Speeding alongside another car could cost you your automobile for a week and $10,000 CAD (US $8900) in Ontario, Canada. Legislation introduced last week by the Liberal Party government seeks to one-up previous efforts by other provinces and legislators to increase fines for the loosely defined crime of street racing.

"Mr. Speaker, this would make our street racing fines the highest in Canada!" exclaimed Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield as she introduced the bill before the legislature.

Current provincial law imposes a $1000 fine and two-year license suspension for racing on the highways. The penalty is not limited to automobiles, however. According to section 173 of the Highway Traffic Act, "No person shall race or drive furiously any horse or other animal on a highway."

Tory MPP Frank Klees had previously introduced his own legislation mandating a mere two-day car confiscation and license suspensions for anyone accused of street racing. The confiscation order is given solely upon the accusation of a police officer.

"There is no appeal or review from a license suspension or impound order under this section," the Klees legislation states.

Klees also would impose a $2000 fine and six months in jail on any motorist who uses nitrous oxide to give his vehicle a temporary horsepower boost on the street. The nitrous oxide provision is absent from the government proposal.