With warm and sunny weather settling over southern Ontario for much of the past week, it’s no surprise that a lot of people decided to go for a drive.

What might be more of a surprise, and perhaps an outright concern, is how many of those drivers apparently decided to travel at speeds far, far above the speed limit for the roads they were using.

We’ve received many reports of local police services charging drivers with stunt driving – for being tracked at 50 km/h or more above the speed limit – in recent days.

Those types of incidents occurred all over our coverage area, from Guelph and Elora to Perth East and Brant County.

In some cases, drivers were allegedly found to have been travelling at more than double the posted speed limit.

That’s what happened Friday night on Watson Road South outside Guelph, where a 28-year-old man was tracked above 100 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. A 20-year-old man was tracked at a similar speed in a 50 km/h zone in the Town of Erin Saturday morning.

Tuesday morning, two drivers were allegedly caught travelling at well above double the speed limit in rural parts of Waterloo Region.

The stunt driving epidemic also apparently spread to Waterloo Region residents who were spending the long weekend outside the region. A 27-year-old Kitchener man was charged with stunt driving and cocaine possession after being stopped by a police officer who allegedly tracked his rental vehicle above 140 km/h in a 70 km/h zone of the Trans-Canada Highway near Pays Plat, about 175 kilometres east of Thunder Bay.

Police say drivers should remember that the penalties for stunt driving in Ontario include an automatic seven-day driver’s licence suspension and vehicle impoundment, as well as a fine of between $2,000 and $10,000 if convicted. Stunt driving also costs drivers six demerit points, and drivers are required to pay any towing and storage fees related to the seizure of their vehicle.