Sunday Night Cruise is a long standing, uniquely Winnipeg tradition that transcends generations, communities, and cultures. Every weekend throughout late Spring through Summer to the depths of Autumn, friends and family gather to cruise down or sit along Portage Avenue taking the sights of cars, trucks, and bikes ranging from mild to wild and spanning decades of history. Nothing quite like this exists elsewhere with such regularity and passion as right here at home in Winnipeg.

 

This tradition is in danger of being wiped away thanks to heavy-handed actions from the Winnipeg Police Service, directed to enforce confusing and inconsistent regulations sourced from three different ledgers. Owners and enthusiasts are expected to adhere to regulations based on the MPI/Manitoba vehicle Safety inspection sheet, the Highway Traffic Act, and the rumored and mysterious WPS “Vehicle Inspections Unit handbook”. The Safety inspection sheet and the Highway Traffic Act can be found to contradict each other, and enthusiasts have often found themselves facing fines cited from generous interpretation of the regulatory language.

 

The Sunday Night Cruise has been especially important to the community over the last year. As we enter our second year and third wave of COVID-19 restrictions, Sunday Night Cruise has brought people together by providing a safe, outdoor, physically distanced activity open to anyone wishing to spectate and those automotive enthusiasts willing to put their rides on display.

 

Rather than focusing on closing out outstanding warrants, dealing with community ravaging fentanyl and meth addictions, tackling the monumental backlog of property crime reports and investigations, or many other community detriments that could be listed, instead the Winnipeg Police Service seeks to divide and punish our community by targeting enthusiasts with “flashy” vehicles, and disproportionately so with the younger next-generation of this tradition.

 

If the objective of this authoritarian approach was safety, we believe that there are a number of better ways to achieve such a goal. Some examples but certainly not the only solutions could include:

Public outreach campaigns with clear and specific details on what is or is not permitted to educate newcomers to the hobby. Hastily produced vague YouTube videos with no facts or figures is not good enough.
Unification of the HTA, MPI Safety, and VIU “field inspection” methods for consistent enforcement and understanding of possible violations
Improvements to the MPI Safety program to address and expand on items such as (but not limited to): Right-Hand-Drive vehicles, Immobilizer requirements and equivalent modern security system alternatives, clarity of noise (DB) regulations for exhaust systems consistent across all vehicle types
 

        Setting up corrals and funneling in any sort of dressed up truck, car, or bike and handing out tickets is not the answer, and without an honest effort at education the process feels less like a safety initiative and more like a predatory cash grab.

        Please join our petition to show your support for a City Hall driven re-evaluation of the City of Winnipeg / Winnipeg Police Service’s authoritative and adversarial stance with the car community.

 

Don’t let them stomp out our passion and tradition. Add your voice.

 

Follow us on Facebook at the group: Winnipeg Vehicle Mods