Excessive speeding: B.C. Highway Patrol urges public to slow down after spike in traffic deaths

Following a well-documented rash of traffic deaths to start July, B.C. Highway Patrol issued a plea on Wednesday for the motoring public to slow down.

Last week, from Sunday to Thursday, more than a dozen people were killed in crashes across the province. Police listed speed and impaired or distracted driving as factors in some of the cases.

“I can’t underscore enough … people need to slow down, they need to pay attention, make sure they’re not distracted by anything, including cellphones, and they need to drive sober,” BCHP Insp. Chad Badry said.

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This week, police said they spotted a blue four-door sedan and a motorcycle speeding through the heart of Squamish, with their speeds clocked at 140 km/h in a 70 km/h zone.

BCHP said the motorbike’s owner also owned the car and that a friend was “clearing the route” for the motorbike.

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Also that day, an officer spotted a vehicle doing 122 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. The driver didn’t stop for police, but a member of the Delta Police Department later located the vehicle.

On July 11, a BCHP officer had a motorcycle pass her along Highway 3A near Castlegar. The bike was clocked at 142 km/h in a 70 km/h zone, with the rider having just a learner’s licence.

On July 9, in the Fraser Valley, a white Corvette was caught suddenly accelerating to 213 km/h in a 100 km/h zone along Highway 1 near Langley.

In the Okanagan, BCHP officers stopped 40 drivers in the Central Okanagan for excessive speeding, which is 40 km/h over the posted speed limit.

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In Prince George, also on July 14, the driver of a Volkswagen Jetta was pulled over for doing 122 km/h in a 70 km/h zone. The driver was unlicensed and the vehicle had no insurance.

Two days earlier, an Alberta driver in a BMW was clocked doing 212 km/h in a 100 km/h zone in Prince George.

“All of these drivers were issued violation tickets between $368 and $483, and the vehicles were impounded for seven days,” said Badry, adding that BCHP has so far issued 132 violation tickets since July 1 for excessive speeding.

“Every driver needs to realize that the consequences for excessive speeding go far beyond getting an expensive ticket and your vehicle impounded.

“You have far less time to react to anything when going that fast, which is why excessive speed is so deadly.”