The Winnipeg Police Service acknowledges that cruise night has become a City wide phenomenon. The vast majority of individuals who operate vehicles on cruise night chose to do so in a responsible, respectful and legal manner.

However, the Winnipeg Police Service continues to receive complaints regarding racing, dangerous operation of motor vehicles, and noisy operation of motor vehicles. These complaints come from all areas of the city. In order to address these issues the Winnipeg Police Service has deployed resources throughout the city.

The Winnipeg Police Service will continue to operate dedicated patrols throughout the summer to address these issues.

Their goal is to ensure the safety of all those that use our roadways, and the Winnipeg Police Service reminds drivers to Just Slow Down.

For further information regarding the ‘Just Slow Down’ Campaign, please visit the website at JustSlowDown.ca.

Continue reading to see my thoughts…Cruise Night has long been a staple for Winnipeg car enthusiasts. Sunday would roll around and despite the weather, there would always be a large turnout of nice cars.

Unfortunately, for every enthusiast who wanted to show off his/her hardwork (or money well spent) on their vehicle, there would be someone who didn’t respect the rules of the road or others around them. These people would drive recklessly though the congested roads, crank their poorly, tuned stereo far too loud or just act immature. These are the people that are complained about and who make the others look bad.

Take a look at Polo Park. This lot used to be packed on Sunday evenings (I remember showing off my car when I first bought it) but that no longer happens. The lot is now locked off on Sunday evenings and people are now forced to go elsewhere as there were a select few who would do burnouts, squeal their tires and leave a mess behind. Had the drivers taken care of the lot and respected the simple rules of the road, the lot would still be open.

Now take the new lot on North Main by Shopper’s and Timmy’s. New well-lit, brand new paved lot. Nice. A lot of other drivers think so as well. I was there one Sunday a couple weeks ago and there were idiots revving up their engine on non-modified cars just to be annoying. Maybe they thought a fart can was a performance mod. However, the bad apples have spoiled it for all the other enthusiasts and this has become the new Polo Park and shut down to cruisers.

What are you thoughts on the cruising scene? Is it a menace to society or a great way to keep youth occupied and away from more serious crimes?

Don’t forget next Saturday, Driven to Perform is at the Convention Centre where you can view some of these nice cars in peace without having to worry about getting a ticket for an illegal mod.

Image Cruise Night II Originally uploaded by Catherine Jamieson