Ottawa police kick off new season of 'Project Noisemaker' with arrests, charges

Ottawa Police headquarters on Elgin St. is seen in this undated photo. (CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa police say a motorcycle driver is facing a variety of charges following a traffic enforcement blitz Friday night.

The police service brought back its “Project Noisemaker” enforcement program this week to crack down on speeding and stunt driving, along with excessively noisy vehicles.

On Saturday morning, police said officers stationed on Strandherd Drive and at Merivale and Meadowlands Friday night issued two stunt driving charges, 20 speeding tickets and three tickets for running a red light.

One of the accused stunt drivers was on a motorcycle and was going 123 km/h in a 70 km/h zone on Strandherd near Longfields, police said.

Police allege the driver refused to stop for police and tried to get away before being arrested. The individual is also facing charges of fleeing police, resisting a peace officer, dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving with an improper licence, as well as charges for having no muffler and no licence plates.

Last year, police laid 157 stunt driving charges as part of “Project Noisemaker”, up from 78 in 2020. Police also handed out nearly 1,200 speeding tickets and 175 noise-related fines in 2021.

Stunt driving charges are issued when a driver exceeds 40 km/h on roads with a posted speed limit of less than 80 km/h, or when a driver exceeds 50 km/h on any road with a speed limit above 80 km/h. Each charge comes with an automatic roadside licence suspension of 30 days and a 14-day vehicle impound.

Police are encouraging residents to file traffic complaints through the Ottawa Police Service online reporting tool.

"This information will be used by Traffic officers to follow up with drivers who regularly disregard posted speed limits to show them how their actions are reckless and dangerous in order to change their behaviour," police said in a news release on Friday. "The information also enables officers to strategically deploy to locations at times where data analysis shows the greatest opportunity for safety improvement through enforcement."