BURST
A vehicle police said was “held together with duct tape and wishful thinking” was pulled from the road in B.C. earlier this month after its driver was stopped for speeding on a highway southeast of Kelowna, near the U.S. border.
B.C. RCMP highway patrol said they clocked the car, driven by a 22-year-old man, doing 130 km/h in an 80 km/h zone near Christina Lake on the afternoon of Jan. 9.
“It’s amazing that this particular car could go that fast without disintegrating,” Corporal Michael McLaughlin stated in a news release.
He said despite the owner’s efforts, “his car was not roadworthy.”
“It looked like it had been chewed up by Robosaurus,” he said, referring to the transforming dinosaur robot created by inventor Doug Malewicki in 1989.
On top of hammered-out and spray-painted dents, the rear window had been replaced with rebar and duct tape. The door, meanwhile, was held closed by a latch welded on in what the RCMP described as “a level of creativity rarely seen.”
They awarded the Kelowna man 10 points for the creativity of his mods, but zero for their legality.
Instead, he was assessed a $368 fine for excessive speed, plus the cost of the tow truck and a seven-day impoundment at his expense. Under B.C. law, he’ll also face high-risk driver premiums and increasing insurance costs for at least three years.
The car was ordered off the road until all the defects are repaired and it passes a motor vehicle inspection.
“Any time you modify an essential component of your vehicle, including door locks, windows, steering, brakes, or suspension, you need to get that vehicle inspected,” McLaughlin said.
“And if you’re driving in a vehicle that’s obviously not roadworthy, you probably shouldn’t speed. Police can’t ignore that.”
Unlike some provinces, such as Ontario and New Brunswick, B.C.’s ministry of transport and transit does not require regular or mandatory safety inspection for personal-use cars, SUVs, or light trucks.
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