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Police nab two people going 145 km/h to catch ferry

Two Sunshine Coast residents racing to make a ferry home recently ended up with an extra long wait to get their vehicles back from the impound lot.

Two Sunshine Coast residents racing to make a ferry home recently ended up with an extra long wait to get their vehicles back from the impound lot.

Two 29-year-olds racing for the ferry in separate vehicles were recently clocked going 145 kilometres an hour on Highway 1 – 55 km/h over the speed limit – by West Vancouver police.

 file photoFile photo

A man driving a 1997 GMC pickup and a woman in a 2013 Ford Edge SUV were spotted by an officer driving at speeds estimated at 140 km/h around 9:45 p.m. on July 31. A radar reading further ahead recorded speeds of 145 km/h. Both drivers were stopped by police in the Horseshoe Bay off-ramp area.

Instead of driving on to the ferry, both drivers had their cars impounded and each received a fine of $358.

The recently impounded vehicles are just two of 168 cars impounded by the West Vancouver Police Department so far this year, said Const. Jeff Palmer, spokesperson with the WVPD. Since a change to the Motor Vehicle Act in 2010, vehicles going more than 40 kilometres over the speed limit will be impounded for seven days.

In addition to the fine, drivers whose cars are impounded are subject to towing and impound fees, and ICBC penalty point premiums.

Many of the West Vancouver vehicle impounds happen on the highway and on Cypress Bowl Road, Palmer added, both of which have a high number of crashes.

Last year at the same time, the number of vehicles impounded by WVPD stood at 112. The increase in number of impounds could be from more cars speeding or it might be because the West Vancouver Police Department has more officers on traffic watch, Palmer said, or it might be a combination of both.

“Of concern is that those numbers are up – we encourage people to travel close to the posted maximums,” Palmer said.