Mike Hackett looks at the scene of a fatal street race accident and exhales sharply. He’s well aware he could have been in one of the cars that resulted in a crumpled wreck and a legal tangle for two Toronto teens.

Hackett started the dangerous driving at age 19, loving the thrill of the speed. But he quickly realized the peril and stopped after just 10 races.

“You just basically decide for yourself whether the risk is worth the reward out there, and truthfully it really isn't,” he explains.

He recalls zooming through the streets of Toronto at top speeds of 160 kilometres an hour.

Cops may not have caught up to Hackett. But they’ve seen road racers just like him all too often.

“Last year the highest recorded speed that we had on Highway 400 was 322 kilometres an hour,” notes Sgt. Dave Mitchell.

He’s with Project ERASE, a joint effort by the G.T.A.’s major police forces to wipe out the drivers before they wipe out someone else.

And despite the fact street racing conjures up visions of testosterone fueled teenagers, Mitchell knows that’s not always the case. “The oldest person ... that I've arrested is 72,” he shakes his head.

Hackett admits he’s happy he left life in the illegal fast lane behind him, but complains cops sometimes set up their checkpoints at the entranceways of control tracks.

“I find it a bit unfair that they choose to do that there,” he shrugs.

Project ERASE is getting results. Officers have stopped 4,000 vehicles suspected of street racing and have laid charges against 2,300 drivers.

But they note it’s just a drop in a very large – and fast – bucket.