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WATCH: A 21-year-old man is in critical condition after a vehicle allegedly involved in a race down Highway 2 lost control and rolled on a Manitoba highway. RCMP say speeding is becoming a bigger problem in the province, Global's Joe Scarpelli reports.
– Sep 17, 2020
Manitoba RCMP have reported an increased speeding problem throughout the province, and that concern is backed up by Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) data.
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MPI says over the last two months, they’ve issued 143 serious driving offences — the majority of which involve drivers going at least 50 km/h over the speed limit.
“We know some of the speeding is attributed to less vehicles on the highways,” MPI’s Brian Smiley told 680 CJOB.
“People who are caught speeding, it’s not their first rodeo. They’re probably chronic speeders, and either they don’t care, or they don’t think they’re going to get caught.
“These aren’t just minor speeds here — we’re talking dangerous speed.”
Smiley said at least 90 per cent of the drivers dinged with serious offences won’t only have to pay the ticket given to them by police, but they’ll have their licences suspended as well.
It’s not only people driving cars and trucks that are getting into dangerous situations with speeding. Eight Manitoba motorcyclists, he said, have already died in collisions this year — double the annual average, and it’s only September.Manitoba RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre told 680 CJOB on Monday that high-risk driving is contributing to the province’s high number of traffic deaths, and “has to stop” before it gets any worse.“It’s probably no coincidence that we’ve had the highest number of fatalities… I don’t know if this is ever, but we’re looking at almost 70 deaths already for 2020,” said Manaigre.“Is there a correlation with the speeding? Probably.”