Police are asking witnesses to come forward after a driver was caught travelling 120 km/h in a 50 km/h in the oncoming traffic lane on Tuesday.
The incident took place around 8:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of Royal Oak Drive near Lochside Elementary School.
Police say that an officer was driving west on the road when a 2017 black Ford Fusion travelling east turned into the oncoming traffic lane to overtake the car in front of it.
When the Ford Fusion made the maneuver, it sped up to speeds of 120 km/h and forced the police cruiser to swerve to avoid a collision.
The officer then performed a U-turn to pullover the driver but the vehicle was already out of sight.
One block away, at the intersection of Royal Oak Drive and Cordova Bay Road, the vehicle failed to follow a curve in the road, hopped onto the sidewalk, and crashed.
We're looking for more witnesses to a dangerous driving incident #yyjtraffic. It happened on Jan 8th at around 8:30PM near Lochside Elementary School in #Saanich. More info on our website https://t.co/xBNge3aWr0 pic.twitter.com/hYAfTW8eFs
— Saanich Police (@SaanichPolice) January 10, 2019
“This was a tremendously dangerous situation” said Sgt. Jereme Leslie of SaanichPD in a release.
“The actions of the driver put the public at significant risk and it’s extremely lucky no one was using the sidewalk were the vehicle left the road. Someone could have easily been injured or killed.”
Police arrested the driver for dangerous driving at the scene. He was identified as a 21-year old Saanich man.
He has since been released from custody and is scheduled to appear in court in February.
Saanich Police identified two witnesses who had been standing on the sidewalk near
the crash and are asking for other witnesses to come forward.
If you witnessed this incident, or observed the vehicles driving behaviour prior to the crash, SaanichPD is asking you to call them at 250-475-4321.
