York Region police said they laid three stunt-driving charges within 30 minutes Thursday afternoon, as speeding continues to be a problem on the relatively empty roads with more people at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of six vehicles were impounded over a 12-hour period, according to a new release put out by police Friday morning.

That includes three separate drivers caught between 2:45 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

One driver was caught driving 109 kilometres per hour and another was clocked at 105 km/h on Major Mackenzie Drive West near Islington Avenue. Major Mackenzie is a 50 km/h construction zone and officers were there after complaints from the community about speeding drivers, police said.

The third motorist was seen driving 116 km/h on Highway 7, where there’s a 60 km/h speed limit,

A 28-year-old from Brampton, a 25-year-old from Vaughan and a 21-year-old from Toronto were each charged with stunt driving and speeding. They also had their their cars seized and their licences suspended for seven days.

Between March 1 and April 19 of this year, 179 stunt-driving related charges were laid for drivers exceeding the 50 km/h speed limit in York Region. Last year during the same period, 109 speeding charges were laid.

“Speed kills,” the police service wrote. “Police are urging drivers to slow down and obey posted speed limits.”

Stunt driving has also become more common in Toronto. On Monday, a 21-year-old man was charged after video appeared on social media showing a driver doing donuts in his black Ford Mustang in front of Yonge and Dundas square.

The number of speeding tickets is also up in Toronto. Between March 16 and April 22, Toronto police gave out 6,978 speeding tickets and laid 224 stunt-driving charges — compared to 5,504 speeding tickets and 40 stunt-driving charges at the same time last year.

Toronto police say they’ve added more people to their Vision Zero Enforcement Team to better monitor speeding and stunt driving in the city. The introduction of new photo radars to catch speeding drivers, however, has been put on hold as part of the suspension of non-essential services amid the emergency response to COVID-19.

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With files from Toronto.com