A helicopter pursuit led to $1,100 in speeding tickets for a North Vancouver motorcyclist Tuesday afternoon, according to a release from the West Vancouver Police Department.
After failing to stop for Squamish RCMP officers, a 24-year-old motorcyclist barrelled down Highway 99 on his Kawasaki street bike at speeds in excess of 140 kilometres per hour, according to West Van police.
Squamish RCMP passed word of the speeder to West Vancouver police, who then alerted a nearby traffic safety helicopter hovering over the North Shore.
"If there aren't any calls that they're being requested for, they'll do their own patrols for traffic," Const. Jeff Palmer said of the helicopter, dubbed Air Two.
"It's not at all an uncommon occurrence for Air One or Air Two to be assisting with traffic enforcement on Highway 99."
Air Two relayed the speeding cycle's location to a West Vancouver officer who safely stopped the rider as he headed off the highway into Horseshoe Bay.
"There's one highway that he's got to come down," Palmer said. "Somehow it didn't occur to this rider."
Having the helicopter monitor the situation allows police to be more tactical when deciding where to make the stop, as well as saving pursuing officers from high-risk driving, according to Palmer.
The speeder is typical at this time of the year, Palmer said. "When we're doing speed enforcement, there's no shortage of people who are pushing the envelope," he said.
Springtime generally brings motorcyclists to the road who haven't straddled a bike in several months, according to Palmer.
"People are excited and they want to crank on the throttle a little bit," he said.
"Unfortunately that's also the time of the year when we have some of the more tragic circumstances involving motorcycles where the riders are rusty."
Squamish RCMP officers impounded the motorcycle for seven days. Police also served the rider with a 15-day driving prohibition for street racing, meaning driving without consideration for other cars on the highway.
The rider faces violation tickets totalling more than $1,100, not including towing and storage fees associated with the seven-day impoundment.
