Driver with learner's licence caught speeding at 199 km/h on North Vancouver stretch of Hwy 1

A 19-year-old man with a learner's licence was caught driving 199 km/h in an 80 km/h zone in North Vancouver, B.C., on Friday. 

RCMP say the driver was stopped at the Upper Levels Highway section of Highway 1, near Lonsdale Avenue, around 9 p.m. PT Friday.

Mounties said the driver was racing with another vehicle on the highway when he was pulled over. Officers were unable to stop the second vehicle, according to North Vancouver RCMP Const. Mansoor Sahak.

"We're hoping that young people get the message — that these types of speeds are not necessary," he told CBC News. "They're dangerous, too — putting public, themselves and passengers at risk."

The young man was also driving without a supervisor and had more than one passenger — both of which are not allowed under the rules governing learner's licences in B.C.

In a statement, RCMP said when the driver was pulled over he told officers, "the other driver was going faster."

He was given tickets for excessive speeding, driving without due care and driving contrary to restrictions, and fined $1,500, police said. His car was also impounded for seven days.

Sahak said Mounties had recommended that Road Safety B.C. prohibit the young man from driving for a certain period of time.

Unlike with impaired driving, there is no automatic prohibition in place for speeding under B.C.'s Motor Vehicle Act.

"My advice to young drivers is: don't risk it, don't take that risk of losing your license for extended period of times," Sahak said.