EDMONTON — A man nabbed for excessive speeding with three young children in his car is accused of putting their lives in danger and faces a criminal charge.
Edmonton police say that on Feb. 26 a Toyota Supra going up to 70 km/h over the speed limit sped past a marked police car. An officer tried to pursue the vehicle, but couldn’t catch it as the driver changed lanes and wove through traffic.
The officer radioed ahead for another cruiser to help make the arrest. When the Toyota was finally pulled over, police found a 31-year-old man behind the wheel and three young passengers who were three, five and eight years old.
Sgt. David Green of the Edmonton police traffic team said the man was initially charged with careless driving, but that has been upgraded to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle under the Criminal Code.
Green said police routinely catch people driving more than 50 km/h over the posted speed limit.
“The sad thing is that it is not surprising. We see this sort of thing all of the time,” he said Wednesday.
“This was aggravated by the fact that there were kids in the car. I found it offensive that somebody is willing to do this.”
The man, who was not identified, is also charged with causing a child to be in need of intervention.
In October, Edmonton police arrested the driver of a Hyundai car roaring down a road at 163 km/h in a 100-km/h zone and weaving across lanes of traffic.
When officers caught up they found a family inside — a 30-year-old man in the driver’s seat, a woman in the front passenger seat and two young children in the back.
The man faces several charges, including speeding and dangerous driving.
Police say there were 879 cases of people in Edmonton driving more than 50 km/h over the posted speed limit in 2013 and 2012.
Traffic police are heartened that the man in this case was charged under the Criminal Code, Green said.
“It’s good because it is not just a ’Here is a ticket. Don’t do it again,”’ he said.
“You just can’t pay this money and make this go away. You are actually going to have to sit before a judge.”