North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP nabbed a driver going 100 kilometres an hour over the speed limit on Tuesday morning.
Officers headed south on the Trans-Canada Highway near Cowichan Bay Road about 3:30 a.m. noticed a vehicle approaching them at a high rate of speed. The radar unit was activated and measured the vehicle at 180 km/h in an 80 km/h zone.
That netted the driver a $483 fine and three penalty points on his licence.
Going more than 40 km/h over the limit is deemed excessive and the penalties includes a seven-day vehicle impoundment.
“I’ve never heard of anybody going that much over the speed limit before,” said North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP Cpl. Cari Lougheed. “I’ve been doing this for 23 years.”
Some police forces have reported an increase in speeders in recent weeks, possibly due to more open roads linked to the COVID-19 pandemic reducing traffic volume.
In Saanich, where police stopped 14 excessive speeders in one week this month, there continues to be a problem with drivers ignoring speed limits, said Const. Markus Anastasiades.
“We certainly are still seeing that on the highways, in construction zones.”
He said someone was stopped Tuesday afternoon for doing 101 km/h on Quadra Street in a 50 km/h zone.
“How do you even do 101 on Quadra Street? That’s dangerously fast.”
Anastasiades said a number of vehicles have been impounded in the construction zone at the McKenzie interchange, where the speed limit is 60 km/h.
“If you go 100, you’re doing excessive speed and you risk losing your vehicle,” he said.
One driver was clocked at 116 in the interchange construction zone Tuesday morning.
Anastasiades said there are workers at the site around the clock “and we need to make sure that they’re safe while they’re doing this for us.”
