Motorcycle impounded after new rider reaches ‘shocking speed’ on B.C. highway

Police say a 22-year-old Vancouver woman with a learner’s licence has lost her motorcycle for seven days after reaching “a shocking speed” on the Sea to Sky Highway, days after a fatal motorcycle crash on the same route prompted a police watchdog investigation.

Police say a 22-year-old Vancouver woman with a learner’s licence has lost her motorcycle for seven days after reaching “a shocking speed” on the Sea to Sky Highway, days after a fatal motorcycle crash on the same route prompted a police watchdog investigation. The B.C. Highway Patrol says the rider was clocked travelling 177 km/h in an 80 km/h zone near Furry Creek on July 11. According to investigators, the woman held a Class 7 passenger vehicle learner’s licence and a Class 8 motorcycle learner’s licence.

The motorcycle was impounded for seven days for excessive speeding and the inexperienced rider was fined $483. The highway patrol said the violation could result at least three years of high-risk driver premiums and increased insurance costs, bringing the estimated financial penalty to nearly $2,500. “Considering the egregious speed and the lack of experience of the rider, B.C. Highway Patrol is also recommending that the B.C. Superintendent of Motor Vehicles conduct a high-risk driving review for the driver,” the agency said.

The traffic stop came less than a week after a motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a recreational vehicle on a nearby stretch of the Sea to Sky Highway. The female rider died at the scene and the highway was closed in both directions for more than eight hours, leaving travellers stranded on the roadway until the next morning. A B.C. Highway Patrol officer was conducting speed enforcement in the area at the time of the deadly crash and the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. is now investigating whether police action or inaction contributed to the rider’s death.

“Sometimes we feel like a broken record when we say that speed kills people,” Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said in a statement Wednesday. “But clearly some people aren’t getting the message,” he added.

“Being 97 km/h over the limit could easily have repeated a tragedy from only one week ago on the same highway.”