Street racing and stunt driving became huge issues in and around Toronto over the course of the pandemic, with yahoos (as Doug Ford would call them) meeting up in the hundreds to engage in the usual fast and furious antics while also doing things like shooting fireworks from their cars and literally lighting streets on fire. 

While this was especially annoying during lockdown when gatherings were prohibited, it's still extremely irritating to see the dangerous trend continuing on, though police are making efforts to crack down on such offences.

Police helicopter catches Fast & Furious-style stunt driving meetup near Toronto https://t.co/2TOcNYTcOo #Ontario #Police

— blogTO (@blogTO) February 23, 2022

Ontario finally decided to start upping the penalties for aggressive and unsafe driving last year with new legislation, while Toronto police began better enforcing rules around loud engines and speeding.

More recently, York Regional Police have launched what they call Project ERASE, a targeted blitz involving multiple forces to nab those motorists partaking in such antics — and the videos they've released to demonstrate why the campaign is so needed is absolutely wild, not to mention terrifying and stressful as hell to watch.

In the footage from earlier this month, a police chopper follows a single teenaged driver who goes on a lengthy and extremely perilous joyride around the GTA area, starting with some smoky donuts at the end of a cul-de-sac in Vaughan, which a person can be seen clearly filming on the ground below.

The black sedan then ventures into some busier areas, merging rapidly onto a nearby 400-series highway on the shoulder of the on-ramp.

So...showing us these footage means they are arrested, charged and banned from driving in Ontario for life RIGHT? If they aren't then I have totally lost faith in the system. Pulling these kind of stunt is basically showing how useless laws are if they got away with it.

— Unknown (@shagkie) May 25, 2022

The reckless motorist then decides that instead of driving like a normal person would on the roadway — or even speeding a bit like one might, at times — he had to reach speeds of 200 km/h not in one of the freeway's six lanes, but on the shoulder.

This was also in a construction zone delineated by orange pavement markings.

After he's off the highway, he decides to go through a busy intersection (from the left-turn lane on an advanced green, no less) with absolutely no regard for any cars around him, barging in front of oncoming vehicles who have the right of way to turn and cutting people off, narrowly missing collision multiple times.

In a later clip, he is seen cutting into the oncoming lane on Warden Ave. to zoom past a few cars ahead of him, speeding through an intersection and veering just inches away from a car turning at the light, and then another that he butts ahead of one on the two-lane road.

That driver stops, clearly startled.

The vehicle then continues into a residential complex and into an underground parking lot as police pursue him, removing his license plates and continuing to try and flee.

The 19-year-old was eventually apprehended with the help of air and canine units after the drawn-out ordeal, and his car impounded. He faces a 30-day license suspension and seven different charges including dangerous driving, stunt driving, flight from a peace officer and breach of probation.

Hwy 401 EB @ Keele St. - Driver Of Car Charged With Stunt Driving After Racing Another Vehicle Then Crashing Into A Truck #Opp #hwy401 #Toronto #stuntdriving pic.twitter.com/iZU0sYpQal

— 401_da_sarpanch (@401_da_sarpanch) May 18, 2022

"Racing and stunt drivers place the community at risk... The message that we want to share with organized racers today is that it's not going to be tolerated and [police] are going to work together," police said at a news conference announcing Project ERASE this week, adding that stunt driving is the number one complaint they receive on a daily basis.

"Our mission is to change this aggressive and dangerous driver behaviour."