COVID-19 cabin fever fuelling aggressive driving: police

Road aggression pent up by COVID -19 and unleashed by summer weather appears to be driving a burst of street racing and stunting, say Calgary police.

The public is being asked to report aggressive driving that’s become more frequent in recent days in some parts of the city, said Acting Sgt. Chris Agren.

“We are seeing an increase in that behaviour, with people being out and about after staying home for the past few months,” he said.

“We’re now at Stage Two of reopening and also we do see this when summer arrives.”

A tweet posted Friday by Calgary police features a mock street sign reading “Aggressive Ave.” and says the city has seen an increase in “racing, doing doughnuts, burnouts, drifting and other stunting activities.”

It encourages drivers to “slow down” and for the public to report aggressive, stunting behaviours.

Agren said police have been receiving complaints about such driving, mainly in the city’s southeast.

“We have operations with officers watching certain places where people congregate in these industrial areas,” he said. “The problem is, it carries on to regular streets.”

Even so, there’s less traffic on Calgary streets due to the lingering lockdown, which encourages greater speeds, said Agren.

On Thursday night, a man in his 30s was killed when the motorcycle he was operating went out of control in the 7000 block of California Blvd. N.E.

One news report stated that according to police, the rider had been stunting, and Agren said inexperience appears to have played a role.