Reckless speeders perplex Edmonton police
CBC News | Posted: March 7, 2014 11:47 PM | Last Updated: March 7, 2014
Five cases of excessive speed in three days
Edmonton traffic cops are scratching their heads over a rash of high flyers during the last few days.
At least one driver was tripping along at 100 km/h above the speed limit.
Last night another driver pulled up to a marked police car sitting at a red light on 156th street, then sped away reaching 108 km/h in the 50 km/h zone.
Why he thought he'd get away with it makes officers wonder.
"We're driving a billboard saying, 'For the love of God, don't speed and this guy off and does it anyway," said Sgt. David Green.
"Driving at such speeds would be dangerous even in summer, let alone in winter with snow blowing over the roads."
“It would have taken a distance greater than two football fields to stop in an emergency, and it would have been total carnage if the car struck other vehicles or pedestrians," Green said referring to the fastest of the speeders.
Five cases of excessive speed in three days include:
- a Cadillac CTS driving erratically west on the Yellowhead at about 9 p.m. Wednesday was clocked at 173 km/h in the 70 km/h zone near 97th Street. A 20-year-old man faces dangerous driving charges.
- At around the same time Thursday a Dodge Avenger was caught going north on 156th Street at 108 km/h in the 50 km/h zone near 115th Avenue. A 30-year-old man is charged with speeding.
- A Toyota Corolla sped west past a marked police car on Anthony Henday Drive at Calgary Trail at 155 km/h in the 100 km/h zone around 1 a.m. Wednesday. The 24-year-old female driver was charged with speeding.
- An Audi A6 going 160 km/h in a 100 km/h zone from the Yellowhead Trail onto Anthony Henday Drive at 4 a.m. Wednesday resulted in speeding charges to a 47-year-old man.
- A Chevrolet Silverado was caught doing 162 km/h in a 100 km/h zone southbound on Anthony Henday Drive at Whitemud Drive at 12:15 a.m. Tuesday. A 38-year-old man faces speeding charges.
Last year, speed was a factor in one third of all crashes where there was a serious injury and 42 per cent of the fatal collisions, Green said.
"There is absolutely no reason to be travelling this fast on city roadways,” he said.