More than 750,000 drivers a year are convicted of speeding in Ontario.Paul Vasarhelyi/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Police have nabbed a motorist in central Alberta who was clocked driving 248 km/h in a 100 km/h zone — about the same takeoff speed as a Boeing 737 jet airliner.
"I can't think of a speed in recent memory where we have got someone going quite that quick that has been apprehended," provincial sheriff Sgt. Jason Graw said Wednesday.
On May 9 a sheriff activated the radar gun in his cruiser and caught the man driving a BMW M3 car on Highway 19 south of Edmonton near the Castro Raceway.
Police say the man was driving directly toward the officer and hit the brakes and pulled over once he saw the police car emergency lights.
Graw said the man has been charged with dangerous driving under the Criminal Code and could face jail time if convicted.
A judge could also order the man's car to be seized.
The BMW website says its M3 is a high performance model that is designed to give drivers "the true sensation of motor sports."
The name of the man, who is 44, was not released. He is to appear in Leduc provincial court on June 18.
In 2013, the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police called on the province to give police the legal power to immediately seize and impound the vehicles of people caught driving more than 50 km/h over the speed limit.
The resolution was aimed at reducing the number of injury and fatal collisions. It noted that officers are continually apprehending people who drive at speeds in excess of 50 km/h over the legal limit.
The government at the time said it was studying the idea.
British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec all have extreme speeding legislation.
Alberta raised its maximum fine for speeding to $474 from $351 on May 1.
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