Car2go? More like car2gone.
West Vancouver police impounded one of the car-sharing company’s luxury vehicles on Highway 1 late Monday night after its driver was caught doing almost 60 kilometres per hour over the speed limit.
A Mercedes GLA car2go will sit in the North Vancouver impound lot for six more days after its driver was busted speeding in West Vancouver Monday night. Photo: Mike Wakefield/North Shore News
Police say the 19-year-old Vancouver man was clocked at 149 km/h driving in a Mercedes GLA compact SUV eastbound near the Westmount Road exit just before midnight. It was the North Shore’s first excessive speed impound of 2019.
Traffic enforcement officers were being extra vigilant because of low temperatures bringing the risk of frost or black ice on the roads, according to Const. Jeff Palmer, West Vancouver police spokesman.
Car2go users who rent one of the GLA models pay 45 cents a minute for their ride and the company does not allow them to be left parked in West Vancouver.
‘We are much more concerned for road safety than we are about someone’s vehicle rental being unexpectedly extended,” Palmer said.
In addition to the seven-day impound of a vehicle, excessive speeding comes with a $368 violation ticket and three penalty points on the driver’s licence.
In 2018, West Van police sent 216 vehicles to the impound lot, up from 185 in 2015 and 109 in 2016. The force’s record for impounds, which became law in 2010, was set in 2012 with 396.
