Drivers clocked at 192 km/h on Pitts Memorial and other wild driving stories
Do you ever feel like vehicles on the highway are passing you as if you're not moving at all?
Drivers on Pitts Memorial Drive in St. John's must have felt that way when two vehicles, driving in tandem, were recorded going 192 km/h.
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Const. Geoff Higdon said police officers were able to stop both vehicles on Friday.
"[They] were able to clock them on the radar at 192 [km/h] but we suspect they were actually going a little bit faster than that. They would have obviously began slowing down when they realized the gig was up there."
It's likely both drivers were speed racing, Higdon said, but it's difficult to prove.
2 drivers just charged under HTA after they both approached an unmarked car on Pitts going over 192km/hr <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nltraffic?src=hash">#nltraffic</a> <a href="https://t.co/xCEYDhUtKL">pic.twitter.com/xCEYDhUtKL</a>
—@RNC_PoliceNL"When you get two vehicles that are driving at that speed in tandem obviously it would seem like speed racing but there's a lot of different metrics as to what would classify as speed racing."
Tipping off friends
Higdon said the drivers were going so fast that just handing out a speeding ticket doesn't cut it. Police officers would look at laying a charge of imprudent driving, which comes with a fine of upwards of $750 and the loss of four demerit points.
In addition to those dangerous drivers, other police officers with the RNC have encountered a different type of dangerous driving lately.
This is hilarious because I was just texting my buddies to warn them that you guys were here running radar.- Const. Geoff Higdon quoting texting driver
Higdon said officers pulled over a man on the highway, who they caught texting, only to have the driver confess he was using his phone to warn his friends that cops were around.
"The guy immediately said, 'You're not gonna believe this. This is hilarious because I was just texting my buddies to warn them that you guys were here running radar,'" Higdon told the St. John's Morning Show Monday.
"It's funny but not funny," Higdon said, adding the driver even showed the police officer the text message he had sent to his friends.
A new fee introduced in this year's budget could see some distracted drivers face fines of up to $750.
With files from the St. John's Morning Show