A dashcam video that was uploaded to social media captures a car driving at dangerous speeds on the Malahat on Saturday afternoon.
The video shows a silver sedan rocketing past traffic around 3:45 p.m. and is clearly above the highway’s posted speed limit of 80 km/h.
The vehicle can also be seen narrowly avoiding the concrete median as it follows a bend in the road.
In late 2018, the government completed a $34-million project to improve safety for five kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway that stretches through the Malahat.
The safety upgrades included more lanes, wider road shoulders, roadside barriers, and median barriers. Despite the significant investment by the province to improve safety, the new measures would do little to protect drivers from speeders like this.
The uploader, Nicholas Timmenga, shared the video with West Shore RCMP. Timmenga told one video commenter that he was unable to discern the speeding car’s license plate due to the speed of the incident and the wide angle of the dashcam lens.
“Street racing and dangerous driving remain a significant problem on our roadways,” Cpl. Chris Dovell of the West Shore RCMP told Victoria Buzz.
“Police have zero tolerance for aggressive driving offences and the authority to seize vehicles and prohibit drivers. Police will use public dashcam videos to identify offending drivers and conduct enforcement.”
While Dovell said that investigators will review dashcam footage, he notes that the public should avoid using hand held electronic devices to record other motorists if you are driving.
“Witnesses to aggressive driving offences can observe and report to their local police. If possible obtain a licence plate.”
