More than a dozen vehicles were impounded for seven days on Sunday for excessive speed while travelling southbound on the Malahat, into Victoria.
According to Ron Cronk, Acting Staff Sgt. for the Capital Regional District’s Integrated Road Safety Unit, 19 vehicles were seized for exceeding the speed limit by 40 km/h and slapped with a $368 fine each.
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Officers set up in the 3,500-block of the Trans-Canada Highway at around 10 a.m. on Sunday, with an officer visually estimating the speed of drivers going over the limit and confirming through the use of a speed gun. Officers positioned further down the road in the gravel pullout would pull the vehicle out of traffic, issue the fine and seize the car.
“We only put about five hours enforcement out there, and if you do the math we’re getting almost [four] an hour,” says Cronk, adding that it’s a continuous problem for that stretch of the highway.
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Cronk says that while education seems to have an effect, it’s not lasting, resolving that hitting people in the pocketbooks makes the issue a little more real for drivers.
“For the most part, [the drivers] were resolved to the fact that this was going to happen, there was no denying they were speeding,” says Cronk. “It’s the unfortunate part of our job, but their actions forced our hands.”
Speeding tickets start at $138 for going over the limit up to 20 km/h. Going anywhere between 20 km/h to 40 km/h will cost you $196 and anything over 41 km/h to 60 km/h is classified as excessive speed and comes with a $368 fine.
Anything over 60 km/h will receive a $438 fine.
