything could be organized to solve these issues. Please understand that this is our hobby (for some our life), and we are upset because of the negative attention we are getting, the stereotyping and unfair treatment we daily receive from Insurance companies, Officers of the law, media and other drivers.

Sincerely

Andrew Dougall

adougall@rogers.com

I think everyone should send a personal one. to make more of an Impact!

Keep it up guys. I'm making one right now!!!

should forward a copy of that to the newspaper that printed that article aswell.. or perhaps if you get a response send that in along with your letter

well done derek :hail:

Here is my email that I just sent him

Dear Sir

My name is Chris Hartman, I am 18 years of age and am currently attending Grand River High School. I Drive a 1994 Escort Lx. I have recently been hearing about the modified car blitz that has been happening in cambridge and is now being expaned to all surrounding areas. I am a member of the car group Vital Motion. We all have heard about the deaths in Toronto which occured only a short while ago because of street racing. In the investigation it was stated that the cars which were raced were not modified in any way. Which is also true for many cases of street racing. The cars are completely stock and are often not under the ownership of the driver. Yet the police are now looking for any modified car on the road and ticketing them for having modifications done... This i dont understand... Becuase people have a love for cars and enjoy working on them does not in anyway mean that they are going to be used for street racing. Take my car for example, I drive a 88 horsepower escort which i have just recently built a custom bumper for, over the past year I have put a filter cone on, a muffler and a breather filter, which in turn would put my horsepower up to at most, 95 horse power, with a possible 84 horsepower to the wheels. Because I have done this does not mean that I am going to be using my car to race, it's because i would like my car to have style. And for this i am being put at risk to be pulled over and fined for a car that is known to be an "economy car" with very little modification done to it.

There are many more cars on the road with horsepower much greater then my own, for example, the muscle cars, with a stock horsepower of 300 minnimum to the wheels. Yet the cars that are being targeted are the ones people spend all their time working on... Trying to earn respect from others... Most of the people who modify their car in any way are often not willing to take the risk of speeding in fear or ruinning what they have worked so hard on.Others as well as myself feel this to be very unfair and now have to fear stepping foot in our cars...

For many of us this is a hobby, for others this is what we do for a living... And now we are finding out that the things that we do to keep us out of trouble are the things that are going to be getting us into throuble. I have put so much time and money into my car to make it look good and am now being forced to make a decission on wether or not to junk the car completely. This car is what gets me from work and back and school and back, it's a mode of transportation which i made look better.

Also may i bring your attention to this:
Vital motion is having a Charity Car wash " Tuners Against Street Racing" In memory of the kids whom were killed in our region by street racing. You can find more information here. (http://carwash.vitalmotion.net/)

The whole reason I am writing to you is to inform you that very few people that modify their car are willing to risk damaging it.

On behalf of the 300+ members of Vital Motion I thank you for taking the time to read this and hope that there is some way that the issue can be settled. I ask you to please take into consideration that these are hobbies and that this is also a living for people.

Thank you for your time

Sincerely

Chris Hartman

Them motherfuckers would hafta catch me first andmy car isnt pretty lol sio i wouldnt make any stops and shed be a diff color next week :fuckyou:

my Letter to the editor has been in the record already someone send it to him we don't get the record anymore so I can't go on their site lol.
But seriously myself I haven't had any problems with my 2k neon with the police in quite some time, I get the occasional wave from them but I drive it like an angel and have all illegal parts removed from it too plus they know who I am via newspaper letter publishing contact from some agencies to neoncanada etc. Especially as being the largest paid membership car club in canada with a long history of anti-street racing retoric it makes a point.

Just get the police and others on this site, let them see our constant disgust when we see street racing incidents and they will realize that we are sympathetic to the same things. None of us want to see any injury due to illegal activities nor do we participate in them. It only makes sense that if they get a real understanding of what we are about it will be for the better.

I dare even suggest inviting some police to our meet on wednesday night since they are down the road, inviting them along for the cruise etc so they know what real enthusiasts are about, they are about the love of their car not racing them. We all know where the right time and place is to race, its the track.

we have to be respectful to the cops and so far i think we are doing a great job

..keep up the good work guys

Originally Posted by neonjoe

my Letter to the editor has been in the record already someone send it to him we don't get the record anymore so I can't go on their site lol.
But seriously myself I haven't had any problems with my 2k neon with the police in quite some time, I get the occasional wave from them but I drive it like an angel and have all illegal parts removed from it too plus they know who I am via newspaper letter publishing contact from some agencies to neoncanada etc. Especially as being the largest paid membership car club in canada with a long history of anti-street racing retoric it makes a point.

Just get the police and others on this site, let them see our constant disgust when we see street racing incidents and they will realize that we are sympathetic to the same things. None of us want to see any injury due to illegal activities nor do we participate in them. It only makes sense that if they get a real understanding of what we are about it will be for the better.

I dare even suggest inviting some police to our meet on wednesday night since they are down the road, inviting them along for the cruise etc so they know what real enthusiasts are about, they are about the love of their car not racing them. We all know where the right time and place is to race, its the track.

Actually its far greater than even this, coming to think of it, the police act based on the thoughts and opinions of the community as a whole, the community stereotypes young people as bad drivers and so they will be seen. They stereotype people with modified cars as racers and once again they will be seen as that. I don't believe the police are a factor in this, they are just trying to satisfy the community as a whole. If someone dies again of a street racing accident and the police did not arbitrarily pull over modified cars there would be an outrage by the community such as why wasn't this stopped before it happened. Since the young don't do much to express their voice they aren't herd and become the scapegoats for the scene as a whole. People think that adults are wiser and more mature and in many cases they are but I know that many of us are further in life with more power and responsibilities than the generation before us because we exhibit these qualities, we just have to let everyone know more, not only the police but everyone that enthusiasts are not racers.

And I don't think we should be pinpointing at any group be it muscle cars or other groups as we will be doing the same thing that is being done to us.

you hit it dead on Joe...

They're just doing something to shut up the community, and young people with modified cars are an easy target.

They don't target older, muscle cars because they might end up stopping friends/family, and that just gets messy.