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Vernon News

Some Vernon drivers have lead-foot syndrome

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VERNON - A trio of novice drivers were each whacked with $483 fines this weekend for excessive speeding downtown Vernon.

RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says it appears the three individuals were racing each other down 27 Street around 8 p.m. Sunday. Two were in cars — a blue Honda Prelude and a red Mustang — and one on a motorcycle.

An officer conducting routine patrols in the area caught sight of them and clocked their speeds at around 134 km/h in the 50 zone.

“To have those kinds of speeds at 8 p.m. is very concerning, especially in the city. That’s quite a speed to be doing even out on the highway never mind in a 50 zone,” Molendyk says.

The officer flashed his lights and the three vehicles slammed on their breaks, coming to a stop at 39 Avenue. The friends were heading home to Armstrong.

On top of the $483 fine for excessive speeding, the drivers all had their vehicles impounded for a week.

The 27 Street corridor is a busy road, filled right now with tourists and people biking and walking.

“When a vehicle is at that speed it takes a long time for it to stop. It endangers many people,” Molendyk says.

“At those speeds, if you get involved in a motor vehicle incident, your chances of not surviving go up dramatically.”

Cops were busy over the weekend busting speeders on Highway 97 as well. Speeds ranged from 138 km/h in a 90 zone to 173 km/h in a 90 zone.

One of the speeders was a 19-year-old man with a radar detector who turned the gadget over to police.

“The driver told the officer he did not want it anymore as it does not help,” Molendyk says.

While highway speed limits are set to increase by 10 km/h on sections of Highway 97 sometime this summer, Molendyk says the speeds they saw from drivers this weekend would still constitute excessive speeding.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014
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