EDMONTON – A 38-year-old driver has been charged with child endangerment after allegedly going well-above the speed limit with a two-year-old boy in the vehicle.
Police say the man zoomed past them so fast in his Mazda Speed 3 around 7 a.m. Thursday, that it shook their vehicle which was parked on Anthony Henday Drive near Yellowhead Trail.
Officers recorded his speed at 170 kilometres an hour in the 100 km/h zone, and saw him weaving through the heavy morning traffic.
He then exited onto St. Albert Trail, where police say he was going 30 kilometres over the 70 km/h speed limit.
They found a 37-year-old female in the passenger seat after pulling him over, and a two-year-old in the back.
When officers asked the driver why he was going so fast, he reportedly gave a slew of excuses, including: “I had an appointment,” then “I’m dropping the child off at his grandparents,” and “when you’re speeding you don’t realize how fast you are going.”
The driver also said he “was being chased by another vehicle,” which was not witnessed by police nor reported to 911.
“These excessive speed incidents happen all too often and we hear a lot of justifications from drivers, but regardless, there are no excuses for travelling that fast,” says Sgt. David Green with the Edmonton Police Service.
In addition to child endangerment, the driver was also charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
So far in 2014, police have issued 214 mandatory tickets for excessive speeding, i.e. going more than 50 km/h over the speed limit.
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