A Qualicum Beach resident would like to see some changes to the annual Seaside Cruizers cruise night, after he says burnouts left marks at several places along Eaglecrest Drive on June 13.
Kim Sharpe said that although he enjoys watching the classic cars go by, the burnouts are a danger to the people lining the streets to watch.
“Particularly on Eaglecrest, there’s no sidewalks," he added. "The lines and that are right at the edge of the road and these individuals, when they do the burnouts, if there’s ever an incident, like a stuck throttle or a mechanical breakdown — there’s kids and people lining the streets and it’s for no reason other than showing off.”
Sharpe, who used to be in the collector car hobby himself, knows the Cruizers explicitly prohibit burnouts in the papers handed out with the route, but he would like to see things monitored more closely.
“If fellow collector car drivers see it being done, you know, it’s up to them to police the individuals,” he said. “This is just my opinion.”
Club president Jim Moroz said an RCMP officer accompanied the cruise, and participants were informed police may be present along the route.
“We’re very down on burnouts, but we just can’t control the people that do it,” he said. “It’s pretty hard for us to control it. I’ve asked ICBC and I’ve asked the police and they’ve said ‘once they leave [to begin the cruise], they’re on their own. It’s their own fault’.”
Moroz added there is nothing to stop a person joining the 400-vehicle cruise in progress, and these people would not have been given the instructions that prohibit burnouts and other "monkey business".
He added there are numerous signs along the cruise route, posted by residents, which encourage burnouts.
Oceanside RCMP received one traffic complaint on the evening of June 13 in the Eaglecrest area, according to Sgt. Shane Worth.
The resident reported hearing ongoing "brake stands" but did not observe any vehicles, police said. An RCMP officer was in the area at the time and responded, but no vehicles were located doing burnouts, Worth added.
The Town of Qualicum Beach declined to comment, but did point out it does not enforce the Motor Vehicle Act.
Sharpe recognizes it is only a small fraction of cruisers that engage in burnout activity, but wishes there was a fenced off area where people could do them, safely away from the public.
“There has been a reduction in it for sure, since I published my first letter [to the PQB News, several years ago],” he said. “Which is a good sign, but my opinion is it shouldn’t happen at all.”
