Excessive speed on a busy Vernon road has three young drivers grounded.
On Sunday at about 8 p.m., an RCMP officer observed two cars and a motorcycle doing about 130 kilometres an hour on 27th Street near 43rd Avenue.
“The three vehicles appeared to be racing,” said Gord Molendyk, RCMP spokesperson, adding that the posted speed limit is 50 kilometres an hour.
“All three drivers are friends and they were heading home to Armstrong.”
All three drivers have novice licenses.
“They will have their driving habits discussed with ICBC,” said Molendyk.
Once the police officer noticed the vehicles, he activated his lights and all three vehicles slammed on their brakes and came to a stop at 39th Avenue.
All three vehicles were impounded, and each driver received excessive speed tickets for $483.
Molendyk says the incident could have put public safety at risk,
“There is a sidewalk on each side (of 27th Street) and if something had happened, it leaves it open for disaster,” he said of a vehicle possibly losing control.
“To have these kinds of speeds at 8 p.m. is a concern right in the city.”
In another case, a 19-year-old man was pulled over on the highway July 25 for doing 138 kilometres an hour in a 90 km/h zone.
“He turned in his radar detector to the officer. The driver told the officer he did not want it any more as it does not help,” said Molendyk.
Six vehicles were impounded on Highway 97, north and south of Vernon, on the weekend because they were 48 to 83 kilometres an hour over the posted limit.
Five of the vehicles were from B.C., including three local residents — a 19-year-old man, a 65-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman. The sixth vehicle was from Alberta.
“Please slow down. We’re coming up to a long weekend and there’s lots of traffic,” said Molendyk, who can’t explain why motorists are exceeding the speed limit.
“I have no idea if it’s the summer weather and people want to put the speedometer up and see what it’s like.”
