BURST
A motorcyclist with only a learner’s permit has been caught doing almost 180km/h on the Sea to Sky Highway, just a week after another motorcyclist died on the same stretch while speeding.
RCMP highway patrol spokesperson Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said that on July 11 at 7:45 a.m. a 22-year-old Vancouver woman was clocked travelling at 177 km/h in an 80 km/h zone near Furry Creek.
Making matters worse, McLaughlin said, was that the woman had only had a learner’s permit.
He said the woman was pulled over exactly seven days after a female motorcyclist died while speeding on the same highway.
“Sometimes we feel like a broken record when we say that speed kills,” McLaughlin said. “Being 97 km/h over the limit could easily have repeated a tragedy.”
On July 5 at 5:30 p.m. police attempted a traffic stop on two motorcycles travelling south along the Sea to Sky Highway near Porteau Cove. The motorcycles didn’t stop and soon after one motorcycle collided with an RV, killing the female rider.
The highway was closed in both directions between Horseshoe Bay and Squamish for eight hours.
McLaughlin said in the most recent case that the woman’s motorcycle was impounded for a week and she was handed a $483 fine.
Considering the” egregious speed and the lack of experience of the rider,” police are recommending the B.C. superintendent of motor vehicles conduct a high-risk driving review for the driver,” he said. “High-risk driving reviews can lead to additional sanctions such as a prohibition from driving.”