A 21-year-old Saanich man will appear in court next month after driving 120 km/h in a 50 km/h zone near elementary school.
Police arrested the man Monday after he had crashed his vehicle, while navigating a curve at the intersection of Royal Oak Dr and Cordova Bay Road.
“This was a tremendously dangerous situation” said Sgt. Jereme Leslie. “The actions of the driver put the public at significant risk and it’s extremely lucky no one was using the sidewalk were the vehicle left the road. Someone could have easily been injured or killed.”
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Jan. 8 around 8:30 p.m. a Saanich police officer was driving west in the 1100 Block of Royal Oak Drive near Lochside Elementary School when the officer spotted a 2017 black Ford Fusion speeding eastbound on Royal Oak Drive.
We're looking for more witnesses to a dangerous driving incident #yyjtraffic. It happened on Jan 8th at around 8:30PM near Lochside Elementary School in #Saanich. More info on our website https://t.co/xBNge3aWr0 pic.twitter.com/hYAfTW8eFs
— Saanich Police (@SaanichPolice) January 10, 2019
According to Saanich police, the Ford Fusion was attempting to overtake another east bound vehicle and was travelling at around 120 km/h in the 50 km/h zone.
“As the Ford Fusion was now driving into oncoming traffic, the officer had to take evasive action in order not to be hit,” said Leslie. “As the vehicle passed, the officer was able to conduct a U-turn, in order to pull him over; however, the offending vehicle was already out of sight.”
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Police were able to arrest the man at the scene of his subsequent crash for dangerous driving. He has since been released from custody.
Saanich police ask additional witnesses to come forward, after already speaking with two witnesses who had been standing on the sidewalk near the crash.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or saw driving behaviour prior to the crash is asked to contact Saanich police at 250-475-4321.
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