Throughout the weekend of April 24, 2015, Westman Traffic Services were kept very busy on the roadways with eight super speeders and one impaired operator of a tractor.
RCMP report that so far this year, 12 people have lost their lives on Manitoba’s roadways, yet some drivers are still not slowing down, buckling up or driving sober. Making Manitoba’s roadways safer is RCMP Traffic Service’s primary goal, but their work on the highways this past weekend shows that some people are still making very dangerous choices.
On April 24, 2015, between 9pm and 12pm, two RCMP officers stopped seven significant speeders around the Brandon area on the Trans-Canada Highway. One officer stopped three vehicles traveling together on the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately 15 kilometers west of Brandon. Each vehicle was traveling 157 km/hr, overtaking all other vehicles on the highway. The two 20-year-old male drivers from Winnipeg and the one 22-year-old male driver from Calgary were friends headed to the same destination. They all received fines of $796.25.
West of Brandon, drivers were stopped at 141 km/hr and 150 km/hr. A male driver in his 40s from Winnipeg, traveling with two women and two young children in the car, was stopped at 154 km/hr.
East of Brandon, a 42-year-old male from Cross Lake was stopped at 162 km/hr and received a fine of $862.
Four of the drivers defended their actions by saying they do not like to drive at night, so they were speeding to get to their destination faster. There is no excuse for traveling at excessive speeds.
On April 25, 2015, at 12:20pm, a 26-year-old female was stopped on the Trans-Canada Highway, just west of Brandon. She was charged for speeding at 161 km/hr. She received an $849 fine and was charged for careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act.
On April 26, 2015, RCMP arrested a 56-year-old male for impaired driving on a farm tractor in the Gilbert Plains area. He blew more than double the legal limit and was also charged for driving while disqualified as his licence was suspended for previously driving a tractor while impaired.
Police say that this high-risk behaviour was all in one section of the province in one weekend and shows that people are still making bad choices before they get behind the wheel. All Manitobans are affected dangerous drivers and RCMP encourage all drivers to make smart choices by driving sober, slowing down, buckling up and focusing on the road.
