A Delta teen caught driving 160 kilometres per hour on the Upper Levels Highway has had his car impounded for seven days and been ticketed for excessive speeding.
Police caught the 18-year-old in his Hyundai Elantra just after midnight Wednesday, driving eastbound near Taylor Way.
If not for the heavy foot, police might have been tempted to pull him over for a chat anyway, thanks to some taunting stickers on the vehicle. On the driver’s side door was a custom decal declaring: “No airbags, we die like real men.” On the rear hatch was a sticker reading: “Speed has never killed anyone. Suddenly becoming stationary… that’s what gets you.”
The stickers were obviously intended to be provocative, said Const. Jeff Palmer, West Vancouver police spokesman,“ ... but for seven days, he’ll only be able to enjoy his bumper stickers peering through the fence at an impound lot.”
There was a certain degree of irony in the stickers, Palmer said as the car does have fully functional airbags. And mocking airbags makes little sense “when (you’re) involved in driving behaviour that is very likely to have you relying on airbags for your life.”
The vehicle is not registered in the name of the teen but another family member, Palmer said. “So there will be that dynamic for the driver to deal with along with the licence consequences.”
Because he is a new driver, the case will be reviewed by the superintendent of motor vehicles, who may consider “additional action,” Palmer said. The driver has an otherwise clean record.
“We certainly hope that this is an expensive lesson learned,” Palmer said.
Business has been good for tow truck drivers impounding speeders’ rides in West Vancouver with 144 so far this year. In 2016, there were only 91 by this time of the year.
The latest impound happened on the eve of the first appearance in court by the defence lawyer for a 22-year-old West Vancouver Ferrari driver caught doing 210 kilometres per hour on the Lions Gate Bridge. He is due back in court at the end of the month.
